Polymer Clay Community

I have been using polymer clay since 1982 and started teaching it in 1987. Polymer clay has been in my home since and I assume it'll be there when I die. I've joked with my kids that at my funeral I want everyone to take home a clay souvenir. (they don't think it's funny, but I'm serious about it)..

Through my experience and journey with clay I've never joined a clay group, a swap or taken a class. I just love it so much, I dove in and found it was something I was good at. I've never considered myself an elitist or part of the "art" community when it comes to clay. I do my thing, you do yours. I admire other people's work and am inspired by some. A lot of people know who I am because of all of the shows I've done and now, because of the Internet. I still have a day job though, cause I've never been quite able to only live on my clay alone. It supplements my income and satisfies my creative cravings.

So, it really amazes me at all of the negative postings I've read on some clay forums in regard to the Polyform/Donna Dewberry partnership. A lot of clay "divas" are mad that they weren't consulted or chosen to be a part of the decisions of the clay and some complain about the certification. Some didn't bother applying for it, so they have nothing to whine about. Others did, but were cynical and negative. I personally applied cause I didn't want to miss out on it and thought it would be fun. If something comes of it, cool. If not, I'm not going to be disappointed.

When I read the comments that people make on the boards, I wonder where their egos come from. Some of the complaints: that they weren't chosen to be a part of it, they weren't consulted about the new clay , they doubt the competence of the manufacturers , they make fun of the trainers and they even have made fun of the names of the clay colors. I've noticed an arrogance mixed in with a lot of ignorance and wrong assumptions.

I've not made any comments on my own on the boards. It's a waste of time to argue and try to justify what Polyform has done. My goodness, they've been in business for 30 plus years and they sell clay around the world. The polymer diva's who buy clay couldn't have kept them in business that long. Too bad these complainers couldn't have taken the factory tour with me. They'd soon realize that the thousands and thousands of bars of clay that were EVERYWHERE weren't being sold to just an elite few.

My opinion is that polymer clay is what it is to the person that is using it. If you make stunningly beautiful canes and it takes you hours to complete a piece then I can see how you would feel that your piece is valuable and an expression of art. Maybe it can go into the Smithsonian Museum. Or maybe you are like me and make cute little characters that make people smile. Finally, you might be a 6 year old cutting out a Christmas ornament and baking it for your mother. Each one of us feels our work is meaningful. It's not the median we use, but what we do with it.

Clay is like crayons. Some people scribble and others make beautiful artwork.

Here are two links to show what can be done with crayons....

Jeffery Robert

The Crayon Artist


Now let's all stop arguing about the medium and start creating with it.:)

Step by step picture tutorial

Here's a quick and easy way to make a turkey. You can adjust the size by adding more quantities of clay. I've included a penny in the pictures to give you an idea of size.

First you roll a ball of brown clay about the size of a walnut...



Then roll smaller ball of yellow, one of red, one of orange and one of brown...






Roll the smaller balls into snakes....


Then, twist all the colors together,,kind of like a candy cane...





Smooth the candy cane and break into 7 equal pieces (we will call these feathers)






Roll out each feather smoothly in your hand and bring to a point. Flatten slightly. Place one on top, one on each side, then fill in the back with the remaining feathers. Put slight pressure to attach to back.

Roll out a tube about 1/2 inch long, this is the neck and head. Attach to middle front of body.
Add a yellow beak, red wattle...
Back in oven for 20 minutes at 265 degrees..let cool.

You can use this as a decoration on your table, or make several and use for each person's place setting.

If you have any questions, email me at garritygal@yahoo.com.

Watching Horror Movies & Making Clay

Well, I've been home for a week now and haven't done much with regional trainer information. I'm supposed to contact Donna Dewberry and give her three training dates and start working on some sample boards. Being gone for a week set me back a week.

One thing that I absolutely have to do is finish a cake topper that is going to Ireland. That'll be done by tomorrow..maybe even shipped. The bride wants a snowman bride and groom cause she is getting married right around Christmas. As soon as I finish it, I'll post a picture.

One of the coolest things that happened when I went to Chicago was that I got to tour the Polyform factory. (did I mention that?) I have been buying clay from them since 1982 so it was fun to step inside the inner sanctum and see where they manufacture polymer clay. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the factory part of the building, but I did take some pictures of the office areas. There were a lot of samples in different offices and the waiting rooms. I even saw on of the samples they purchased from me.

Some of the Regional Trainers with Donna in the Polyform Board Room..



Samples of different projects from Polymer Clay

One of the many projects I did for Polyform..this was the last one they purchased from me.



One of the nicest things that polyform did for us was continually give us bars of clay as we trained. We were given 34 bars of the new clay in the beginning days of training, then an additional 10 to 20 bars. On the last day they surprised us by giving us an additional 34 bars of clay, a very generous gift. I'm patiently waiting for my box of clay to arrive, since it was too much to carry home on the train. I also received 34 bars of the new clay about 5 weeks ago. I'm considered one of their "designers" and we "designers" receive free samples periodically to try out new clays and give our feedback on them. We also received some awesome clay tools and a dozen beautiful texture sheets. These items will not be available to the public till December or January.
Posing with some of the trainers as we tried out the new clay and tools.

If you enjoy using polymer clay, you will really like the new clay, called Studio by Sculpey. It is soft, colors are great and it is VERY durable. One of the trainers stepped on a wooden frame that was decorated with clay leaves and nothing broke. The clay is a bit flexible and can be rolled out very thin. It is sure to be well received.

Horror Movies??

The title of this blog is "watching horror movies" and that's where I'm off to now. Nothing like watching a cheesy 60's horror flick on a Friday night. I might even pop some popcorn...

Adventures in Chicago-land..

When I first got the notice that Sculpey was starting a new education program, partnering with Donna Dewberry, I quickly scanned over the email, thought about it for a moment or two, then put it out of my mind. It wasn't till I received another email that the deadline had been extended that I started to give it some serious thought. Procrastinator that I am, I waited till two days before the deadline, filled out my application and tossed it in the mail. I don't even think it got there in time, but a few months later I received a phone call from Donna Dewberry.

Donna's website.

She wanted to interview me. This was not the first time I had spoken to her. I had met her several years ago at a convention in Chicago and as we talked we found out we had something in common; we both started out in salt dough, then moved on to clay. The big difference between us,,she developed the One-stroke painting method and became very wealthy. I continued in clay and DIDN"T become wealthy. (no biggie,,I am not that driven :)

To make a long story short, she loved my enthusiasm and I was chosen to be an alternate for the new education program that she and sculpey developed. However, one of the original 12 backed out of the program,giving me the opportunity to be the final regional trainer.

The program in a nutshell is this...I and 11 others were "certified" last week in Chicago by Donna Dewberry and Sculpey.

Sculpey website

Our function is to certify other teachers who will in turn teach others polymer clay. It's an "i can do this" program. A lot of people look at polymer clay and fear it. These classes make it very easy for a beginner to do a project from start to finish and feel a sense of accomplishment.

Time will tell how well this program will work. I'm excited about it as I've always been a big fan of polymer clay and have taught classes on and off for years. If anyone is interested in knowing more about the program, please email me. I will be talking about it on this blog also.