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Sky Grazer Designs
By Jeannie Havel
Publisher’s Note: Christy Sherman's story (below) really inspires me because it sounds just like so many of us who love polymer clay and spend most of our lives with images of future projects dancing in our heads. When you visit Christy’s website you will see her dedication to the medium, and perhaps an item or two you’d like to purchase from her for yourself or as a gift.

In addition to an eclectic array of information, Christy’s site contains clay tutorials. Her web address is: www.skygrazer.com.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Christy Sherman is one of the reasons why I love my job so much. Let me tell you how we met. As the Publisher of pcPolyzine one of my job functions is to explore the Internet in search of talented entrepreneurs whose businesses center on polymer clay. When a particular website catches my eye, I send an initial contact email to the owner asking if they’d like to be profiled in our ezine. I explain that if they accept my offer, there is no obligation for them to purchase advertising (in the publishing world, that’s sometimes a “catch”) and that we will provide a link to their site for our readers’ convenience. This has always translated into additional business for the featured website, and we get the benefit of promoting up and coming polymer clay artists. Once the website owner sends an affirming email, I ask them for specific information, and combined with material and images from their website, I construct the article for publication. It didn’t quite go that way with Christy Sherman. She answered my questions all right. In fact, she answered them so well that I didn’t need to write an article per se because Christy had written it for me. Here’s her story with a scattering of images of some of her clay work.
 
 
 
 

I live in Richmond, Rhode Island with my husband, Dave, and our cat, Smidgen. I haven't managed to corrupt Dave into being addicted to polymer clay yet since he has his own hobbies, but I’m still working on it. He helps me with all sorts of things - modifying a caulking gun to work with my clay gun, bringing home tools and containers that might work with clay, and helping me set up a wonderful workspace. He also gives me his opinions patiently when I hold up something I'm working on for the tenth time and ask, "What do you think of it now?" 

I always liked art when I was a kid but was never particularly good at it. I can draw well enough for Pictionary and that's about it. I did get a chance to take one Ceramics class in high school and really loved sculpting but you need a kiln. In college, I was a Computer Engineering major and couldn't even find any art courses that would fit my schedule - I looked every semester. 
About 5 years ago, I saw some paper clay and some colored clay blocks in a toy store. But I didn't pick up the polymer clay then, I picked up the white paper clay. It was OK, but it dried out too fast and I really didn't like the texture. A few months later, I bought a Sculpey III sample pack and have been an unrepentant polymer clay addict ever since. I am not yet a PCA member (Polymer Clay Anonymous) since I haven't reached the stage in the addiction where I want to be cured.
Just last month, I joined the Southern Connecticut Polymer Clay Guild (SCPCG) after trying to get a chance to visit for the last few months. Something always came up! I've done a few demos/lessons for friends and acquaintances and one button making class for the local knitting club. It was a lot of fun to see how a group of people who had never touched clay before branched out in so many directions. I have another class scheduled in April to show the Girl Scouts how to make pens and I'm having a clay day on March 13th in the Clark Memorial Library in Richmond, RI (www.clarklib.org for directions). 
Lately, I’ve been on a jewelry making spree. I like to sculpt on a small scale, usually animals or fantasy and I’ve been making some beads and pendants. I want to do more with small sculptures like this – perhaps incorporating them in vessels or kaleidoscopes.

I love ancient looking surfaces, faux techniques, texture, and the wonderful iridescence of Pearlex on clay. I like making pens, since it’s a wonderful small scale to try out new techniques and experiments. People are always happy to get them as presents and I’ve also sold quite a few. 
I haven't been published yet although I've got a number of project article ideas and it’s one of the things that I'd like to accomplish this year. I also want to make some more kaleidoscopes, improve my sculpting, maybe try some human figures, increase the number of auctions I put up, make some clocks, play with my new inks, figure out what I want to do with some lamp kits I have, and so much more! I have more things that I want to do than I have time. I keep a notebook just to jot down ideas and inspiration so they don’t get lost.
Christy's website address is: www.skygrazer.com.