My first paperclay head was pretty ugly -- BUT at least it looked like a head and not just a blob of clay. Thanks to both Jane DesRosier's and Moriah Betterly's on-line tutorials (found at Cloth Clay dolls) I was able to practice and learn just how to do this. My first two heads were made on styrofoam bases. This second one even sported ears.
Next I worked on a couple of cloth dolls - putting the paperclay over cloth. I'm not sure how well I like the results of this because the head is too 'flat' and ended up looking more like a primitive stone statue - perhaps something worshipped by early man (and woman) - definitely not the look I was searching for.
The scariest part of the process was no longer working with the clay but painting the 'raw umber' over my carefully sculpted 'masterpiece'. Yikes!! It looked dreadful and I really worried that this whole process wouldn't work, even though I had seen from the tutorial that it would. Still this was only practice so why not give it a try?
I'm 'training' myself to play - to experiment - to learn and not to worry about finished product or perfection or any of those other limitations on creativity. Its quite refreshing.
"One of the greatest joys known to man is to take a flight into ignorance in search of knowledge." - Robert Staughton Lynd
Life is full of adventures -- some come upon us not by our choosing, others we bring upon ourselves. Recently our InspiredArts Guild had a challenge. The challenge was to use something (anything) that you have had laying around for awhile. Many of us have a bit of this and a bit of that snugged onto shelves, spilling out of boxes. Some things were acquired because we liked them but didn't know what to do with them once we got them home. Others acquired because we've 'always wanted to try that'.
My challenge fell into that category. Paper clay! I've admired the work done with it for some time and one day I bought a block of it with the idea that I would at least try it out - someday!! So this past month the 'someday' came in response to the IA challenge.
Thank heavens for Google - for tutorials that walk us through each step - for the opportunity to sit alone trying something, without the onus of 'what other people are doing or thinking about our sad attempts'.
These days my nails are apt to be sporting bits of dried paper clay as I work through this new-to-me process. And from the looks of this guy - my learning curve is going to be pretty steep!
"Creativity comes from looking for the unexpected and stepping outside your own experience." - Masura Ibuka
