Left: Test Piece 14cmH x 9cmW x 14cmD
If you follow me on Instagram, or any other social media platform, you would have seen me mention of several occasions that this piece was only meant to be a test piece but I inevitably got carried away. By say "it's only a test piece" doesn't mean that I hate it or feel as though I wasted the extra time, I put into making this sculpt become more than just a simple rough, no, that's not the case at all! The reason it may not end up as part of my artistic canon is merely down to not being up to my highest standard of work. After all, I never made this with any intention of showing it to the world. It was made in order to try out some new techniques and textures, to push the medium (in this case Super Sculpey Clay) to see its limitations but most of all it was created to try out the new paints I had bought.
This piece started off life with no intentions or meaning what so ever but I can't do that, everything I make with be adorned with some sort of underlying meaning, I have to give it life, it's part of my artistic integrity. I can't leave things alone and I really don't do well with the 'that will do' attitude towards my creativity. This meant that even though this creature was made from scraps of left over clay, I gave it the same time and respect as a major piece so it would develop a heart and soul.
Sadly, I'm torn as to whether it should be included into my artistic canon or forever remain sitting on the reserves bench, staring at the main stars playing on the pitch. We are expected as artists to only include our very best work in our canon, even if it means you have far fewer pieces to show off to the world. This doesn't mean you can never show or talk about a piece that didn't quite make the grade for you, not at all! They can be great discussion points, something to be learnt from and above all it shows you are learning and trying to push yourself to grow as an artist. It just means that pieces like this may not live with your best work.
What do you think? I know that a lot of you have expressed how much you like this humble little piece. Do you have work you feel the same about? I'd be interested to know :)
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