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Polymer Clay

Many of my pieces are made with polymer clay, which is the most versatile art medium available today. It comes in a variety of brands, colors and consistencies, can be baked in a regular oven as opposed to a kiln. It can be formed, molded, sculpted, rolled, and can have a variety of other inclusions added. Once cured it, can be sanded, buffed, carved, painted, have more clay added, and rebaked.

I stumbled into polymer clay when I was looking for a type of clay that would harden without a kiln, and could be carved and sanded after it was cured. My first thought when I saw polymer clay in the store was "I don't care about all those colors - I just want to make a white sculpture". Then I wandered into the newsgroup alt.rec.polymer-clay, saw what other people were doing, and was immediately so hooked that I started getting up at 4:30 every morning just to have extra time to do clay work. Now my mission is to get as many other people hooked as possible (kind of like some of the old diet rules: it's not considered cheating on your diet if your friend eats the chocolate cake too. And my favorite: Dear God, if you can't make me skinny, please make all my friends fat).

The only downside, if it can be called that, is that it is a highly addictive substance. I teach occasional clay classes at a local bead shop and warn new students up front that if they crack open the first package, their lives are subject to being disrupted, housework will go down the drain, their families will find themselves eating more pre-prepared food, they will soon develop a corner that is stacked high with clay and clay paraphernalia, they will learn to get by on less sleep, and they will make heavy use of the techniques that they have already developed for sneaking beads into the house (in every class *, I hear "my husband is going to kill me for finding something else to spend money on"). When I teach the classes my husband Bob says "you're training your competition!", but I feel that the more people who learn about polymer clay the more popular it will be and the more we can learn from each other* (see note below regarding other clay artists). Plus, I'm so addicted to it that I will make any excuse to talk about it with anyone else.

The Clay Community

When I first started with polmer clay, I was amazed at the vast wealth of information available on the web. Countless clay artists have spent hundreds of hours creating web pages, collecting and publishing information, making tutorials and hanging out in the message groups answering questions. For the most part, instead of being competitive or secretitive about their techniques, this community is exceedingly generous with sharing techniques, information, thoughts and moral support. (Check out the links page, or go to www.polymerclaycentral.com and click on 'Delphi Forums'). I will always be eternally grateful to all the wonderful clayers out there who have provided so much inspiration. You all changed my life and I can never thank you enough!!!!!