Project by Brenda Forlong from Plant City, Fla.
Although Brenda has tried just about every medium imaginable, clay has always been her passion--perhaps because her whimsical clay characters allow her to infuse so much of her own bubbly silliness into each unique piece.
Materials:
newspaper
clay
acrylic paints
stain
string and beads
electric kiln
sponge
small knife
clay tools
Steps:
1. Start out with a sketch of what you would like to make.
2. Roll out a slab of stoneware clay.
3. Crumple newspaper up and tape it together to create shoulders and bust. Drape clay over newspaper and seal areas around newspaper, but leave a hole at top for the neck. It will be a clay bust with no neck or head.
4. Roll out a thick clay coil to make the neck. The piece needs to be like a hollow tube.
5. Make two half circles, like clay bowls, and fit the two halves together. Attach and smooth adjoining areas. The head will also need to be hollow.
6. Attach all three pieces to create the initial body of the sculpture. Roll out extra clay rolls, which will be used to attach pieces to each other, and then smooth the adjoining areas so it looks like one piece.
7. Grab some clay to make the lips, nose, chin, cheekbones and eyes, to make the face of the sculpture.
8. After face is done, start to make hair, a hat, flower and buttons. Then carve out a collar in the shoulder area.
9. "Stamp" a real button into the bust portion. This will create a texture on the clay, creating an illusion of fabric.
10. Use a sponge to smooth out the rough edges of the sculpture and let the sculpture dry for a day.
11. After the piece has dried, use a small knife and rubber-tipped clay tool to carve out all the additional details and smooth out edges, giving the sculpture more dimension. Add detail to the sculpture until you're satisfied with the look.
12. Remove newspaper from the bottom of the sculpture and allow the completed sculpture to dry for about five days until bone dry.
13. Fire for about 6 or 7 hours. Let the piece remains in the kiln until it is completely cool.
14. Paint the all the different parts of the figure with several different acrylic paints. For example, the bust portion will be painted to seem like a sweater. Then let the paint dry overnight.
15. Paint a stain over the entire sculpture and immediately wipe it off. Add more or less stain if needed.
16. Spray the piece with a clear acrylic matte finish.
17. String together some beads to make a necklace and place on sculpture.
E-mail: BrendaForlong@yahoo.com
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