Introduction : Clay & Supplies

I want to share with you how delightful finding and using organic matter combined with this incredible medium can create the most interesting works and precious souls. We will be starting small… with simple faces and talking about our found treasures and how each one can be incorporated into your clay… how each piece can start simply and move onto more elaborate pieces that tell incredible stories. Part of my introduction will be sharing some simple clay faces that can be stored away for later projects and adding them to found organic treasures.

Lesson 1 : pebble pendant

Making this darling little character around a pebble, found on one of my beach walks and turning it into a little pendant. A perfect place to start this little clayful journey together. The joy of using an organic pebble as your armature is a safe and rather wonderful start to this class. Being able to build your pendant with an inner armature gives some push back during your moulding process making this creation much easier and most enjoyable little project with a pleasing result. 

Lesson 2 : The coral Sisters

Finding unique ways of using these interestingly shaped small pieces of shell/coral from my beach, was the starting point for this lesson which in the end created the most delightful hair. Right from the beginning, these two belonged together. I wanted to keep their bodies simple to show you that sometimes the most humble of forms and shapes are more than enough to create a beautiful story of unity and togetherness. We will be using napkins and acrylics to finish their story in paint.

Lesson 3 :  The Protector

Using a SandDollar Shell/Pansy Shell together with a pebble to build this protective soul. We will be making a complete being, using what we learned in lessons 1 and 2 focusing on finding her special shape and form. Also incorporating all that and adding expressive, emotive hands. We will be using a napkin, neocolors and acrylic paints to complete this piece. I will be spending a bit of extra time sharing my unique style of painting hands.

Bonus lesson :  The Bearer of the Rose

Using an eroded oyster shell that was beautifully formed in the shape of a rose and an already made face that I had available, to help bring her story to life. I found an eroded broken shell on my beach and I could immediately see how I could breath new life into it.

This bonus lesson is about how to make something beautiful out of broken pieces of nature and how combining it with PaperClay can mend many things. Anything is possible.

Who is this class for?

Sharing clay is always close to my heart and just like my other classes, these lessons are focused around sharing ideas and planting seeds, which I am hoping will help you grow in you own creative practices around working with nature and clay.

These lessons can be enjoyed by anyone of different clay abilities from beginners to more advanced users.

I hope you will join in and journey together with me, once again, as we create and find our unique stories through found sacred treasures, combining them with our humble paper clay and turning them into creative clay 3D Portraits.

As always, I like to keep our supplies list limited.

I also want to encourage you to use what you can find around you, in your home, what you can find on your daily walks in the forest or on the beach and together with that, find what’s inside of us too.

• PaperClay / Airdrying clay

• Claytools

• Acrylic Paints - of your choice

• Organic matter - shells / pebbles / organic matter

• Other items that could come in handy like small metal loops, leather thong for pendant

• Stamps - optional and always fun

• Ephemera - old papers and napkins