Sculpt and Sip Classes: Nonverbal communication meets art

It’s been a while (about 12 years) since I picked up a piece of clay and to be honest, I never thought I would.

I’ve had zero desire to create art for a long time, even though it was a huge part of my life for many years–perhaps because work and life have provided ample opportunity to be creative.

Running a business means thinking creatively to solve, well… everything. And for the past few years, I’ve been following a whole food plant-based diet/lifestyle, which means no processed foods (including oil, sugar and salt)–nothing unhealthy. That sounds restrictive, but it turns out, it isn't, instead, variety and flavour increase. It’s just a case of being creative, unlearning traditional cooking and putting together flavoursome ingredients to create amazing meals.

I won’t pretend this way of eating wasn’t a shock to the system, because initially, meals with all the trimmings (sauce, toppings, etc) took an average of two hours to whip up. But I discovered a new love of cooking and ‘invented’ indulgent (but healthy) treats, just by being creative and playing with raw ingredients. It’s been a huge outlet for my creativity, sometimes even a drain.

Now I’ve got it down pat and a nightly feast with all the homemade trimmings takes no longer than an hour to make. I know how to cook this way so I’m not using much creative mental capacity. It’s crossed my mind whether the dwindling creativity in the kitchen has fuelled my new drive to create art.

It started with a lack of available images of accurate expressions. Stock photos rarely cut it, because they are typically posed and expressions look fake, and screenshots of genuine emotional expression are technically a breach of copyright. I wanted to depict the anatomy of true expression as a learning resource. So I picked up some clay to make the expressions myself–and now I can’t stop creating.

I had an ‘aha’ moment when I realised I can teach people about emotion and expression through sculpting faces. I had mixed results, but then I threw alcohol into the mix, with ‘Sculpt and Sip’ classes, and sold out! I have mixed feelings about this. I’m thrilled I sold out but it seems it’s the alcohol that’s the driver, not the content. 🧐

Incidentally, wine is one unhealthy product that I haven’t excluded from my diet, so yes, I will be sipping along at my next Sculpt and Sip class. If you’re in Perth, Australia, join me at an upcoming class and a glass of vino–coronavirus permitting!