Sculpting is probably one of the most rewarding art forms out there. There's just something about starting with a lump of clay and seeing a little baby emerge from under your own hands. But it's not always artistic inspiration and fun and whatnot. If you're a sculptor, you know what I mean. If you're not, allow me to enlighten you. ;)
1. Dirty clay. No matter how much I wash my hands and clean them with a piece of clay before hand, some form of dust, lint or dirt ends up on my sculpts. And let me tell you, going back in with an exacto knife and picking out all the little specks when I could be sculpting is no fun.
2.Cheeks. This may sound strange, but I have this issue about either overdoing or underdoing (I think I made this word up) the cheeks. My sculpts often go through phases where they look like a chipmunk one minute and a shrunken old man the next. But I'm not the only one...right?
3. Bumpy clay. No matter how hard I try, clay will not stay perfectly baby skin smooth to me. There are dents and fingerprints all over by the time I get to it. As a result, I spend many an hour sanding and smoothing the clay with baby oil. My sore fingers are proof.
4. Cracks. Oh yes, cracks. It's the most disheartening thing when you put all your time and energy into creating a beautiful baby only to pull it out of the oven and have it broken. Sometimes cracks can be fixed, but there are other times when they just keep coming back no matter what you do. Thus the reason baking is the most terrifying part of sculpting for me.
5. Soft clay. Now I'm not talking about regular, pliable, soft clay. I love that stuff of course. But it's during the summer months and heat that my clay tends to take a downward turn to mush, making it difficult to work with. So now if you ever come to my house and open the fridge, you'll know why there will most likely be a bag of Super Sculpey sitting next to the milk.
6. Coming back to look at an old sculpt and realizing you hate it. That's happened to me sooo many times. I sculpt what I think is a masterpiece but after leaving it for an hour and coming back with fresh eyes, I realize what I actually sculpted was a creature unrecognizable as a newborn.
7. Smushing a baby you should have kept. This is probably the worst, because there's no undo button in clay (there should be). Knowing that all of your hard work that could of become a beautiful piece of art was destroyed in that second of frustration is always hard to take. All you can do is move on and keep on sculpting.
And that's it! Now don't get me wrong, I still adore sculpting. But of course no art form is perfect, and that's something that I've learned to accept. And yes, I do have a new baby in the works! This one is a first for me, so it's extra special. I'll post WIP pics soon!
Have a great week!
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