Clay Maneki Neko
I made this clay cat after couple of weeks after Turtle Sam. I was inspired by all kinds of solar powered Maneki Neko designs in some gift shops back in Klang.
Not really planning of making an solar powered but, just to make one to get a kick out of it.
Maneki Neko means lucky cat – it’s a Japanese culture thingy ending up a crazed item here.
Neko was the first clay project, I started an unique new technique called “face transplant”.
Basically, I make around clay ball first and insert it into a toothpick.
Secondly, I cut a square shaped clay and place it on a tray and started forming the face on the square itself. – Ever seen how movies like Mission Impossible where Tom Cruise has a new face wrapped on him?
Yeah, I discovered this technique to enable me to focus on constructing the facial expression of the cat. When I’m done, I simply need to add water to both the round ball head of mine and the face then, blend them together. FACE ON!
Beside what’s the point of making Maneki without a cute smiley expression
?
Purrrrfect, I moved on to make the body of the cat which is way much easier. Wait it to dry a little bit. Then combine the body and head together. Best part of using toothpick, is you can angle and twist your head before decided which angle you want the head to face. Once, I was ready, I started blending and combining the two parts together.
While doing so, I fumbled the body and broke it… lucky thing the head was still intact .. careless me. Good thing I learned from Turtle Sam – “to let go”. See the beauty of Zen I learned every project? hahaha…so I wasn’t pissed off nor frustrated at all. I just remake the body. Later it was purrfect-o!
Maneki was later placed out to sun to dry, I decided to sandpaper and shape up the body and legs later. Phewww gonna have a glass of lemonade and rest.
So What ZEN stuff did I learned from making Maneki? – HAHAHA
Divide and conquer technique works in all creation and handling of problem! I choose to separate the head, body and face into separate creation and later combined them into one. That way, I can achieve things faster and more effective.
