iCLAY

The young man sat on the sidewalk of Gurney Drive, his fingers moving deftly around a clay figurine. He caught my attention at once. Quite unabashedly, I stood in line to watch him. Next to me was a five year old girl, watching him, just as mesmerized as I was. The clay he used was called iCLAY and it was produced in Korea. It was inspiring to watch him work. In return for the two packets of clay I purchased, he allowed me to take some snapshots and to watch him make a little mouse.

These figurines had to be air-dried for four days and do not require baking in an oven. Unused clay, however had to be kept in air-tight tubs. The clay can also be recycled by first separating the respective colours, placing them in an air-tight container with a little water, then leaving them in the sun. Condensation returns the moisture to the clay.

Clay And Crochet

Serena's spider

Serena's ant

Making clay roses weren't very difficult after all. You need a toothpick to mount the petals. To make those petals, pinch a little clay and squish it till its ... well ... petal-like.

Mama Bear

Mama Bear (not her real name) is a recent acquaintance. She reminded me of Artsy (not her real name) a kindred friend I fear I've lost on account of my troubles with big C. We used to be so chummy, Artsy and me. We critique any works of creation like we knew what we're talking about. Our discourses were unusually intellectual and at times far-fetched but we argued our points, we defended our stands and each held on to her differences.

Not that I blamed her, you understand? If I had been in her shoes, I'd probably be avoiding me too. Big C have that effect on people. I saw the fear in her eyes, the polite inquiries she made, the little tremor she suppressed when listening to my agonies. No. I could not blame her. I would have done the same. Artsy by way of her love for art, inspired the creative side of me to emerge from the layers of analytical attribute prioritized by a flawed system.

Friendship is like the rare bird which is perched upon the forest canopy. It rests as long as it should and when the time is right, it flew away. The sun continue rising and setting while Time cajoled the passing hour. The world moved on and so should I.

Mama Bear, though a lot like Artsy looked at art from a different perspective. She saw the imminent possibilities all at once and is quick to grasp the idea and to attend to it. Through her eyes, I now viewed  pieces of art work differently.

Mama Bear introduced me to polymer clay and ribbon art, plus a host of other works of creation, which I shall explore eventually. For now though, my attention is arrested by the wonders of clay. I'm thinking of making little figurines and pink panthers swinging upon my crochet balls but - it is so darn difficult,

Batik Cushions - Part 2

So I've been busy. It took me forever to finish coloring the ten batik pieces I bought back in ...  2014 ..... and - good heavens ..... has it been that long?

Soaked overnight in sodium silicate

Drip-drying

And that's the finished product(above). Dripped dry and stiff as a board. Next, they had to be washed in cold water to rinse off the silicate. The pieces went limp again as rightly they should. After this, they were soaked in hot boiling water to remove the wax.

I had lots of leftover colours so I melt me down some birthday candles, drew some lines (using a brush) on a cotton fabric, then went on a coloring spree.

They sold liquid wax applicators (without stoppers) at the Batik Natural Village but it wasn't something I could handle. We're talking hot liquid wax here. However, with the applicator, you could produce some pretty intricate designs. For the time being, I'll stick to boxes and straight lines.

Next, these pieces will be  sewn into cushion covers.