Let's meet Sue Beatrice

Sue Beatrice has a fascinating sculpture career, some of it has been spent with and commissioned by large Corporate companies like Disney, Warner Bros (Harry Potter) and Franklin Mint, The Jim Henson Corporation and Nickelodeon amongst others, I think most of that work is not something I can share with you for licensing reasons.

Sue worked on some Lumiere (from Beauty and the Beast) table centrepieces on board the Disney cruise ships,  she worked on the Cabbage Patch Kids (loved them!) and more recently Harry Potter Figurines.  Here is one of her sculptures of my favourite HP character - Severus Snape and also Luna Lovegood.. Incredibly accurate facial detail, especially with Snape.

My focus for this blogpost though is on Sue's Steampunk/Watch part pieces of sculpture, her sand sculptures and pumpkin carving, that makes it sound like something similar to what I used to do with my children years ago, but it's so much more than that as you'll see.

Sue's company is called All Natural Arts and you can see much more of her work HERE on her Facebook page.

It was Sue's Steampunk Sculptures that I first found through Facebook.   I love anything with a Steampunk or  whimsical feel and the intricate detail that Sue goes to is just incredible.  One of my favourites was the tiny Fairy at the top of the post.

I'm going to share a few more of my favourites:

The intricacy in all of these pieces just blows my mind, never mind the sheer creativity of it, the actual physical creation is incredible, Sue must have the patience of a Saint.  The Mermaid is beautiful, the Dragon is exquisite and I just love the Father and Son fishing.

Then below we have a Dachshund, Seahorse and an amazing depiction of the Titanic in a pocket watch!

I could just show you all of Sue's Steampunk creations but I'll leave some of them for you to discover yourself after all that's half the fun, why do you think I do this blog!

Oh go on then just one more... this is just beyond brilliant..

The Library in a Pocket Watch case created entirely from watch pieces. It's just so difficult to not be completely enthused about Sue's pieces.  Even the fire glows red because there is a tiny piece of Garnet behind the  grate!  This piece of work shows Sue's expertise with perspective as well because this is only half an inch deep but it looks so much deeper.  The ceiling is very clever I think, it helps give the depth perspective as do the stairs.

So now we'll move onto some slightly larger sculptures.  Sue also sculpts Pumpkins, these are just crazily good, I can just about get a grimace out of the pumpkins I've tried in the past,  One of my favourites is the Giraffe (who doesn't love a Giraffe). This was made from one pumpkin, the bottom was cut off and used for the neck and head.

When I look through Sue's work I have so many favourites.  I do love this Shipwreck Pumpkin, the sealife, the Eel poking it's head out of the broken ship and don't get me even started on the Shark. How do you get that level of detail in a fruit!

There must be some huge Pumpkins in USA, I don't recall seeing anything near the size that must have been used to create these incredible sculptures here in the UK.  This Panther leaping from the Jungle that Sue made for the Bronx Zoo for example, was cut from a 100lb pumpkin!  Everything about that Panther is perfect.  Below the Panther is a very short video showing a kinetic Cuckoo Clock - from Pumpkin!

Sue sculpts many things including sand.  Here is a video of her sculpting a Steampunk Lion from sand!  The gears carved into his mane are a brilliant idea.

I was so keen to have Sue’s work on my blog… Sue was in the middle of quite a lot of commissions when I contacted her so she was unable to spend time answering my usual questions but sent me lots of information on what she’s done in the past and what’s coming up.

So instead of the usual questions I’m going to do a little Bio piece because as with any self-employed profession client’s commissions come first. I’m sure we all understand that.

There will be the occasional post like this only because I’m incredibly impatient and want to share as soon as possible or because I’m unable to get hold of the Artist but still want to showcase their work.

So here’s a little more about Sue…

Sue is from New Jersey in America. Her goal was always to be an Artist, she’s felt that for as long as she can remember, it was always a totally natural thing to know that’s what she’d be.

Her first big moment came when she was 15 – Sue had some paintings on show for a year in the Congressional Offices, but she was making things to give as gifts from a very early age and had a stall at the age of 10 at a local park to sell pastels and painted rocks to raise money for a local animal shelter.

At the age of 14, it was a show of her paintings in a local bank that led to the exposure to get her the show at the Congressional Offices.

