So, this is a bit of a weird page for my author’s website… because it’s about art. But art is also so important to me as a writer, and I felt it deserved its own page at my site.
Creating my own art is an integral part of my writing.
For me, writing and art are so close to each other. With both, I create something–something very personal to me. And, with both, sometimes it can be hard to let go, to realise that the piece is finished (after all, I could continue editing my books for months, if it wasn’t for my editor saying that they’re done and that I have to stop–and the same is true of my art).
I often draw my characters and sketch out scenes as I’m writing, mostly for inspiration. Drawing–finding another creative way to use my imagination that ties into what I’m writing–really helps to free me up, and I’ve found I’m so much more invested in a scene–or a character–if I make quick sketches first.
My character drawing of Three Sarr from my Untamed Series
A quick sketch of the prophet bison from the Dream Land. Drawn when I was workshopping a scene in Fragmented. I’d been stuck on this scene for a long, long time, and began doodling and mapping out what it was my main character was seeing. This drawing is actually a lot bigger than the photo shows–with other things drawn too, but I couldn’t include the whole thing here because of spoilers! Go and read the book!
Aside from using charcoal, pencil, and pens when I’m creating art to help me engage more with my fictional worlds, I also work with polymer clay.
There’s something so therapeutic and relaxing about working with clay, creating shapes, bringing something to life using a very different medium to words. And I’ve found working with clay really helps me think about my characters and plots, sort out any problems. I now do an extensive part of my books’ planning work when I’m creating clay art. The two things–clay art and writing–really do go together for me now. Each helps me get creative in a different way, but I love how they also go together.
A pendant and earring set I made using the colours and ‘mood’ from my second novel, Fragmented
I’ve made pendants inspired by my books, and worked with colours reflective of a mood I’m writing to really help me workshop a problem. Seven Sarr–the protagonist of my Untamed Series–wears a Seer pendant, and creating her pendant really helped me engage with her as a character, to understand who she was. But more than, creating something in a tangible form really helped my writing. On the days when I do some clay art, I always write more words too. I’m addicted to creating characters, words, and clay art. And I discovered pretty quickly that I write my most creative scenes straight after I’ve warmed up my ‘creative juices’–either by drawing characters, sketching scenes, or creating clay art.
For a long time, I kept my art to myself, but then I shared a few photos on social media. And something amazing happened. People loved my clay art as much as my books, and I was inundated with messages from readers asking where they can buy my pieces. I was amazed. I even received commissions from other authors, requesting that I make pieces of jewellery that are prominent in their books.
As part of my writing process is about freeing up my creativity first through working with clay–and using the physical action of manipulating the clay to work through plotholes in my mind–creating clay art alongside my writing is a routine I’ve fallen into. And I’ve ended up with many, many pendants, earrings (I haven’t even got my ears pierced!), ‘gem’ stones made from clay, beads, and even figurines.
As such, I now regularly exhibit my clay art creations at fayres and craft markets, and I’ve set up a blog specifically for my clay art: SidneyVictorArt.blogspot.co.uk (called Sidney Victor, after my rabbit and pony). Please do take a look!
You can also keep up-to-date with my clay art via my new Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, especially for sharing photos of my clay art and updates about which fayres and markets I’ll be visiting! (Plus, I usually take a few signed copies of my books with me to these too!)
