ComeClaywithMe

This is a new class called ComeClaywithMe that I released this year which includes 5 lessons with some bonus material in each section. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for taking another journey with me with and my precious clay.

All in all you will walk away with new Clay SoulBearers and some new ideas and ways of working to add to your collection.

Please keep watching this space, I will continue adding lessons to my tutorial page as I go.

- ClayPlay in 2021/2020 -

I ended 2020 playing with clay and I started 2021 playing with clay…

Living through 2020 and starting 2021 whilst adapting to life all things pandemic… playing with clay has felt like medicine for my weary soul. I think it’s important to do something that is soothing and rather therapeutic when you need other things to distract you from the harshness of life and let’s be honest, 2020 was harsh.

So February 2021 brought about #FebruaryFacesinClay - 29Faces in beautiful PaperClay and what a better way to start the year than joyfully playing with clay and together in community. I love daily projects and this one was no exception. It was brilliant and it was filled with joy from those who participated and watched along. The various faces were quirky, fun and most entertaining.

The other thing I have found with daily projects, that the repetitive work breathes new life in ones creativity and helps you find new ideas and creative discoveries along the way and that always feel a little like hope to me. If you didn’t join us along with us in February, why don’t you go ahead and do a month of faces in clay by yourself or with a friend and see what comes up for you.

For me this beautiful project of 30 odd faces lead me on to a new body of works and a new collection. Six faces stayed just faces and some became beautiful hanging pendants and others because full SoulBearers. It was a beautiful way to work… having a starting point of a beautiful face and building that on in different stages to full little SoulBearers. It has changed the way I work and the way I view each new piece of mine and I can’t wait to start another project at another time.

Finishing works…

Although I started this project in 2017 - I finally finished her now in 2021. I can’t tell you why some pieces take me so long to get through. Sometimes they can overwhelm me, and doing tiny buildings like this always takes so much time. So I tend to avoid them and she was so big at the time. I did however, cut her down considerably and that made a huge difference to me finally finding my way to finishing her story. I really love her to bits. I am happy to say she is already on her way to her new home and should be arriving shortly. Sending these darlings across their world in their tiny beds is always so special to me.

Playing with clay in 202o felt like I had breathed new life into my work and there was a definite shift for me. I worked differently with my Soulbearers. For one I was working smaller which felt really good. I hadn’t made too many clay pieces since my trip to the USA in 2017, bar one or two here and there and I made a few more in 2019 when I was in Italy but again mostly only finished during 2020. Something had shifted and it was a shift I needed.

BlackBird 2020

Meet my sweet Blackbird. Once again she was a rescue from a long time ago. I had made a mother/daughter pair and it was too big and overwhelming, so I separated them and kept the smaller piece and rebuilt her a good few times. She has BlackBirds on her back as I made her after I spent a week feeding the blackbirds while I was away at the coast and it was a deeply moving moment for me. I used clothing patterns on her body and some ephemera, washi tape and the number 5, well that is deeply special to me. I love her soulful face so much. She was one of my favs from 2020.

Sanctuary for the Lost Souls

She was born in Italy when I was teaching in Orvieto with Ivy, in the little upper room in the Monastery. She’s so special. I love everything about her, the way she’s leaning, her face and her buildings and her friends.

Other precious souls that I made in 2020 - I started working smaller and around organic objects like antique wooden clothe pegs and antique wooden cotton reels, to name a few. it was a beautiful organic way for me to work, using natural elements for my armature instead of newspaper and masking tape. I wanted to try working smaller too.

clay tutorials / workshops

The more I started playing this way, the more I started to see other organic elements to include in my work… which lead me to start working with driftwood in my pieces. This tiny one lead me to share with you my little tutorial class called LeanintoMe.

Clay has once again become part of my daily regime and new ideas and pieces are swirling around my head and heart constantly. They come to my in my sleep and while I’m awake and while I’m working with the clay. I do believe the secret is to find oneself claying… I mean playing. It’s where serious work is born from. Sometimes in playing new ideas are born and some land squarely in the bin but I’m glad to say not too many. Each new one good or bad, offers me new lessons on love and patience, digging deeper and has me constantly seeking. I am always so delighted by the next precious soul to find its way onto my desk, into my life and deeply into my soul too and they are always welcome. - Jeanne-Marie 10th September 2021

Workshops

Please keep a look out on my workshop page as I will be updating that constantly on the go as new work presents itself.

older clay work, pre-2020

Being distracted with clay has been an incredible place for me to creatively play when I'm taking myself far too seriously.

There is something so nurturing when we grant ourselves permission to play regardless of the outcome...  I'm never quite sure how they will turn out but that's part of our journey together.  Each one is quite intuitive and they seems to be deeply soulful.  They carry their own unique soulful story, one I want to hear and one I want to tell. 

They have captivated my heart, soul and mind.

Which led me to find my beautiful….

When I first started playing with the clay - my beings faces were simple and flat and I’ve been pleased to see my work evolving over the years. After a heavy heart I’ve decided to close my first Soul Bearers class as it’s now old and it’s been a beautiful class that has run it’s course. It’s been one of the biggest joys of my life.

Like all things it’s time to move on.

A Gift for Ivy - 2017

the Art of Making your own PaperClay

Recipe

homemade PaperClay...

Tips:

After you have blended your ingredients together, it may be very sticky.

Place your sticky mass on a floured work surface and knead it as you would bread dough.  Keep sprinkling flour into your dough and work surface, until it is no longer sticky.  Knead it until it is at a consistency that feels good to sculpt with.

I have been testing different recipes and I think I like this one the most together with combining elements I've been learning from each recipe.  My first attempt was beautiful to the touch but I couldn't sculpt with it at all.  It felt more like bread dough than PaperClay.

I found this recipe on Wikihow using a premix joint component as opposed to a dry mix which just seemed to work much better as it feels more like PaperClay.

I was so in love with PaperClay so I wanted to see if I could make it myself... and I loved learning how. 

older souls

There is something motherly and earthy about them.

If you want to find out more about my new Soul Bearer class and are interested in making soulful, beautiful and creative beings together with me... follow the button above.