While local botanicals are in short supply this time of year, Ava, of Little Wizard Jewelry, still pulls inspiration from flora when designing polymer clay jewelry. She started this creative outlet last summer, while paying close attention to local nature.
Taking inspiration from popular culture as well as West Virginia flora, she makes earrings with a delicate and almost ethereal — I would say, romantic — vibe.
“I always end my day with creating, because it’s the highlight of my day,” Ava told me. What a good idea — a routine of ending the day with a favorite activity.
“I used to be a very creative person, as a child I always liked creating physical things,” she said.
As a music therapy major at WVU, Ava didn’t have a regular outlet for creative productivity until she rekindled her creative spark with a new hobby of polymer clay sculpting.
She started with inexpensive polymer clay, and once she decided she liked the medium, quickly researched and upgraded to higher-quality material. This required some trial and error as different clays have different rigidities and thus different fragilities.
“I always custom-make my colors,” Ava said; she feels this sets her apart from other polymer jewelry artisans. “I’ll look up different color palettes on Pinterest, and mix up my own colors to match those,” she said.
Some artisans create color recipes, measuring out small and precise amounts of different clay colors. “I don’t personally have the patience. … I just eyeball them,” Ava said.
Ava first conditions the plastic-based clay to make it malleable by working it with her hands. It doesn’t require water, nor does it dry out.
After rolling it to a desired thickness, Ava cuts the clay into earring base shapes, which she decorates.
For Christmas she got a pasta roller — a popular tool for working with polymer clay — to help get consistency in the rolling step.
Next, she places the rolled clay onto a ceramic tile, so the clay will lightly stick to it instead of the cutter.
To expand her creative options, Ava recently got a 3D printer to print her own custom cutters.
Ava especially likes to decorate the earrings with flower and twig shapes. Sometimes she tries to replicate live flower bouquets.
“I love West Virginia botanicals,” she said. Late summer is her favorite time of year.
“Goldenrod specifically is one of my favorite things about that season,” she said, mentioning how the fields light up with golden blooms — Ava’s description immediately brought to my mind an image of the intensely yellow flowers.
After decorating, she bakes her creations at 250 degrees for 40 minutes to fully dry out the clay. Once dry, she sands off any rough or sharp edges.
Lately, she’s been drawn to create cameo-inspired jewelry.
Ava said she would like to expand beyond earrings, but attaching the clay to metal surfaces is tricky.
Her work is available at the gift shop in Bliss Bliss Bliss yoga studio, as well as on Etsy.
“I also do custom orders,” Ava said. “Those are always fun to do to get creative with another person.”
She tries to create every day, but doesn’t push herself to be productive when not in the mood. “I find in those moments, where I don’t feel inspired, that I don’t like the results,” Ava said.
Inspired by Ava’s routine, I plan similarly to schedule the end of each day: Making a conscious effort to end with a fun activity seems like just the thing to fight winter blues.
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