Tag: Crafts

Sculpted Child in Clay

Posted on by Faith

I love having a ton of projects all at once. Sometimes it feels like too much but other times it motivates me, keeps my spirit flowing. Recently I’ve been able to finish up several projects that sat on the back burner while I dealt with life. Life happens fast sometimes then it clams just enough to let you catch your breath and recharge. During my period of rest I finished 4 large projects. I have to say I’m kinda proud of myself.

There are yet 3 unfinished projects in the Sundrip Studio aka my living room. One such project is shown here. She’s a 10 inch doll hand sculpted out of cold clay.*Cold clay is clay you don’t fire.

Here’s what needs to be done to complete this doll and cross her off my artist’s to-do list. I need to work on her face more, add hands and decide on clothing. When I work on her face more I’m going to raise the eyebrows so she’s not frowning so much but, don’t expect a smile. To give her a smile would take away from what I’m trying to express.

Doll stats: hand sculpted, yarn hair, cold clay, 10 inches tall, a first for me. 🙂

Thank you for visiting SUNDRIP – Art for Life

Faith-Magdalene Austin

Mariah, African-American Ragdoll

Posted on by Faith

Mariah, the Handmade African-American Rag Doll is now available in my shop on Etsy. Please see the sidebar for the Etsy link. SOLD

Mariah was hand painted using oil paints which were allowed to cure. I then hand drew her facial features and painted them in acrylics. Her clothing is upcycled and includes a hand formed bead on her scarf. She is about 30 inches tall. She has big brown light eyes and medium brown soft hair put up in ponytails. Her ribbons match her scarf. The doll she’s holding is not included.

All though Mariah is well put together I don’t consider her a toy. She’s more of a shelf sitter or welcome doll for a novelty shop or for the home of a fine art doll collector.

Hand washable. Continue reading “Mariah, African-American Ragdoll”

Clay Gone Wrong

Posted on by Faith

I was at my favorite store, Hobby Lobby, where they had a super sail on Polymer Clay. Instead of nearly $3 per tiny package I was able to purchase it at $1.25 each. I was thrilled and grabbed a few cream colored packages. The color didn’t really matter much because I was just going to paint it anyway but I wanted a light color. Cream it was. I went home thrilled.

Later that evening I turned the lights out to go to bed when I noticed 4 glowing squares on the table. Turns out I didn’t pick up cream I picked up neon. Dang it! Four packages of neon glowing polymer clay! Oh well I thought, I’ll deal with it. Mostly I made stamps to use for clay that doesn’t glow in the dark. I made a sunflower mold as well as a mold for a small figuring I’m working on. You can see her here.

After making stamps and molds I had a tiny bit of clay left so I shaped together a pendant 1 inch by a half inch. I think it turned out pretty well, only thing is, when you turn the lights out part of the pendant glows. This is the only one though, the others don’t glow in the dark. 🙂

Sometimes you just gotta laugh at yourself.

fma

Fun with Clay Beads

Posted on by Faith

Polymer clay beads…because clay is fun.  ALL HAVE BEEN SOLD

Pear Three Stones – SOLD
Neon Gold Green – (US$3 s/h $1.50)
Bronze Gold Blue Green – (US$3 s/h $1.50) SOLD
White Chocolate – SOLD
Pendant Sunflower Rustic – (US$3 s/h $1.50) SOLD
Pendant Sunflower Rustic SOLD
Pendant Sunflower Rustic SOLD
Handmade SOLD
Not for sale

I’m brand spanking new at clay works, especially polymer clay, boy is it different than natural clay. Seeing as how I don’t have a kiln then polymer is my next best option.

About 4 months ago my physical therapist suggested I build hand strength by working with clay. I was unable to start with clay but I did start with play dough and work my way up. Clay is great physical therapy and a great creative tool.

Seeing as how I like to change things up a bit I decided against using store bought stones but instead found small rocks from outside to place in the pendant bezel. Fun, fun, fun. All of these are hand painted and hand formed and all were a total blast right to the end.

You can see a few items in my Etsy Shop. Check the sidebar for the Etsy link.

fma

ALL HAVE BEEN SOLD

Humble in Polymer Clay

Posted on by Faith

I started out with several squares of clay and just sort of kept messing around until I got to a spot where I thought I might be on to something. When I realized I was on to something I punched it all down and started over. I formed the face with more features, added a shawl, lacy texture to the bottom of the dress, a hat and folder hands at her chest.

. . .. .  .

Continue reading “Humble in Polymer Clay”

Turquoise and Bronze Ornaments

Posted on by Faith

What do you get when you mix a Christmas ornament, adobe clay and acrylic paints? You get three hand designed turquoise and bronze ornaments to decorate a hand strung hairpipe bone plant hanger.

The design is drip glaze style achieved by layering acrylics over adobe clay. The ornaments were allowed to air dry then a clear sealer was added. Continue reading “Turquoise and Bronze Ornaments”

Handmade Rag Doll Plastic Bag Holder

Posted on by Faith

This doll has been hand stitched and has a dress which doubles as a bag holder for ‘green conscious’ individuals. Her hair is made of soft brown yarn and comes down long to her arms but is currently twisted up. All her accessories such as the 5 paper flowers and gold trim scarf can be removed for a new look.

With peachy soft skin, big green eyes and beautiful brown hair this plastic bag holder doll will surely bring a smile to your face. Her dress is a dark reddish brown and cream checkered pattern. She’ll fit perfectly in a country or modern home.

The doll was hand stitched and her features were hand painted. The bag itself is a rescued item as are the flowers, buttons and ribbon for her scarf. Continue reading “Handmade Rag Doll Plastic Bag Holder”

One Prayer – Child in Clay

Posted on by Faith

I love clay especially when I can hand form something. I don’t have tools for clay work so I’m a bit limited. I still enjoy it but right now I’m uncertain how to proceed with this clay piece. I want to decrease the size of her nose and paint her either solid pearl or solid black. I’d like to give her a few more facial features as well. I guess what I’m concerned about is messing her up. I’m so new at this that I worry I’ll just jack her up so I suppose for awhile she’ll sit this way on my table.

Stressed Clay Sunflower Ornament

Posted on by Faith

This is a hand formed clay rectangle ornament with a single sunflower painted in oils. The ornament is about 4 inches by 2.5 inches with a half inch thickness making this solid and of a good weight. It has a stressed/aged feel and is accented with a light blue sky and green grass.

The ornaments are easier to make than they are to photograph.

fma

Recycled Ornaments

Posted on by Faith

I ran across some small ornaments that I thought might be fun to paint. The original ornament is made of glass but with an adobe clay overlay, acrylic paints and water proof seal I was able to come up with a whole new look. The clay overlay strengthens the ornament making it harder to break which I like because I’m a bit clumsy sometimes.

How to:

Basically what I did was paint on the clay then I let it dry. I  painted on a base color, let that dry then added various layers of partially transparent acrylics. This let the base color come through but in different shades. The final color added was to the very top which was allowed to drip down the sides . What I didn’t do was spin the ornaments because that’s a less controlled technique. I wanted the colors to blend in places but not to have a spun appearance. I think dipping helps control the paint and lets it drip down nicely. Of course when you dip you’ve got build up at the bottom so just take a small cloth (not a napkin) and dab the bottom so that you don’t have that little drop of paint drying under the sphere. Once it’s dry spray it with a seal and dab the bottom the same as you did with excess paint. Viola, there’s your redesigned, up-cycled ornament.

Continue reading “Recycled Ornaments”