Michelle Adkins of CreativeCritters
October 10, 2009 | By
Name: Michelle Adkins
Location: Fairview Park, Ohio
Shop Name: CreativeCritters
How did you come up with the name of your shop?
My mother, younger brother, and I bounced several ideas around before settling on CreativeCritters. I think it fits well because I'm certainly creative, and not only do I make all sorts of critters, but I adore all critters as well.
Tell us a bit about your craft/medium and why you chose it?
Polymer clay is probably my #1 medium. I've always loved sculpting, and when I discovered polymer clay in my early 20s, it was love at first smoosh! I was finally able to sculpt and cure my creations without needing a kiln. At the moment I make a lot of fantasy sculptures, pen sets, miniature houses, jewelry, magnets, and animal sculptures. There's no telling what else I might try! I also make hand sewn cloth dolls, knit stuffed animals, and hand sewn World of Warcraft plush characters (I'm a busy gal!).
Did someone teach you?
My Gramma taught me the basics of sewing, and my best friend taught me how to knit. I took every available art class in high school, but really, I'm self taught for the most part. I have tons of project and how to books on each craft I'm interested in. The poly clay books outnumber them all at the moment, but my bookshelf is full of various craft related books.
What is the most difficult part of your craft?
Not enough time to create all I want to! Even if I only did 1 type of craft, my head would still be buzzing with ideas. Since I do several different types, my head's practically exploding! I will admit that I find horses somewhat difficult to sculpt, although I am improving. I've become pretty darn good with cats. dogs, and ferrets, because I've had my live models scampering around for me to study. Maybe this means I'll just need to get a horse!
Do you create in more than 1 medium?
Yes, as mentioned above I sculpt in polymer clay, knit, stuffed animals, sew cloth dolls, and sew plush World of Warcraft characters. With many of my pieces I use several different types of media. My jewelry almost always has some polymer clay, plus a variety of beads and findings. My sculptures can have fur, feathers, fabric, rocks, paper, or just about anything else in them. My WoW characters almost always have polymer clay weapons.
Where can we find your work?
CreativeCritters.artfire.com
I also have a blog at http://creativecrittersblog.blogspot.com.
And, I'm a proud member of the ArtFire Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild.
Tell us about your workspace-
It's a mess! I have a large glass topped table for my sculpting, and it's always covered with my tools, blocks and bits of clay, cutters, projects in the works, jewelry findings, and whatever else I'm using for a particular project. My sewing area is a little better organized. I sit in my rocking chair in the living room to sew, and have a basket with everything I need for my current project next to my chair. The fabric area is pretty disorganized, but I still manage to find what I'm looking for. I'd love to have my own dedicated craft room one day, with TONS of storage, so I could be more organized. Hey, a girl can dream!
What has been your most successful marketing technique?
I can't be sure, but I do know I've made several sales just by posting in the ArtFire forums. I get a lot of traffic from facebook, my blog, and ByHand.me, as well. And of course doing interviews doesn't hurt either! I try to take advantage of every promotional opportunity that comes my way. I'm actually fairly new to selling online, so I'm learning as I go.
How about some of your favorites?
Food? fruit, especially strawberries and bananas.
Movie? I like a good vampire movie, or anything by Hayao Miyazaki.
Quote? Just do it!
Holiday? Christmas- I love making gifts for everyone and getting together with the family.
Who is your hero - artistic or otherwise? and why?
Maureen Carlson! Hers were the first sculpting books I ever got and she taught me how to sculpt people, something I had never been able to do well. She has a great sense of fun and whimsy, and is another nature lover like myself. She believes in the magic of fairies and fantasy and that comes through beautifully in her work and her teaching.
Do you have a favorite item that you have made?
Well, I really love all my pieces, and put a LOT of time and effort into them. I think Scorch the Rockin' Dragon is one of my favorite sculptures though. He took months to complete and I think he came out really well.
Have you made anything that you just can't bear to part with?
I made a sculpture of a young warrior fighting a huge snake. It was based on one of Terry Brooks' Shannara stories. I got all the muscles just right, the face is perfect- gorgeous blue eyes, strong chin, high cheekbones, everything. He's holding a short sword in one hand and the snake's neck in the other,
pulling back for another strike. He's got bite wounds dripping blood from the snake, and the snake has slashes from his sword. You can practically see it moving. I don't even know how I got it so absolutely perfect, but I couldn't bear to part with that one. That was one of those where I got completely lost in the sculpting process and worked all day without even realizing it.
Where so you get inspiration from?
I get a lot of inspiration from the fantasy books I read, fantasy artwork of any type, nature, animals, the entire world around me. As an artist, having an overactive imagination is quite useful. I get a lot of inspiration from the Smooshers Guild Challenges as well. I often try new things and go in different directions when I'm given a challenge.
What is the best thing AND the worst thing about being your own boss?
The best thing is not having to punch a time clock and do menial, brainless drudge work for 8 hours a day. The worst is probably that I work WAY harder and longer than I would at any 8 hour a day job.
Photos courtesy of Michelle Adkins.
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