Box of Heads

I have been a sculpting fool this past couple of weeks. I've made so many santa faces I'm dreaming faces! Each face takes me an hour or two to sculpt. I use glass or plastic eyes (plastic...not a good idea when I am baking the heads, but if I bake longer and at a lower heat, I can manage it without distortion.) The eyes tend to speak to me as I lay the clay on. Sometimes just one swipe of the modeling tool sets me on a whole new track in where I am going with the face. I may start thinking, 'he is a serious face', and then, with a little more clay on the cheek than I wanted, suddenly his eyes sparkle and I am adding more clay and making him laugh. They evolve for me, taking me with them as I bring forth the face they want to be. Once I add the wool to these faces they will take on a whole new look and feel. Some faces that I am not too happy with will sometimes be the ones I step back from and admire as a finished santa, and sigh with pleasure. I never know where this process will take me.

Check back for the next stage of santa building. Bases and bodies....

The Process of Santa

I have a show soon in Cumberland and since I can only make stuff from one category, I chose to make santas. I thought it would be fun to share my creative process while I make them. So here is the first stage. I begin with a ball of tinfoil and shape it into roughly the size I need for a 16-22 inch figure. I then add a pancake of polymer clay to the back of the head and bake. Then I set the eyes, and fill in any deep crevices with polymer so there are no air pockets. I bake them again. This is the result of the second bake.

These creepy little faces are the basis for my santa faces...really...they look better later...