Anna Zhao

    Anna.whizh@yahoo.com

    KNEADING cartoon figures with clay has become a hobby of Shenzhen resident Cao Yu ever since her fortuitous encounter with the material one year ago. Almost every day after work, Cao bends over her desk playing with clay in different colors, oblivious of the hours passing by as she is immersed in the world of her creations.

    Developing her

    interest in clay

    Cao’s home houses over 100 figures she has created, such as Santa Claus, pandas, automobiles, famous cartoon figures and a series of horse dolls that recently became popular with the arrival of the Year of the Horse.

    Cao said her interest in clay was sparked a year ago when she incidentally saw a small child doing handicraft homework with clay. The scene reminded Cao of her childhood when she played with plasticine.

    She then bought a few boxes of the clay, assuming her interest would soon fade since she didn’t know what she would use it for. But she was soon fascinated with the art form.

    Her first work was a rooster, as a present for her husband whose Chinese zodiac year is of the rooster. It was rough but looked cute with its oval-shaped belly in yellow and its head in red.

    Cao joked that she was playing like a child, because it’s easier to make clay figures in the shapes of fruits and cartoon characters.

    She said she rarely finds people of similar interest in the city, except art teachers. The only way she could improve her skills was to consult clay-kneading courses on the Internet to explore new techniques of how to make her works more vivid.

    It took Cao quite a while before she fully learned the nature of the clay. For example, she once touched white clay with one of her hands that had black ink on it and eventually had to abandon the clay, learning that light-colored clay must be handled with clean hands.

    She also had to work with great care when two different blocks of clay are joined together because it can be very sticky and is easily wasted if it doesn’t work well the first time.

    Mature clay practice

    After repeated practice, Cao mastered a few tricks. For example, clay may harden a bit in winter and soften in summer so sometimes it’s necessary to add a few drops of water to make it pliable for different shapes. Even though she makes sketches before she works on the clay, failures can be frustrating if she doesn’t follow the proper order while sticking different shapes together.

    She once attempted to make a car model by assembling its body and tires, but the half-dry car tires were immediately smashed by the weight of the body. A clay statue of Santa Claus had similar problem when it was made the first time — Santa Claus’s body tumbled when putting on the hat.

    Being an amateur, Cao’s fame for making clay figures didn’t spread far but her works were well-received among her friends’ children.

    She received lots of reservations from schoolchildren to help them customize cartoon statues for free before Teacher’s Day last year. In order to meet the delivery date, she had to work three successive days and nights, even restlessly staying up late searching for clues of colors combinations, shapes and images.

    Cao said that making objects with simple shapes can be far more difficult than expected. Once she was requested by a little girl to make two clay cups. She accepted the request but didn’t realize that making a cup was quite different from the objects she’d previously created — the inside of the cup should be hollowed out but her previous works were made by piecing together different solid parts.

    At first, she thought of using a mold for the cup. But she soon found the method impractical because the mold was unable to be taken out from the clay and the cup may lose its shape if the mold was taken out by force.

    She finally came to the idea of kneading clay into different pieces and then attaching them together into the shape of a cup — so that the cup could be adjusted to be round — before the bottom of the cup was finally attached.

    Enjoying life with clay

    Clay as a medium has historically had extensive use in works of art, such as pottery, sculpture and paintings. Cao said she’s only a beginner in using clay and her craftsmanship is far from being highly skilled.

    She has not been as satisfied with her works of human figures as much as her cartoon figures. She tried to make a number of figures but found it difficult to capture delicate expressions on small patches of clay. She admitted the nose was particularly difficult for her, so most of her works have been cartoon figures. She also said sometimes she would observe cake models at bakery stores to draw inspiration.

    She recently considered designing a princess’s house with clay, but said she had difficulty handling the details inside the house.

    The Year of the Horse has made horse-related works popular among Chinese people, since horses are frequently associated with wishes of good luck in China.

    Cao has also made several clay statuettes of horses, such as horses carrying money and houses, to signify fortune and residence. One statuette she made for a friend is a horse carrying an automobile with full amenities such as lights and rear-view mirrors.

    Even though Cao has been keeping a low profile, her talent of using clay has won her some accolades. She even received an invitation of business cooperation from a stranger who was impressed by the clay figures displayed in a window at her house. However, Cao declined the offer.

    “I enjoy the pure fun of playing with clay, just like I did in my childhood. I enjoy the quietness in the process of kneading clay and feel overwhelmed with joy when I finish my work,” Cao said.

    “I enjoy the pure fun of playing with clay, just like I did in my childhood. I enjoy the quietness in the process of kneading clay and feel overwhelmed with joy when I finish my work.”

    — Cao Yu, who has a hobby of kneading cartoon figures with clay