2025 will mark the 10th year for my "Daily 3x3" photo posts on my social media, so I thought that I would share how many of those 3x3s have inspired my clay designs.
I have 2 art loves - photography and polymer clay. My degree is in Photography (from Brooks Institute) and I am never without a camera on my walks - of course now it's my phone. I started posting some of these daily images as I walked along in a 3x3 inch format (for Instagram) and I found that I'm never bored when I walk along - whether it is a sidewalk or a grocery store. I see images everywhere and I often translate them into my clay - the best of both worlds!
This is one of my earliest (and most favorite 3x3s) I took while walking past a construction site.
This image later translated into these pendants. You can see the first two on either side with the colors from the photo as well as the repetitive design!
I'm a huge fan of rust. Fortunately, I live in a beach town so there is no shortage of rust for me to photograph! This image was taken in an old train yard my big brother brought me to (and waited patiently for me to wander through, squealing in excitement the entire time).
When I got home I went wild with torn clay, Pearl Ex and watch parts for an entire day. I still love doing patinas and rust effects as often as I can.
Sometimes my photo images can translate to transfers for me and I especially love to do black-and-white transfers so that I can add my own effects.
This is a photo on the left is a door at one of the California old missions. I loved the weathered brick, the thick plaster and the wood grain on the huge thick door. I moved the image into black and white and transferred it to Sculpey Soufflé™ Latte that I Gelli printed a base layer of white and rust orange paint on before I did my transfer. That is the finished bracelet on the right with the transferred image.
We are always told that "inspiration is all around us" but I became a real believer with my 3x3 project! Your next clay inspiration is OUT THERE - go find it!
xoxo, syndee holt - Sculpey Design Squad
Here is a gallery of some of my favorite images to hopefully spark YOUR inspiration!