Dragon Lessons & Apoxie Sculpt Creed

MAY 30, 2007

These classes with [Marilyn Radzat](http://www.marilynradzat.com/) through [That Creative Place](http://www.thatcreativeplace.com/) teach us so much more than just making beautiful art...
Patience...
Listening to your Inner Muse...
Practice, for me a Spiritual Practice...
Fun!...
Wonder...
Going with the flow...
Learning from your mistakes...
Now this was a big mistake....
Somehow, I picked up an unmixed blob of Apoxie Sculpt, just after mixing the two parts, A & B, together... I should have known, it was soooooooo sticky!!! When after six hours, it was as sticky as when I placed it... I knew something was wrong... I had to take the new coils off and clean up the very sticky tiles...

It left quite a mess...

And it was actually soothing to clean the tiles
and surrender into what was...
just another step in creating, rather than a mistake...

Looking around, I realized that my work/play space was a mess... for twenty-years, when the energy in my house feels stuck, I've used sage smoke to cleanse the area... releasing what is no longer needed, bringing in new energy... When in Hawaii with Marilyn Radzat for the art retreat in March, she did this same thing to the studio space, when we all became caught up in stuck energy... Marilyn shooed us out to the beautiful outdoors to walk, relax, swim, clear our own minds... when we returned, the space was fresh and clean and ready for us to dive back in...

So... I did the same and came up with an Apoxie Sculpt Creed to help remind me what I can do to stay aware of my creative space and the materials I'm using... This is made up of tips that Marilyn and my classmates have taught me, as well as my own learnings!!!

Apoxie Sculpt Creed

When working with Apoxie Sculpt I promise to:

• Take three, deep breaths before beginning to use Apoxie Sculpt, and at intervals while mixing and shaping.

• Remove all jewelry and place in a visible spot to return to fingers and wrists when done!

• Use Vaseline from tub or tube copiously on my hands.

• Have a tub of water near by for keeping Apoxie Sculpt from sticking to my hands and for smoothing the clay onto my project. Also for dipping extra mixed Apoxie Sculpt and placing on the foil (so it will not stick!!!) until ready to use.

• Have baby wipes handy and use frequently!

• Use baby wipes to cover fingers while dipping into tubs, to keep fingernails from getting Apoxie Sculpt wedged under nails, making cleanup easy.

• Mix at least equal parts of Apoxie Sculpt, or a bit more hardener (part B), with colored portion (part A) in small, manageable portions.

• Mix the two parts for at least 1 and 1/2 minutes to 2 minutes, depending on different variables (humidity, temperature, etc.), until I feel a bit of a heat coming from the ball, which tells me that the chemical reaction is taking place and the Apoxie Sculpt is ready to use!

• Have a small bottle of Apoxie Sculpt Solvent handy for those hard to clean places, as well as excess from artwork.

• Clean my work/play space when the creative chaos turns into a black hole.

• Have fun, take breaks frequently, and allow the muse to guide me!!!!