Day of the Dead Totem Pole

Are you ready for the Day of the Dead? Will you celebrate it?

I have been making "sugar" (clay) skulls as pendants, rings, hair clips, wedding dress accessories, cake toppers, etc, for all my clients who come to me with very cool skull ideas and requests, for as long as I've had my etsy store. I have loved making each one of them, believe me, they are as fun to make as they are to wear!, Yet, I must confess that this colorful tradition is sort of new for me. I am originally from Venezuela and over there we don't celebrate it.

As you can imagine, over the years I've grown curious about it, and needed to find about its origins and meanings. I researched, read, sketched, read some more, wrote some notes, continued working on my sketches, until I was satisfied and ready to create my latest sculpture: A "Day of the Dead Totem Pole" that would share my take on its origins.

A Day of the Dead Totem Pole? someone asked. Yes, I said, a Day of the Dead Totem pole.

Totem poles were originally carved out of wood, their meaning depended on who made them. They could recount legends, tribes lineages, or tell a story, and even when neither the Aztecs nor Mayans made them, it was the perfect way for me to show what I had learned about the Day of the Dead origins.

With my sketch ready, I began the clay process. As a base I used a bottle and attached it to the wood base. From then on, it was a matter of bringing my sketch to life. Piece by piece, taking care of all the little details.

In my totem pole, you can see from the top down, the Sun God, giver of life and light, represented with a skull face, underneath it, you can see the Eagle that for the Aztecs was the transformed Sun God that would fly to catch the stars, flying from east to west, always vigilant and victorious. Stone gods, with powerful expressions. Mighty warriors of the Aztec & Mayan empire, with many skulls among them, symbolizing all the human sacrifices. Temples, nopales, and more symbols of the mesoamerican culture. To the sugar skulls, placed among fruits and flowers of the traditional Day of the Dead altars.

My design made my heart smile, but in this sculpture, I wanted to share part of the mystery of  the dead through sound too.... So, after much thinking, I decided that bones was the perfect way to do so...  no, dont worry, I didnt put bones in it, I used rice, sand and rocks... but the idea behind it is kind of creepy-cool dont you think? 

My "Day of the Dead Totem pole" is my small tribute to this tradition, my art expression of its legacy.

Adriana
xox

Polymer Clay in Paradise

I first heard of Polymer Clay about 17 years ago. Back then I was working with Plasticine in Margarita Island, "painting" island scenes and island life with it. The tourists loved it, and I discovered my life's passion.

Its been quite a long time since those days, and as I meet more and more wonderful polymer clay artists and even plasticine artists, I am always marveled when I get to meet someone who shares the same love for "clay painting" as I do.

 

 

This year I was greatly surprised to discover a wonderful artist while vacationing in Oahu, Hawaii. Her name is Jean Bullen, her work is beautiful. She brings to life island scenes with color mastery, polymer clay details and love! As my kids said: "you can almost feel the waves in her beach scenes, and hear the waterfalls"

Not only is her work truly amazing but her personality as well. It was a pleasure meeting her and chatting about our love for art & polymer clay.

Next time you are in Oahu, make sure to contact her, and take home some of her beautiful island scenes that are sure to bring a smile to your heart for years to come. :)

Her contact information:
Jean Bullen
www.kinisclaycreations.com
email: Hookili808@yahoo.com

Aloha dear friends!

xoxox
Adriana

Incredible Artists, Wonderful People: Bettina Welker

Happy New Year everyone! :) To kick off 2012 with great energy, and continuing with my monthly digest of inspiring artists, I have the honor of introducing to you the amazing and incredibly talented Bettina Welker! She is not only a wonderful polymer clay artist and great teacher, but also a graphic designer! :)

Her work is known, admired and respected all over the world!! Her pieces are fun, dynamic and perfect to wear any day and time! Her strong design skills are obvious in all her pieces, making them an instant fashion statement.

I had the opportunity to be her student at the European Clay Carnival and she is not only a very talented artist but a terrific teacher!

Her class was fun and highly creative! :)




Here is our interview:

Hi Bettina, when & how did you discovered Polymer Clay?

Actually I did know Polymer Clay (in the form of FIMO) when I was a kid, but money was short and I never got a chance to actually use it then.

In late 2003 I was looking for a material for making kitschy snow globes as a gift for Christmas and I stumbled over Polymer Clay again.

I was amazed over the possibilities this material had to offer - and looking at all these great pieces of jewelry made from pc that I found in the internet, I decided to skip the snow globe project and I did jewelry for Christmas.

And I didn't stop working with this amazing material ever since.

 

Would you mind sharing where does your  inspiration come from?

Oh, the big question:) I cannot really answer that - I guess if you walk through the world curiously with eyes open then inspiration can strike you at any moment.

You see a shape or a color or a pattern and your creative mojo just starts going. This can be everything for me - architecture, nature, paintings or just a walk through the hardware store ... And sometimes I sit down just to clay a little and it happens ...  even got new ideas just by cleaning up my studio;) 

How much of your art is influenced by your graphic design skills?

Well, I guess very much. When I was a design student I had to go through one year of Walter Gropius'  Bauhaus "boot camp" (http://bauhaus-online.de/en/atlas/das-bauhaus/lehre) where students receive a basic training in the properties of color, forms and material.

It was a tough year instructed by the very strict but genius Oskar Holweck, but I will be always grateful that my school offered this base training. So, as a trained graphic designer I'm equipped with a lot of knowledge about shape, spaces, color, composition and such. 

