Torchwood Studio - Polymer Clay Design and Creations

Taking My Art Another Step In The Handmade Direction

As most of you know, I typically use a store bought base to work my polymer clay magic on (picture me waving my arms and uttering dark magical incantations over a ceramic bowl...lol). Whether it's been glass candle holders or ceramic bowls, the bases have always been a mass-produced item with my handcrafted polymer clay designs over it.

While I have never been a big fan of mass-produced goods, this was the only option open to me (or so I thought). Well, after going over a couple of design ideas I had, I realized that the bowls and other store bought bases wouldn't really capture the effects I wanted to create. So, what could I find that would truly make my artwork unique? Original hand-thrown clay bowls, pots and decorative plates! I recently made contact with a couple of aspiring potters in my local area and suggested my idea to them. They seemed to like the idea as it would help to get their name out there and it would help to bring a true uniqueness to my creations :) A real handmade collaboration!

I'm still waiting to hear from them and, hopefully, they decide that it's a good idea. Of course, I'm still looking around and trying to find other potters that are able to craft the kind of items I'm interested in working with. I would much rather use an individual persons creation to do my designs on rather than some mass-produced bowl. Wouldn't you? It helps to further their art and their name and that's what it's all about as far as I'm concerned. If this all works out, then I can truly say my creations are 100% handmade.

Funny note :) When I was talking to one of the potters about my polymer clay creations, he asked me where I sell my art at. When I told him that I sell over at Etsy.com, he got this big smile and said, "I was just gonna ask you if you knew anything about that site. I was thinking of putting my pieces on their." So, sign up one more future Etsian with incredible handmade art!

Hey Now....Torchwood Studio's Been Featured!

Hola all! Just a quick blurb to recognize Butterfly Chic Boutique for being so kind as to feature my Torchwood Studio Etsy shop over on her blog! Please take some time and visit her blog (after you've read all my insightful writing first....lol). She's brought some really incredible artists into the spotlight over there and they all deserve some of your artsy love!

You can also visit her Etsy shop here.

Want your Etsy Shop featured here?

In my on-going efforts to promote other independent artists, and especially the awesome folks over at Etsy.com, I will be starting a new feature. Twice a week, I will feature an Etsy shop owner who creates items that will make you cry, sing, dance, reach for your wallet or just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Sort of like my pal here is making you feel right now... :)

The feature article will include all sorts of insightful questions and hopefully it will bring some well deserved attention to those artists who obviously put their passion into their work.

So, is it gonna be you? Is your shop worthy enough to grace the pages of this award-winning, hard-hitting blog of truth, justice and the independent artist way? Of course it is! If you use your hands, heart and mind to create something that people just have to have...you belong here. By the way, I may have been stretching the truth a bit with the whole award-winning thing, but hey!...A guy has to have a dream, right?

So, how does your shop end up being featured on this blog? Easy.... All you have to do is leave a comment here with a little blurb about what you create and sell along with a link to your Etsy Shop. That's it! I'll sort through the comments and present the best and brightest to all of you twice a week. Oh yea, any ego-inflating comments you'd like to leave about my artwork won't hurt your chances either... I gotta get my ego boosted up at least once a day or I turn into a bear...lol

Leave a comment and a link to your shop and check back often to see who is on their way to fame and fortune courtesy of Torchwood Studio!

Mass Production and the Fall of Modern Civilization

What ever happened to the people who wanted to buy quality handmade things? Do you remember when the artists who put their passion and love into everything they made were highly sought after? When everything they made could be counted on to last for years....typically these things lasted so long that they were passed down through the family. Of course you don't remember, that was a long time ago. Today, retail, wholesale, mass production, cheap labor and Big Box Stores as far as the eye can see have overshadowed even the most talented independent artist.

