Then and Now Polymer Clay Creations: Always Keep Trying!

I have been trying to help encourage fellow artists recently by posting some of my older sculptures from when I first started sculpting. I remember the day I decided to start working with clay like it was yesterday. It was 2006 and I was at a very small craft show in June. It was hot, and my husband, sister, brother-in-law and I had only seen about three customers the entire six hours we had been at the show. At that time I was only making 2D artwork to sell and as we set in the heat looking through my prints my sister announced "Wouldn't it be neat to make fairies to set around your art booth". There you have it, that little phrase got us all talking and coming up with ideas, since there wasn't much else to help pass the time. The next week I was working with clay. My pieces back then were nothing to write home about (not sure if anyone uses that colloquialism anymore but...) it was a beginning and has now surpassed my then expectations of my little business. It doesn't matter how you get started, no-one starts out as an expert. I have been sculpting with Polymer clay for over a decade now. Even though I have had several years of practice I am still improving every day. My technique changes and is refined with almost every piece. I love to encourage artists to keep trying and never give up; you only get experience by doing.
So to help motivate, here are some of my "Then and Now" Polymer clay creations.

Steampunk Animal Pals, rabbit, fox, hedgehog and mouse.

Steampunk Squirrel and Raccoon 

My Dragon Pals never get tired of Candycorn.

Left Dragon from 2011, Right Dragon from 2016

Even my husband's covers for his Winston and Baum books
have come a long way, from the 1st novel to the 4th. 

I hope this blog helped inspire, I know it always helped me to see how far artist's had improved over the years.
For more information on the Winston and Baum Books.
Thanks for reading,
~Caralyn

Then and Now Mystic Reflections style

Practice truly makes perfect, and when you are an artist you never really stop practicing. With each piece you make, you get a little better; your technique is refined and you learn a little more. That is why each year my style changes slightly and my pieces get more detailed.
I was recently going through my photos of past sculptures and found a few of the pieces that I recreated this year. So I thought it would be fun to post some "then and now" collages for you all. :)

Crazy what a few years can do, right?
So for those artists out there that aren't quite satisfied with their skill level, Don't give up, just keep Arting. :)
Thanks for reading!
~Caralyn

That's a Whole Lotta Cuteness

Salutations Everyone!
Just wanted to pop in and tell you all a little about what I have been up to; I know it has been a while since I have blogged but I assure you it was due to being quite busy and not that I forgot about you lovely people...How could I? :)
I usually like to start the year off with a bit of smaller sculptures such as my little Myxie pals. I have been diligently working on a few of my Steampunk Animal pals for the past month and have created quite a few little friends. I am hoping to have a small army by the big Dragon Con Art Show convention in September. Here a few of them.

I post each of my creations as I finish them to my FaceBook page.

Before I go, just want to let you all know that my little creations and I will be in Chattanooga TN for ConNooga Sifi/Fantasy Convention. February 27th - March 1st. Stop by and see us :)

Thanks for reading!
~Caralyn

Clowning Around with Etsy!

Hey Everyone! I would like to share this Fun Etsy Treasury with you all. It features 3 of my Myxies. My Balloon Circus Myxie, My Balancing ball Myxies and my Coin Operated Doll Myxie. :)
Check it out and leave a comment!

https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTc4NDg3MTB8MjcyNTA3NzM5MA/carnival-darkley

Thanks for reading!
~Caralyn

Where Have I Been?!

Haven’t Blogged in a few weeks, I have been pretty busy trying to recover from Dragon Con. The Art Show was Great by the way. Probably our 2nd best year ever. I got to meet a lot of my Facebook Followers, it was so nice to be able to meet the Face behind the comments. Also I won an Award, My Goria Zombie Myxie won “Best Doll”, my 1st juried award I’ve ever received at Dragon Con, so that was super exciting. :)

I have finished adding the little Steampunk Dragons that didn’t go home with someone during the Art Show and will be adding the last few Animal Pals this week. https://www.etsy.com/shop/MysticReflections
Now I’m trying to get my inventory back up, so for the next couple of weeks I will be sculpting new Steampunk Dragons and Animal Pals and hopefully coloring my newest sketches, along with a few others original pieces I have planned before the Holidays. As always, I have my schedule packed with all kinds of fun ideas, so here’s hoping I can get at least half of them done LOL :)

Also Check out this fun Etsy Treasury that two of my Dragons were featured in.
https://www.etsy.com/treasury/NzAxODM4NXwyNzIyNDI2MzM3/here-there-be-dragons 
 
Thanks for reading, keep checking my Facebook page and Blog for my newest pieces.
 ~Caralyn

Punk Angel

Here’s just a fun doodle I did. The concept is loosely based on a costume my sister wore to Dragon Con a few years ago (her top wasn’t quite so tiny :P).

