Working with Terracotta
Chapter 1
Miniature Figurines
Jam, Sauces and Pickles everywhere....
Everytime a jam bottle got over, I used to wonder
what it could be used for rather than the usual way to store masalas (Indian
Spices), which I have used myself and I am sure most of our mothers and
grandmothers would be doing the same when a glass bottle got empty, as it is
scientifically proven that cheaper plastics react with the masalas and hence is
not considered a safe way to store the spices. Again got everything cleaned up,
dried and stored away.
Like most of the mothers my day too starts with
making breakfast for the family, packing the lunch boxes, getting the kids
ready for school, breakfast time with my husband and once he goes to office,
starts “ MY CRAFTY TIME” which goes on for couple of hours until the kids are
back from school.
It was during one of those CRAFTY mornings that I
stumbled upon a terracotta pack that was purchased earlier. On one of my usual crafty hunts, I came across a pack of air drying terracotta in one of the leading chain of supermarkets. I had picked it up thinking I might have some use with it on a later occasion.Wanted to try out
sculpting at least once. So I started out making the face first. As it started
to take form, I realised that I requires quite a lot of patience and every
process should be done as fast as possible, as the clay was an air drying one
and once it started drying it had a tendency to become hard and would just chip
off. So I tried to keep it moist enough spraying water every now and then to
prevent hardening and I was pretty happy with the outcome of each feature. Once
the face was over I realised that it had come out to be a miniature face and
that I couldn’t make it stand upright and that it needed a base. That was when
I was reminded of the tiny bottles that were cleaned and stored away . What
could be better than a glass bottle with a miniature figurine on the top. So I started working on the lid of the bottle.
Smoothened the base out on the bottle lid with some more clay and yaaaay there
my figurine stood upright. But when i closed the bottle it looked quite empty.
On one of the earlier craft purchases, I had bought
some shells and beads and also some colourful stones and hence I tried stuffing
my bottle with it. After stuffing the bottle, i have sealed the bottle with the
clay and once it was dry I painted the figurine with acrylic paints. After
drying use little arty glue and stick the satin ribbon/ lace around and tie a
neat bow and the end result :
SEE IT FOR YOURSELF!
Sorry for
not having the working stills as I forgot to take pictures of each process. But
I am sure by reading the process all of you will be able to do this miniature
figurine on your own.
Come
along and lets try creating a MINIATURE FIGURINE.
Things you will need :
Air
drying terracotta
Old Jam/
Sauce bottle washed and dried thoroughly
Beads/
Shells/ Stones for stuffing
Acrylic
paints
Satin
Ribbon for the bow
Method:
Take a lemon sized ball from the terracotta pack
and keep the remaining pack sealed in an air tight container to prevent drying
out. Knead the clay well . Pinch out three small balls approx.0.5 cms. This
will be used for making the eyes and lips. Slowly start forming a face by slightly rolling the
ball to form a slightly oblong shape, flattening it. Now pinch out another 1 cm
clay out and start rolling to form strands of hair. Stick the strands on the
head using water. Add some curls to the tip for the female figurines. Once the
hair is done , let us proceed to the eyes. Flatten the small balls out and
press a toothpick horizontally in the middle to show the eye lids. Now stick
the eyes in place. For the eyebrows roll out two tiny balls and roll out long. Stick
above the eyes. For the nose pinch out a tiny ball of clay and roll it to form
a line thick on one end and thinning it to
the other end. Now stick the nose, thinner side up and thick down( this
would be the nostrils) between the eyes. Make two pin-head holes using the
toothpick for the nostrils. Take the remaining tiny ball for the lips. Roll such
that it is a bit elongated and press it down. Pinch on both sides to give the
shape of the lips. Press the toothpick horizontally between the lip to form the
upper and the lower lip. Now press gently with the toothpick on the middle upperside
of the lip to give it the shape of the upper lip. Pick it up gently from the
work surface with a flat knife and stick under the nose. Now the face is done. Press
it firmly on the bottle lid using some crafters glue and water. Now roll out a
thick piece and place under the face. Merge it with the bottom of the face and
the base of the bottle lid to form the neck of the figure. Smoothen it out to
give a smoother look. U could add collar to the dress/ shirt at this point. Allow
the figurine to dry for 24 hrs. Now fill the bottle to the brim with Beads/
Stones/Shells. Close the lid tightly on the bottle. Roll out a thick piece of
clay and seal the bottle lid. Make sure you smoothen out the clay so that it
looks like an extension to the dress of the figurine. Allow to dry completely. After drying
paint the features using acrylic colours. Tie a bow around to finish the look.
SOME OF MY WORKS
Here I have used
an empty olives pickle bottle for the man and a Nescafe bottle for the lady. Blue
pebbles are used to depict the man’s shirt. String from my son’s old water
bottle is used to show the belt and brown and clear pebbles to show his pants.
The lady is wearing a red and white polka dress.
Husband’s perfume bottle for the man and a jam bottle for
the lady!
An Indian Couple!
Singer
School Kids
70's is back!!
Tribal Boy
ABSTRACTS:
Masai Mother and Child
Let me know what you think about my work. Stay tuned for more of my art works.
