At the time, I really didn't have a lot of money to spend on sculpting materials, so I went searching for things I had around the house. My friend had given me a "bouquet" of peacock feathers so I figured I could use some of them. I was also inspired by a really interesting sculpture I had seen of a creature that had twigs coming off the top of his head. I ventured out into my yard to find some natural materials of my own.
I didn't exactly want to copy what I had seen, but I liked the idea of using sticks and twigs for that 'earthy' look. What I came up with was an idea to band five small twigs together and use some clay to sculpt around that.
I used some rubberbands to fasten the sticks together, then filled the middle in with some paper clay for support and reinforcement. Once that dried, I built up my sculpture off the top of the middle clay piece. Two of the sticks protruding from the front became my sculpture's arms, and three in the back I used to attach three peacock feathers to. I secured the feathers with more paper clay, and on the front, I sculpted three small faces. I then painted the paper clay that was holding the feathers to make them blend in and look more natural against the wood.
My main sculpted piece in the middle became a "peacock goddess" that I dressed with beautiful greenish-gold fabric. From her "arms" dangle two blue beads. Here is the final product:
I really had a lot of fun making this sculpture, and it really wasn't difficult to make. The hardest part was painting the details on her face. I have recently been asked to contribute to a local art show fundraiser in my hometown. I am thinking of donating my peacock goddess to this cause.
Sculpting crafts with natural materials is a lot of fun, and is a great way to not only save money, but stimulate your creativity! Please feel free to comment below and share with me some of the crafts you've made with natural materials of your own.