No idea why her outfit popped into my head last night, but I remember she looked so stinkin cute, I just had to draw it :D

For now I’m calling it “Punk Angel” but that title may change.

Working hard on some new Myxie Sculptures for Dragon Con coming up in September, I’ll post photos as I go along, so keep checking my blog and FB.

Thanks for reading!

~Caralyn

Helloooooooo Operator!

Enjoyed doing the “Mind if I smoke” Steampunk girl sketch from last week so much, I decided to do another one…and I am planning at least more. :)

I call her “Hello Operator”

Funny side note….I googled “old phones” for reference material for this sketch, so I could get the telephone right, but Google mostly brought up slide cell phones and flip phones.

Considering I still have an “old” cell phone, I realized, if Google is calling me old now, it must be official LOL

I am going to be doing a few more sketches so keep checking my blog for updates.

Thanks for reading.

~Caralyn

Been DRAGON my Feet

Took me long enough, but I finally got the remaining Steampunk Dragons posted on my Etsy Store. Of the 30 I made for Dragon Con, I only have 7 of the little guys left and they are looking forward to finding new homes. :) Here's the link if you wanna take one home today!http://www.etsy.com/shop/MysticReflections?section_id=12200310 

But I loved making these little ones so much that this will not be the last of the Steampunk Dragons. I plan to crank out more this year along with a bunch of Brand New Myxies.

I also have some Dragon Pals left that I will be adding to my store this week. So keep checking my blog and Facebook for updates!

Thanks for reading!

~Caralyn

Even Dragons like to give something back

Each year Dragon Con http://dragoncon.org/index.php holds a Charity Art Show auction and so far I have been able to participate in the past three years.  It is always so fun to create something and then see how far the bidding can go. We always raise a good bit for the Charity and have a lot of fun in the process. This year I’m especially excited about it because the theme seemed really neat… “Fantasy Baseball” the artists get to decorate baseballs and then they are auctioned off at the Art Show Voice auction with the proceeds going towards this year's Dragon Con Charity:  The Georgia Chapter of the ALS Association or better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. http://dragoncon.org/charity.php 

So since I’m really loving my little Dragons this year and they always enjoy helping out the community :) I decided they should get to be represented on the baseball. They have painted “Dragon Con” a crossed the front and are currently working on the date…well at least some of them are working LOL

What do you think?

Eeep I can’t believe the Convention is only a few days away, even though I have been attending for 5 years now, I still get very anxious the closer it gets. I will have so many new pieces at my booth. Including the Steampunk Myxie Dragon Pals, making their very first art show appearance. So make sure to stop by and wish them lots of luck :) See you all at the Con!

Thanks for reading!

~Caralyn   

Zombies, Zombies Everywhere and not a Brain to Eat

So I have been working on this project for the better half of 9 months but I wasn’t able to tell you lovely people about it because it was a Christmas present for my husband and he reads my blogs…go figure.
A few years ago he had an idea for a Zombie comic book and he just so happened to know an artist :D so I volunteered to illustrate it for him. Well at that time we had so much going on…i.e. we were planning a wedding…no big thing right? LOL So needless to say the comic book project got pushed to the bottom of the priority list. Well assuming that my hubby had pretty much forgotten about it or just decided it wouldn’t ever get done rather, I thought it would be nice to try and finish it for him, at least the 1st issue. Sneakily I sketched away at the panels the whole time trying to keep it a secret…which I am normally SOOOO bad at and after 9 LONG months I completed his book. Yeah I know that is a long time for a 20 page comic book and if I had an agent he would’ve been all over my case about taking too long but my excuses are as follows…1, I’m not very good at drawing the male form, gross stuff like, oh I don’t know ZOMBIES or mechanical things such as guns and this book was just slap full of that stuff. And 2, I was having to only work on it when my husband was not around, and since we reside in the same house…it was a chore. Anyhoo I was able to complete the book and have it printed in time to present it to him on Christmas morn…Yes, he loved it :)
But now that the gift has been given I've posted a few sneak peek photos for you all…Just a few of the sketches, the cover and some panels. What do you think?

Thanks for reading!
~Caralyn