At five years of age, David Daniels had a coffee can full of clay that he and his siblings started playing with on the kitchen table. They never put it away and he’s never stopped playing with clay. At thirteen he won his first contest. MTV, Sesame Street, movies and more came later.
Clay sculpting and caning led to animation and the development of his own stratacut process which he describes as motion sculpture or sculpting time. He explains, “That’s my gift, I see time from the outside and I see motion sculpture and see how the pieces all flow together and we’re a part of all that.”
I had to watch his video sampler several times with my mouth open before my brain began to catch up. If you like to cane, this brilliant guy is a must see. He adds that, “I intentionally leave crudeness in the mix, I could control it more, and I choose not to because it is less interesting to look at.” The interview with David Daniels is here. His tutorials at the bottom of the interview give you a sense of his process.
Susan Hyde sent us this mindblowing link.
by Cynthia Tinapple on August 28, 2008 · 1 comment
I keep finding things that help me prolong summer. Here are Ella Becker’s polymer clay fantasy fish full of color and glitter and motion.
This Israeli animator admits that, "Animation for me is not only a profession but also a way of experiencing the world in a visual way, full of color, texture and motion, working together to create emotional impact." There is raw energy in her jewelry and sculpture with color and flash that increase its impact. She gives a dynamite haircut too! Something wild for the end of summer.
by Cynthia Tinapple on August 1, 2008 · 0 comments
The only thing better than doing an animation in polymer clay? Take a look.
Melanie Allard is an illustrator/sculptor/animator from Quebec. I was mesmerized by her “Life is Grand” animation (even though it’s probably plasticine). She uses plenty of polymer clay in her work. (Look under “bricolage” which translated to DIY!) Much of her site is in French so I’m guessing again. Here’s her Flickr site and more of her animated work.
Summer living has cut into my research time so I’m happy when artists write in as Melanie did, admiring and linking through to another artist’s work. A bit of summer serendipity.
