Mosaic portrait of actress Sophie Turner

I was watching my favorite TV show, Game of Thrones, when I was intrigued with the face of the actress Sophie Turner who plays the character Sansa Stark.  I took a screen capture with computer and knew that I had found my next portrait.  This was going to be a challenge for me since it was the first time trying to do a portrait of this kind in color.  The finished dimensions are 40 X 30 inches.  I lost count of the number of canes that I made for this but I'd guess around 50, not counting the gray toned background tiles which were left over from my son's portrait.  I'd say at least 5 pounds of clay and many, many, many hours of labor.

Broke out the food process when face this this much clay to condition.

Some of the canes I created for this portrait.

 

All of the canes had to be reduced to the same 1/2 inch

Then the canes are sliced, baked and sorted.

Video of the process

click below

I took the following pictures and posted to Facebook.  There was much debate over who it was.  The guesses ranged from Obama to Scarlett Johannsson.  Gillian Anderson was a popular guess but her identity was revealed when someone suggested Sophie Turner. (it probably didn't hurt that the guesser knew I was a big fan)



Life Is Like A Bowl Of Polymer

When I made the last face mosaic canes, I would cut the ends off and save them.  I was then left with a full size "slice" of the cane.  I always thought these were cool looking.  I liked that the ends were not even with each other.  I had ideas going through my head of ways of adding depth and making it more like a sculpture.  So when did I finally come up with my next idea?  Right in the middle of my last project.  I was working on the next project in my fairy tale line, beauty and the beast, when I came up with this idea to create a curved surface.  Not only do you have to step back from the piece but you have to be looking straight on to see the whole picture. This was even a larger leap of faith.  I was probably 1/3 to 1/2 done before I had convinced myself that the layout was working.  When I built my previous mosaic canes it was unbaked and I could replace some of the canes later (although it was not easy to do) if a section didn't look right.  I couldn't do that this time.  It was also harder to step back from it and see the face.  The curve was hard to prop up.  But I pressed onward and finished it with faith.   Of course since it is made of extruded canes the picture is the same on both sides.  It brought some new challenges in coming up with building the piece.  I think I still have to work on some issues for the next one.  I also think I will be going bigger next time.  This one is 9 inches round by 3.25 in depth.  The one drawback is that there is no cane to reduce to use for other items.  It is a one of a kind.  But I like it and hope you do to.

In the Beginning...

Well I finally have my blog up and I beat my Jan 1st resolution date. I will use this blog to keep those interested in my polymer clay work up to date with my latest work, interests, classes and anything else clay related.

First a little about me. I have been doing polymer clay work for several years but I guess I am most "known" for my face canes. I did my first face about a year ago and you can find a picture of it at the top of this page. Now you may ask yourself "where's the other half?" Well as I said it was my FIRST face cane. If you put her all together she was quite wacky. Not a bad first try and half looks pretty good. I have learned a few things since then enough in fact that people actually want me to teach a class. So thanks to my new friend Annie Hooten I will be doing just that in Mar of 2009 in Albuquerque, NM. If you'd like more information about the workshop email me or Annie. I will be telling you more about the workshop in later posts. I will also be telling you about any current projects that I am working on. Above is a picture of a more current face cane like the one we will be creating at my workshop.