The Three Graces Sculpture

The Three Graces Sculpture by Bea Grob

No, not the three graces by the Italian painter Raphael, but some from Makin's Clay® and a driftwood piece. You only need a bit with Makin's Clay® in black (about 60 g), some embossing powder, some wire and a driftwood to have your own sculpture.

Materials:

Driftwood 

Makin's Clay® - Black 

Makin's® Roller and/or Makin's Professional® Ultimate Clay Machine®

Embossing powder 

Heat gun 

A spray bottle with plain water

A piece of plastic wrapping or household wrap

Instructions:

I started with armature from wire (it is a simple wire from the hardware store). I cut 3 pieces, between 18 inch and 14 inch, and doubled the wire and twisted it together. Next, I wrapped around some painter's tape. I formed some bumps for the upper body part and the hips.

To harden the wire a bit, so it isn't so bendy, I hardened it with a hammer on a metal piece.

Before I went on, I drilled holes in the driftwood and tested what the armature would look like.

Now, add a clay sheet directly to the painters tape and wrap around. I used some water to smooth out, but I didn't go crazy about it, just to smooth the biggest gap where the the sheet meets up. Also, make an egg shaped head on top but leave some wire exposed to mimic the neck.

 

With the Feather Point tool from the Makin's Professional® Clay Tools Set, I added texture all over the body, but not the head. A little tip here, when you have the feeling you can't give a good enough texture, check your feather tool, you probably have some build up of clay, which you have to remove.

Now, we needed a temporary place to stick up our figure, I used some flower foam. Our next step is to add different colors of heat embossing powders. But, first to make sure that it sticks I applied a light spray of water. For the colors I chose some teal and some copper, but you are free to use any color combination you like. I sprinkled them in the place I want them to be (well more or less, lol)

and set them with the heat gun. Just make sure that you don't stay too long in one place, but move it around a bit. You don't want to burn your clay. 

After this step, I let the Makin's Clay®  dry completely on the flower foam. The next day, I mounted it to the driftwood adding a tiny bit of a 2-part quick dry epoxy glue to the holes. And here a little close up of the embossed areas.