Confessions of a Modern Witch: clay

The Mastery Continues....

May 4, 2016

As my year of mastery moves forward I have come to terms with the fact that I much prefer polymer clay to wet clay. The weeks of waiting for a piece to dry only to have it crack/break at the kiln is just too much for me. The polymer clay is so much more forgiving. With that in mind I've spent the last few weeks watching tutorials and online classes to improve my work with the polymer.

I have developed my own look and feel to the creatures I create and have named them Woodlins. This is my first one.

Artist & Photographer - Renee Sosanna Olson

Drawing Down the Moon - Reveal

April 18, 2016

This was my first attempt at making a full bodied human. Not as smooth as I would like but I will continue to try. :)

Artist & Photographer - Renee Sosanna Olson

Dragon - Reveal

April 11, 2016

This is how that dragon I shared with you last month turned out.

Artist & Photographer - Renee Sosanna Olson

Drawing Down the Moon - Polymer Clay

March 28, 2016

This is my first time creating a full body statue with the polymer clay of a person. I call this one "Drawing Down the Moon" - She is just waiting to be painted.

Photographer & Sculptor - Renee Sosanna Olson

Dragon - Polymer Clay

March 21, 2016

As part of my year of mastery, I've decided to work on my clay as well as my jewelry. Here's a recent creation. I used an armature for the first time for one of these. He is just waiting for paint now.

Photographer & Sculpter - Renee Sosanna Olson

Throwing Thursday - Diz & Horns Galore

April 30, 2015

This week I decided to try to make a clay drinking horn. I had a few orders for candle sticks and a diz so I did those as well.

Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Throwing Thursday - Genie in the Bottle

March 26, 2015

So I started out making a few pots and decided to try to give them a bit more whimsical. Here's my take on a Genie Bottle.

Photo & Potter Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Throwing Thursday - Sounds of Spring

March 19, 2015

I'm getting so excited for spring. I decided this year with the vardo creation kicking out what a great way to wake up in the morning than with the sound of wind chimes. Here's the creation process.

First we roll out a piece of clay and cut or shape the chimes.

Potter & Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Once the clay becomes leather hard it is time to drill the holes and add some detail. A word of caution here. As you can see in the photo some of my clay bits (hats and cauldrons) are darker than the others (boots and brooms). This is because the clay was thicker when I cut the darker pieces so it dried slower. The thinner pieces will dry faster and be more brittle when it comes time to carve them. A work around would be to lay a wet rag over them to soften them a bit or work gingerly. We ended up losing one broom and a boot in this set.

Potter & Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

We used a drill bit to put the holes in and then the needle tool to etch some design detail on the other pieces such as a shoe buckle for example.

Potter & Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
Detail work by Elijah Olson

The detail was applied to both sides of the chime pieces. The brooms turned out amazing. I can't wait to see how these bisque and finally glaze fire.

Potter & Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson
Detail work by Elijah Olson

Here are a few examples of the types of chimes I'm going to try to carry.

Wolf & ravens with full moon.

Potter & Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Bear with full moon.

Potter & Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Cat & mouse with full moon.

Potter & Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Mermaid/Siren with seashells and full moon.

Potter & Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Owl with full moon

Potter & Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

Throwing Thursday - Latest Throw

March 12, 2015

Here they are still on the bats.

Potter & Photo Credit - Renee Sosanna Olson

These are some custom order diz. A diz is a tool used to create yarn stands from fiber on a hackle. It was my first time ever trying this type of thing. I had to order a special stand to fire them. I love the way they turned out in the leather hard stage. Next will be bisque fire.