Tortoise or the Hare? I’m going for the Tortoise!
After my last post on the Reptile Show, I have decided to make a tortoise out of silver clay. Thank goodness I have artistic license! My vision (goal – hope) is to make a small recognizable tortoise that could be duplicated and used as a ring, a pendant, earrings, or beads. Not having done any of this before, I decided to share the experience with any of you who might be interested! First I need to decide on which kind of tortoise….so I Googled ‘tortoise’ and got some amazing pictures. What a variety! After looking and thinking, I selected the Star Radiated Tortoise. It has a very pronounced star pattern and will be a challenge. My plan is to carve a small tortoise out of polymer clay, a medium that is easy to work with and manipulate. I chose red because I like red! I put my new Craftoptic glasses on and start conditioning, moving and carving referring to the pictures. As I work with the polymer clay, it gets warm and a little squishy so that my finger pri