So, I have started the classes in Come Clay With Me with Jeanne Marie Webb !!! Not easy, but fun!
This little guy is my first attempt, and I almost had his/her face done when I remembered that the face was supposed to be a 3/4 pose. Whoops! I didn't want to tear up what I had to change it though, so I just finished it like it was and made another one from scratch. It was good practice! This one is about 3" tall. I know, it looks like some kind of weird baby here.
I've created five characters, so far, out of four lessons, and they are busy drying, which is taking forever because of the thickness of the clay and the air conditioning. I may have to put them outside in the heat to get them to dry and hope the cats leave them alone. They range in size from three to four and a half inches.
The second character from the left is a re-make of the first one. It looks more like the lesson was supposed to, with the 3/4 face. The mama bear in the middle grew a little bigger than I meant for her to, but I like her. The fourth one has little hand made roses, not too bad, but hands are hard! And I would have sworn the last one had a straight mouth when I left her to dry. The next morning she was smirking at me! Going to leave her like that! Don't they look like a mischievous bunch? :)
They have pretty much dried since I took the photo. Now I need to do some patching, mostly on the backs, where the clay cracked a little as it dried. Then they'll be ready to sand a little and paint, which are separate lessons for each one. Can't wait to give them eyes and finish their stories!
I tend to watch the class videos, then do things from memory unless I run into a snag, in which case I'll re-watch the video. My memory isn't all that great, unfortunately. When I looked back at the characters Jeanne Marie had made in the videos, most of the heads were tilted to the side, but that's ok if mine aren't. Practice makes me better! I'm getting a little more comfortable with the clay, I think.
Meanwhile, while these are drying, I've watched a couple of videos from the next section, which is on making tiny masks and figures with masks, and I've practiced making four little venetian masks with the beaks like birds. They are dry and ready to sand and paint too, but I'm going to try making some better ones first.
I may also make a few more faces to be drying while I paint the first ones, and I am thinking I may put bodies and heads on them instead of just faces. I don't really know what to use these for, other than as ornaments, but there is a class on making pendants with them. We'll see! It's an adventure waiting to happen!
Listening to country artists Midland's new cd "The Last Resort: Greetings From", which is AWESOME! I've also been listening to Taylor Swift on our Echo, while I work, and I have the new John Mayer cd "Sob Rock", which I haven't listened to yet, except for sampling. Good music helps me in more ways than one, including creativity, except when writing. For that I need quiet and stillness, which is why I haven't done much of it in a while. :)
Have a blessed and creative day!