Color mixing and combining color comes easy to me. I never use color recipes to get a specific hue. I just start out with the base color and mix in other colors until I get what I want. 

The shapes and patterns in my jewelry are most of the time very geometric and I always try to feature the unique properties of polymer clay as an art material in my pieces.

Is there anything you would like to try in clay that you haven't explore yet?

Good question. I'm sure there is but I don't really have a plan. Well, from time to time I think about diving into sculpture a little bit more but I always get carried away by creating this new piece of jewelry that pops into my mind, you know? ...*g*

You can find her amazing work here:
http://www.beadworx.de
http://www.etsy.com/shop/beadworx
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beadworx/
http://www.craftartedu.com/polymer-clay/category-230?filterModel.searchKeyword=Welker

Thank you dear Bettina for your time and for sharing your wonderful art with us! :) I hope to be able to see you again real soon! 

Love, hugs and again Happy Wonderful New Year 2012!!!

xoxo

Adriana

Christmas time is here! How do you celebrate?

As we make family plans and I sculpt Holiday Gifts and Christmas items, I wonder: "How do you celebrate the Merriest of Seasons?" 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ClayCat

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ClayCat

Clara & Nutcracker (made to order)

After 12 years in the USA, I have come to love, admire and respect this wonderful country, and I love how after Thanksgiving the whole country turns into the Holiday spirit! ...Yes, I must confess, I also love the sales and all the shopping of the season :D

Pier 39, San Francisco, California

However, Christmas time in my home, has to be Venezuelan style! :) with traditions from my childhood, I hope to teach my daughters about my country and my culture. My Venezuela (the one I grew up in) was once a very nice country, filled with laughter and happy, wonderful people.

We celebrate Baby Jesus Birthday and prepare our homes to welcome Him on Christmas eve.  In most Venezuelan homes you will find a Christmas Manger.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ClayCat

Our holiday menu consists of Hallacas, Pan de Jamon, chicken salad and Pernil! We also have turkey, Pineaple Ham, Panettone and even Apfelstrudel, yes, our menu is as rich as all the wonderful immigrants who made Venezuela their home and shared their culture.

     Hallaca           Pan de Jamon (Ham Bread)       Venezuelan Holiday Meal

Music is a very important part of our tradition. The sounds of gaitas and aguinaldos make my heart beat to the rhythms of sweet memories of my beautiful country.

 

All this mixed in with family and friends is an unbeatable way to make Christmas the best time of the year! :)

I hope and wish your Christmas Season is filled with Love and Peace.

a very small part of my family celebrating Christmas in Fl.

Feliz Navidad!

xoxo

Adri

Mine-Mine-Mine and the fantastic energy at the Euro Clay Carnival 2011

A few very busy weeks have passed since I came back from my first ever clay event!

As a graphic designer I've attended many conferences & workshops, but as an artist this was my first, and what an amazing experience it was!

This year, the Europe Clay Carnival was held in Bad Homburg, Germany. I guess this puzzles my friends as they keep asking me, "Why did you go to Germany for a clay event?" Well, I had never been in Germany (so that was an adventure right there), the teacher line up was great!, and I loved the idea of meeting my Artists friends from Europe in person (I already knew many of them on Facebook), plus I have family living in Portugal and Spain (my brother and my sister), so I decided to take two weeks and make it a business/fun-family trip.

Beautiful & wonderful friends, Eva, Anke, Bettina & Donna

I had the opportunity to attend classes by polymer clay artists such as Eva Ehmeier, Bettina Welker, Donna Kato, Leslie Blackford & Kiki (Ulrike) It was wonderful to meet them all and to see how they work, learn techniques and processes! :)

I also need to mention that I LOVED my dear roommate, the international classroom and table friends! You guys rock! :) I miss you all!!!

Eva & me right after winning her brooch

"Mine-Mine-Mine"
or the power of visualization at the Euro Clay Carnival! :) 

While at the ECC, Bettina had mentioned how she wanted to win one of Eva's golden boxes and she had said: "mine-mine-mine" and won it! Wonderful!, right? :) 

Well, remembering this, when it was time for the raffle on our last night, I went to Eva's table and she mentioned that one of her brooches was in the raffle, so I looked at her and said: "I call it, its MINE, MINE, MINE!" we both laughed and when the time came for Eva's brooch, I started thinking, "please let it be #4!!! Please let it be mine". Somehow I missed the English translation, as all I hear was "vier", "vier" (it sounds like "feer", which I associated it with five) and I looked at Eva and she looked at me, and I say, Ohhh, I have #4 and put a sad face, but she is signaling YES, its you! and I am like WHAT??? lol it was the most incredible win ever! I jumped out of my seat, went and hugged her, ran to get my prize and couldnt stop laughing & jumping! LOL

Carmen, me & Katarina :) 3 of the lucky winners!

To make things even more fun for this story, my dear friends Carmen from Romania and Katarina from Slovenia also said, "Mine-Mine-Mine" for the wonderful bead-strand and Donna's beautiful pendant! Here we are the 3 lucky winners who now swear by "Mine-Mine-Mine" :)

Almost all the group! Wonderful artist, great new friends!

Europe was great! In Germany I met a long time friend and his beautiful family who gave me an unforgettable tour of Frankfurt!

In Portugal & Spain I got to spend quality time with my dear family!!! I had a WONDERFUL time!! :)...and yes, now I am day-dreaming of my next trip to a fun & wonderful clay event, wherever that might be! :) (I just need to save some money again! lol)

Adriana

xoxo