Mai McKemy

Today's featured artist is Mai McKemy of 4TheSparrowsNest. She makes unique jewelry and accessories in woodland inspired themes. Like me, she has a background with ceramic clay.

1.What got you involved in Polymer Clay?
I fell in love with polymer clay at the early age of 10 (I'm 24 now.)
I began by making little chubby glowi in the dark fimo stars to
plasti-tak to my ceiling, since I had a space theme in my room.
I soon fell in love with dollhouses and began to create miniature
food.  I've always loved details and spent many hours crafting
tiny glazed hams, shrimp platters, cakes, and baskets of fruit.
I rediscovered the medium after college, when I no longer had
access to kilns to fire real ceramic clay.  However, the lure and
appeal of clay did not diminish, and I found myself returning to
polymer clay.  I wanted to take it in a new direction, and soon
found myself elevating it to jewelry status.


2.What is your favorite thing to make?  Why?  

I adore creating jewelry and accessories in woodland themes. 
 
I would say earrings and necklace pendants are my favorites.  
Bird, tree, and nature related imagery dominate my work.   
I love the imitative potential that polymer clay has, and 
find myself delighting in creating surfaces that look like 
antique ivory, carved wood--or anything other than what
the material actually is.  I love the challenge of taking the 
medium above and beyond its typical capabilities. 


3.What makes polymer clay a better fit for your
products than other mediums?

The immediate availability, affordability, convenience, 
and my many years of practice manipulating the material
all contribute to using it as my medium of choice.  It is 
delightfully responsive to picking up details and is easily 
molded, cast, carved, sculpted, embossed, and antiqued.  


4.What is your best advice for someone starting
out in polymer clay?

Check out some polymer clay technique books from your
local library, or pick up a few at a craft store.  There are
SO MANY different ways to work with the medium.
Experiment with many different techniques and decided
which ones fit you the best.  Research other polymer clay
artists and get inspired--find out what it is about the
material that you love.  If you know WHY you love it,
and WHAT you want to do with it, you will really 
make headway on making a niche for yourself in the
world of polymer clay. 

Here are some of Mai's favorite polymer clay links: 

Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy
http://pcagoe.com/

Etsy.com or Artfire.com (search for polymer clay to find more
amazing works by artists!)

Glassattic.com 

The Glass Attic is THE BEST online resource for ALL
techniques relating to polymer clay.  It is a collection of
advice, tips, and experimentation of other artists and
is exhaustive in its depth.  You can find out anything
relating to polymer clay here and will learn a LOT.



Thank-you Mai!