Polymer clay is the medium of choice for Sara, a 21 year old Italian artist. She researches and designs clay charms and scenes that revolve around anything from mythology, cute critters, Amish culture, and of course, one of her favorites, pirates.

Toonari Post (TP): What is it about pirates that has inspired you to include them in your adorable polymer clay creations?

Sara (S): Pirates have probably been my personal style turning point: they were one of my first subjects, but in the beginning I was not so sure about including them in my collection because that theme totally contrasted both the style and the colors from other charms I was modeling. But then I decided trying to create something around that theme to offer people the opportunity to see something different from the classical clay charms of cartoons or popular films and tales’ characters. In particular, I chase pirates because I have always been fascinated by their world, by its flavor, its colors, and their style of life.

TP: You have said that issues in history, mythology, as well as classical literature are also sources of your inspiration. Could you give me a few examples of your favorites from each of these categories and tell me about the aspects of each that have fueled your creativity?

S: Yeah, absolutely! About history, I love the age of the Holy Roman Empire, but also the period of French Revolution. Concerning literature, I like the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer and with regard to mythology, I appreciate a lot of the Greek and Roman ones, but these are just a few examples! Since I attended a high school specializing in classical studies, these themes are a part of my store of knowledge and I never saw jewelry of them, so I decided trying to create charms about literature and myths both to give people interested in classical themes the possibility to wear some related pendants and also to try to make the others understand that these topics can be cool!

TP: What artists would you consider working with to do a piece?

S: I’ve never considered the idea of a partnership with another artist, but it would be really interesting especially if I would have to mix my style with a totally different one. I’ve always been fascinated by weird combinations, they often give the possibility to see aspects of a single component that generally goes unnoticed.

TP: If there was any art medium that you wish you could master, what would it be and why?

S: I wish I could manage the art of sculpture in general. One day I’d love to be able to model both complex miniatures and real sculptures.

TP: What are your goals in life?  Do you plan to continue art as a hobby or make it a career?

S: It started almost as a joke and just for fun, I didn’t ever think I would be able to create something with clay, and sometimes it still seems incredible to me, but in a few months it became my hobby and now, although I don’t have clear goals, I absolutely dream of making it a career. I believe in this! I see every day that it makes me happy, so I hope to be one of the lucky people who can say they do the job they love. It’s kind of like finding the love of a lifetime; really rare.

TP: Do you feel that your culture has influenced you in some way that makes you different than other artists?

S: I’m Italian, I come from a nation with a big historical and cultural heritage, this surely influenced me in my chosen themes, but I’m also really interested in knowing about other cultures and other nations’ traditions and history.

TP: Can you tell me more about your background?  What experiences brought you to be the person you are today?

S: We are made of what we lived, every single aspect of our character is our personal way to react to what has happened to us. This makes every single person unique with her qualities and imperfections, weak points, and skills. So whatever we are is a consequence of what we were and a base of what we’ll be. It’s unthinkable that every single experience of our life has not influenced and has not brought us to who we are today.

Image Courtesy of  Sara

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Sofie Skein is a the creative mind and artistic hand behind the heart-warming polymer clay figurines known as Poupettes. Outside of her artistic career she lives a very quiet life with her partner, who is also an artist, and her cat. She has recently left the city of Portland to live on the northern coast of Oregon.

Her world is full of books, art supplies, musical instruments and great home cooking. Both her and her partner are content to spend most of their time focused on their work or watching the storms roll in.

Toonari Post (TP): How and when did you first start practicing your art (are you traditionally trained or self-taught)?

Sofie Skein (SS): My mother used to draw pictures and sculpt miniatures with my sister and I when we were very young. I think it set in motion an intimate relationship with my hands and sense of confidence about what I could create with them. I am always making something and cannot resist exploring every medium that I can get my hands on.

I would have loved to study art but my formal education was in landscape architecture, which seemed to be a sensible compromise between a creative and practical education at the time. I am mostly self-taught in the arts, although I have taken a variety of classes over the years in whatever has interested me. My current focus on miniature polymer sculpture is entirely self-taught.

TP: What made you decide to work with polymer clay instead of another medium?

SS: These particular figurines would be impossible to make without the polymer modeling compounds. I’ve worked with nearly every modeling medium available and nothing compares with the level of plasticity and detail possible with polymer.

These qualities support the expressive silhouettes of my figurines and allow for the details that make them what they are. I build each one along a spiral axis which makes them difficult to re-create and virtually impossible to create molds for reproduction.

I also enjoy the synthetic beauty of the material itself. Some polymer compounds are blended with pigment and mica, which creates a subtle marbling and sparkle with a satin finish. Others are blended with pigment and kaolin clay, which creates a pristine matte texture.

There is a remarkable variety of polymer compounds available commercially and I use them like a painter uses a palette; custom blending various compounds to create new colors and textures. Although polymer can be painted, I prefer the challenge of creating color variations through meticulous layering and blending of the material itself.

TP: When you first started making your Poupettes did you ever think they would make it to homes around the world?

SS: I actually had no intention of making a living from the Poupettes and started the shop on a dare. I was one of the millions laid off in 2009. Before that I had been working full-time and spent every free moment pursuing freelance illustration gigs as well as my own private art practice.

After I was laid off I knew it was time to start an online shop for my artwork but the learning curve seemed overwhelming and I kept avoiding it. In the meantime, I’d begun making these little animal people, which I called Poupettes, just for fun. They made me smile and were good company at a time when I was feeling pretty isolated.

Finally, after many months of watching me procrastinate, my boyfriend dared me to set up a shop for the Poupettes on Etsy. It seemed like it could be a good way to practice for when I opened my ‘real’ shop and somehow it was less scary because it was just ‘practice’. I was totally shocked when I sold five figurines within the first week.

That is how it all began and it’s continued to evolve from there. I had no idea who, if anyone, would appreciate these figurines. It turns out that there are quite a few who do, and over a third of my sales are to addresses outside the U.S.

TP: Do you have any art projects outside of your adorable Poupettes?

SS: Honestly, in the past year, I haven’t had time for any other art projects besides the Poupettes. I did have one show of encaustic paintings last year and I would like to get back to painting in the future but for now I’m really enjoying my work.

TP: Can you tell me the story behind the Poupettes name?

SS: I never planned to make the first one. I was just playing around and all of a sudden it seemed to be forming itself in my hands. When it was complete I looked at it and asked, “What are you?” and the word that came to me was ‘Poupette’. I said, “Poo-PET?” and it sounded right, but I had no idea what it meant.

Was it sort of like a puppet or a poppet? Maybe, but it definitely sounded French. Finally, I did some research and found out that ‘poupette’ is a diminutive form of ‘poupée’, which translates to ‘doll’. A ‘poupette’ is a ‘little doll’, which is how I see all of my figurines. When I needed to choose a name for my shop, my boyfriend suggested ‘Bonjour Poupette’ and it was so much fun to say that I couldn’t resist it!

TP: What of your designs is your favorite and why? Which one are you most proud of and why?

SS: One of my favorite figurines is the siamese twins because of the play on words as well as the sense of drama between the two cats. When I was growing up we had a Janus cat (a cat born with two faces) for a short time. He was a magical creature to behold and made quite an impression on me.

The figurine that I’m most proud of is a custom cat portrait of an Egyptian Mau named Alice. When I saw photos of the cat, it seemed to be an impossible task to recreate the complexity of her stripes with polymer.

After many discouraging attempts, I used a Millefiori glass work technique to create a patchwork ‘skin’ for the figurine. It was painstaking work but I learned so much in the process and was thrilled with the final effect.

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