Last post I talked about how to spot hand painted crafts. I did hear from a few of you that they did not know what to look for in painted items and was glad I did that post. I thought this post would address clay figurines. Many of my friends and followers do know that I make clay figurines. Mine are a bit more whimsical in design, but here is what I have learned (many times the hard way) about making clay figurines and why they are such a great buy.
There are many types of clay. I focus primarily on polymer clay with my favorite brand being Fimo (versus Sculpey). The reason I like Fimo over the more popular Sculpey brand is that it bakes harder; isn’t too soft to handle, leaving less fingerprints in the clay. Believe me, when you spend hours on a project, you do not want fingerprints showing up.
My “tools of the trade” are my hands. I do not use molds when I create any piece, which I will probably pay for in about 10-15 years with damaged hands. I do use cutters and extruders for shapes and a number of clay carving tools, but I don’t put a blob of clay in a mold, press, release, bake and paint. This is where handcrafted and the “made in China” products part ways. My studio is not a factory, churning out thousands of the same thing hour by hour. On a very good day, I have been able to do four nativity sets in 6 hours. Another differentiator, handcrafted should last a lifetime if handled properly. I don’t think you can say that about stuff made in China.
To understand what goes into creating a clay figurine so you understand the value you are receiving, here is my process. The hardest part when I create a new design is figuring out the order to build it. You don’t want to do the body, put on the head and then…how do I stick the arms on now? Therefore, when I am creating a new design, it takes me 2-3 times longer so I can figure out the order in which to do it. The other side notes you want to remember, some colors (RED in particular) bleed everywhere. Therefore, when I am creating items that have a lot of red clay in them, I proceed with caution. I have thrown out quite a bit of white clay that brush up against the red clay and ruined the piece. Lastly, as I build, sometimes the design needs a little hidden “bones”. We call these armatures. Some designs just need them because either they are very large, dense or many parts attached to it that it could possibly break without this support. I use wire and aluminum foil. Don’t ask, but works wonderfully. So when you see a handcrafted clay figurine (my figurines are about $28 each or $50 for wedding cake toppers), you are receiving a one-of-a-kind creation.
I hope you have learned how you can easily collect fine custom art pieces that will last for years for not a lot of cash. Let me know your thoughts or questions about this or any craft topic.