Cat of Prague’s Hamlin Designs distills the essence of her subjects into small smooth sculptures. Using only a lump of polymer Cat packs action and personality into simple shapes that convey energy and attitude.
Each piece is around 2″ long and is hand formed, then sanded and buffed. “Often times, when I have a hunk of clay in my hands, I try to hear/feel what it wants to become,” she says.
Janet Hoy sent the link along because she admired the artist’s economy of line. See Cat’s entire menagerie on her Etsy shop.
Cat ,
Hi and thank you so much for this!! What a surprise it was to look at my shop stats and see traffic coming from here only to follow it backwards and find this nice article about me! Thank you so much! When I see all the incredible talent that you have shown in your other articles, I feel not only honored, but very humbled!
It’s wonderful to be appreciated…I’m happy, above all, when someone adopts one of my little animals and it brings them a special joy to have it; hold it or just look at it. Often times people purchase my little animals as reminders of pets that have passed away. I know the power of this as I created a little cat in memory of my dear cat that died last January and I carried with me for months…it was simple, but to me it was as if I had my sweet kitty close to me, and it comforted me until my heart began to heal (do they ever really heal?).
Again, thank you so much!!
Cat
Hamlin Design
Luann Udell ,
Beautiful work, Cat! I think we sometimes get so dazzled by all the techniques we can do with polymer, we overlook the simple (but not easy) challenge of creating emotion and connection in our work. I love how we can SEE the dog yearning!
rmkdesign ,
absolutely, Luann! These simple constructions invite us to finish the story, becoming more engaged in this form that we would a more complex one. these are wonderful.
Though I don’t often care for animal figures, these and Quernus Crafts do make me pause and admire precisely because of their simplicity.
Loretta ,
“when it’s cool like that it’s cool for cats!!”
michelle morlan ,
I own some of Cat’s sculptures, they are so perfectly beautiful! She has a talent for capturing the essence of each animal so exquisitely!
So glad to see this write up about her and her work!
Rebecca ,
Her animals are lovely! There is a curled up sleeping fox on her site that is so minimal yet instantly recognizable (and so sweet!)
Cara Jane ,
They are lovely, very elegant!
Cassy Muronaka ,
So simple… but stunning.