I have received many emails about how my handcrafted polymer clay bowls seem to be a bit expensive. I spend days coming up with the design, figuring out how to best create that design and then I typically have at least 8-12 hours of hands on work to create and finish that piece. Too expensive? Your kidding, right? I've seen numerous artists question whether the beautiful heirloom necklaces they crafted with their own hands are priced to high. Again, are you kidding me? I've found necklaces, paintings, pottery (and other such items) on Etsy that I would expect to see in a museum setting or private collection. Unfortunately, people seem to have turned away from buying quality and they have run straight towards acquiring quantity. Why invest $300 in a heirloom necklace piece on Etsy that will last forever, that you can pass down to your children and then onto their children when you can run on over to your local Big Box Store and pick up a $10 necklace made my some faceless 8 year old in an Indonesian sweatshop. Oh sure, the necklace is only gonna hold up for a couple of weeks before the links break or the metal finish leaves this really interesting green patina on your skin. But hey, what the hell...it's only $10. I can buy another one when it falls apart and another one and another one....

I know that I'm not the only person that appreciates quality handmade things. I've never been a big fan of mass produced goods. I would rather acquire something that an individual artist toiled over, something that they put their passion, love and ideas into. That is what has value to me.

If you've only worshiped at the alter of mass produced goods, take sometime right now and look around at what individual artists the world over are making. See how they took an idea or a dream and used their hands and hearts to make it a reality. See how that necklace, painting, photograph or even polymer clay piece makes you feel inside when you really look at it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Then again, as a famous comic once said... Of course, that's just my opinion.....I could be wrong.

But I'm not.

You really do this stuff??

Well, this is it! My very own blog! For those of you that don't know me, this should be an illuminating journey into the machinations, contradictions and art that is me....Todd. I am the owner, operator and sole artist of Torchwood Studio. To be honest, it's gonna be illuminating for those of you that do know me too. 

First, a little bit of background on me. I'm a 38 year old guy/cop/polymer clay artist living in the Central NY area. I just recently started working with polyclay and luckily, some unknown hidden polyclay gene apparently kicked in. I have never considered myself to be very artistic. Matter of fact, I do believe that I failed every single art class I ever took. Now, was that because I absolutely had no artistic talents or abilities or was it because my teachers just couldn't comprehend the hidden meanings, complex layers and genius level I was working at?? In my heart, I think it was because I had no artistic ability...lol

Now, I know right away that someone is looking at the cop/artist declaration up there and going, "What??" A cop that considers himself an artist? Like I said, welcome to the contradictions. I work full-time as a Law Enforcement Officer and I use the other 128 hours I have left over each week to work on my polymer clay creations (plus or minus a few hours sleep here and there). For the last 13 years or so, I've worked as a Military Police Officer, a Gang Intelligence Officer and a Law Enforcement Officer. If the job title had the word "Officer" in it, I probably worked it. But, this blog isn't going to be about my life as a cop. Rather, I'll be talking about my polymer clay artwork, the amazing artwork of other artists I've had the pleasure of meeting on-line or in person and about anything else in between that happens to catch my attention.

So, back to the title of this blog. When people who have known me for years find out what I'm doing with polymer clay, I invariably hear this coming from their mouths, "You really do this stuff??" I invariably answer the same way every time, "Yea, I really do that stuff! You got something to say?" Please remember I'm a cop and I have an innate need to act aggressive at times. Seriously though, I usually just say "Yup, I do this stuff. What do you think?" For the most part, people just look at my art and then look at me and then gush with adoration, admiration and several other "a" words that I can't think of right now. Some of the guys I work with just look at my art for a few minutes and then look at me with this "You do this girly stuff?" kind of smirk. Of course, within 60 seconds the knowing smirk fades and then they're sitting there giving me suggestions, ideas and the best color combinations for new pieces. Who knew there was a little bit of an artist in all of us. 

So, for all those people who have yet to ask the above question....Yes, I do this stuff and I love doing it. For a very long time I tried to figure out what kind of artistic talent or ability I might have had. It only took 38 years but I'm damn glad I finally figured it out.

Please check back often as I'll be introducing all of you to some of the most incredible independent artists that I've come across. Whether it's polymer clay artists, painters, sculptors, photographers, jewelry makers or the ever elusive all-around artists, you will find them in this blog being reviewed, critiqued, admired, adored and appreciated. Hey! Appreciation....That was the other "a" word I was looking for. Well, just bookmark this blog if you want to get to know some of the best up and coming independent artists out there! Then again, don't bookmark it if you don't want to...just remember, if you don't, I definitely won't give you a break on a ticket when you come speeding through my patrol zone. Well, maybe I will... but why take chances :)