adulting with whimsy
In the sculptor’s lair with Marie Young: polymer clay sculptures and mixed media projects. Sculpting tutorials, tips and tricks for your own projects. See original work created. Each piece is meticulously handcrafted in the MarieYoung Creative studio and sold online and in select galleries. No mass produced work here!
A 2-inch sculpture can hold an incredible amount of detail. Take for example this polymer clay miniature dragon baby that I tucked into an real chicken egg shell. He fits in the palm of my hand and yet his story is big.The sleepy dragon’s eyelids droop as he drifts off to sleep. His tale of […]
Malcolm Gladwell wrote in the Outliers that it takes 10,000 hours to master a field. While I’m a long way from dedicating my 10,000 hours to sculpting, I do know that I improve every day that I’m in the studio. Working Toward 10,000 Hours Meet Emily, my entry in the PCAGOE Re-Do Challenge. What people […]
There used to be a simpler time before Pinterest when a butter cookie in the shape of a star was fancy enough. My Great-Grandma, true to her old-world German roots, didn’t add any glitz in her baking. I think her most decorative cookie was the “rudolph” sporting a cinnamon candy on his nose. While I […]
Eggs crack. Sometimes that is a good thing. I was smoothing the green clay on what was supposed to be a bird when I heard a sudden cracking noise. My thumb had just plunged into the hollow egg shell that I was covering. Sometimes when this happens the egg is a lost cause. Sometimes it […]
Creating with texture plates is one of those “go-to” things for many of us who work with polymer, yet I’ve never tried to design one of my own. Since “Texture Plates” was the theme for this month’s Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy challenge I figured I would give it a whirl. I used the tops […]
Some of my favorite childhood memories include walking over an open foot bridge and peering down at the swirling koi beneath my feet. Such grace! And the colors were breathtaking. “Gone Fishing” Cat & Fish Egg Art Ornament I imagine that the little gray kitty staring down at this koi is experiencing that same giddy sense […]
The Making of a Monkey Astronaut This monkey astronaut’s shuttle pod is actually a small brown chicken egg. Hollow eggs make awesome frames for creative critter ornaments. The photo below shows an “in progress” shot of the monkey’s head as well as some additional views. The idea for this piece came from the theme for the June Challenge […]
Voting is open in the May Challenge: Fish. Swim on over and cast your vote and you could win a prize: Fish Challenge
Eyes are the windows to the soul, yet how to create lifelike eyes is a struggle for artists, myself included. Deep soulful eyes, piercing demonic eyes, playful critter eyes…each creation calls for a different eye treatment. To improve my eye-painting skills, I started to collect my favorite examples and tutorials on a Pinterest Board called “The Eyes Have It.” Here […]
May Fish Challenge It’s fishy fun for my guild, the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy, this month for the May Challenge. On March 18, I had emergency surgery that put me out of commission for about 4 weeks. This little fishy is my first foray back into working with clay. It is about 2 inches long […]
