I am currently working on ...

It will be a good six months until the Labour Day Art & Craft Market at Mission Bay (Monday 23 October 2017), where I plan to launch my latest project that I am working on.

Swirl-StoNZ by Claire - hand sculpted ‘stones’ for all occasions

This is part of the display info that I am working on:

What are they for?

Great as a souvenir from New Zealand (I remember when I was a child taking pebbles home from the beach as a souvenir of my holiday) or as a gift; they can be made into jewellery, key-rings, charms and decorative accessories. They can be used to give a message or as a memento of a special occasion. My StoNZ also feel nice to hold in your hand, just as they are, and make great ‘calming stones’ for both adults and children

How do I make Swirl-StoNZ?

By rolling selected colours of polymer modelling clay into a ball and rotating it up to 100 times using the polymer clay lentil (or century) bead technique. I often add some extra detail, with slices from specially made canes, or write words into the pattern before they are baked to harden and preserve the design. Each one is unique.

I call the resulting lentils ‘StoNZ’, as they are created here in New Zealand. The swirl pattern is reminiscent of the Maori ‘koru’ symbol, which represents new beginnings, growth and harmony (see below for more info). As all StoNZ are created by myself, I can make them in your choice of colours or personalise them to commemorate special occasions – please ask.

The koru symbol – widely used in Maori art, carvings and tattoos, has also come to represent New Zealand (Aotearoa). Derived from an unfurling silver fern frond, the koru represents new beginnings, growth and harmony. New Beginnings both literally, in terms of new life and growth, and also a new start or new phase of life involving personal growth. To be in harmony with life is to understand, grow and change.

Plans taking shape

Part of my indecision about what to do is because although I really enjoy creating artwork with my ‘dot mosaic’ technique, it is very time consuming (making all the tiles as well as placing them to create the design/picture). I do not think I will be able to sell the pieces at a price that will justify the time I have spent creating them, when I could be doing more paid work. I have also missed not taking part in the markets/events, where I get to meet people and gauge their reaction to my work. For this reason, I came to the conclusion that the ‘dot mosaics’ should be my hobby and that I should try and find something else to develop as a small business.

I still keep coming back to the idea that I want to make small souvenirs for visitors to our country that are actually made in New Zealand. I have dabbled at various ideas (some not even with polymer clay) but have not really come up with anything different that I think I could make profitable. It is very hard to compete with souvenir items made in China.

Then this morning I had the idea of creating original ‘dot mosaic’ designs, which could be photographed and the images used for greetings cards, prints, jewellery and possibly other items like t-shirts, bags, mugs, etc. I might be getting a bit carried away here but I think it is worth trying out on a small scale to start with, to see how it works out. The images will be mine, and totally original, from my own mosaic artwork created in New Zealand. Being able to reproduce the images on various different items may mean that I can gain some ongoing income from my original dot mosaic artwork, which I so enjoy doing.

For the first time, since we have moved, I feel inspired and with a plan to put into action. I just need to come up with some good designs!