Sue then attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

By the age of 18 Sue was a Sculptor at Franklin Mint in the metals department since then Sue has gone on to sculpt and design for quite a lot of major companies and expanded into Mould-Making.

We’ve seen her watch part Steampunk work, Sand and Pumpkin Sculptures and as we’ve learnt Sue paints as well. She also sculpts Pasta! I’m not sure there is anything she wouldn’t be able to sculpt with.

The best advice Sue can give to anyone looking to make a career in Art is to be fearless. Do not worry about what other people are doing or what you think should be done. Try new things, Mix-up what you are doing to keep it fresh. Attempting and sometimes failing is all part of the process. Failure is not the enemy, not trying is.

Sue now has All Natural Arts which is her venue for selling all of her creations you can find it on Facebook HERE you’ll find lots of upcycled, recycled and repurposed beauties there.

If you want to contact Sue you can either do so on her facebook page or email her at info@allnaturalarts.com

Sue’s work is amazing, I’m sure you’ll agree.. I have a fascination for miniature anything as you may have realised after showcasing Sue’s work and the lovely Laura Brownhill’s too. But I also appreciate (because why wouldn’t you they’re amazing) Sue’s larger sculptures and sometimes the ability to make something from a pile of something else is just inspiring as with Steve Casino and the Peanuts (sounds like a band!) Added to the fact that a lot of Sue’s work is often very whimsical which I love then I was so pleased that Sue was happy for me to share her work.

I didn't ask Sue what her 3 desert Island craft/art supplies would be, but I can imagine how pretty that Island would look seeing as Sue could build sand sculptures to her hearts content!

I hope you've enjoyed Sue's work, it is amazing and I've enjoyed learning more about Sue and all of her beautiful pieces of work.  Thank you Sue!

Facebook - All Natural Arts

Unmistakably William Shakespeare!

Meet Mike K. Viner

Mike Viner

Caricature Sculptures

I'm having so much fun finding out about all these creative people and their amazing work.

Mike Viner is no exception. Mike was born in St Petersburg in Russia and now lives in Israel. He got a Higher Degree in the University of Cinematography and Television.

When I first saw Mike's sculptures I was astounded at the accuracy.

The detail in each and every figure is just perfect, every hair and every wrinkle. Mike has captured it all, even their familiar facial expressions.

Bruce Willis is a prime example of that, such a recognisable expression.

Mike works with Polymer Clay on a metal carcass and what is amazing is that he doesn't paint the sculptures he just uses the natural colour of the polymer clay along with blending. Once the Polymer Clay has been thermally treated it is as durable as plastic.

I find that quite incredible that there is no painting done, just looking at Bruce Willis' head and face the different tones and shadows.

These little sculptures just make you smile don't they, the fact they are so recognisable but with some very large features.. I love that Mike opted for Caricature for his sculptures.  They are so much fun.

They're often based on the Actor playing the Character so here we have Robert De Niro as Paul Vitti from Analyse This and Morgan Freeman as Red from Shawshank Redemption. I love recognising their character as well as the famous Actors that they are. You can almost hear their lines from the films.

Meryl Streep here as Donna from Mamma Mia – love that, you can almost hear her singing! And as for Jack (love his Crocs) in his beachwear how can you not be enchanted with the perfect (albeit much smaller) likeness. His eyebrows and forehead are just so unmistakably Jack Nicholson.

Here is Mike's fitting tribute to the one and only amazing Robin Williams, perfect!

I love this The Godfather (who doesn't!) it is one of my favourite films and this little fella (I don't think many people in the film would have come out alive calling Don Corleone a 'little fella') brings back all the memories from the film, the detail here, it's just so realistic, incredible just incredible, Mike is so talented.

I'm not going to share any more with you here, you will need to visit Mike's sites to see them – I will link them all below, definitely worth a good look.

So, now we've seen what he can do, let's meet Mike Viner:

Please tell us your name, where you're from and how old you are? 

My artistic name is Mike K. Viner, I was born in Saint-Petersburg – the Cultural Capital of Russia:-)
I'm 36, and I live and work now in Israel, Netanya.

Tell us about your art now and what you do

I specialize in sculptural caricature, primarily celebrities caricature images, plus photo-based portrait sculptures on private comissions.
In general - my sculptures are 20-25 cm. high, weigh about 3 kilos, they are made of polymer clay becoming durable after thermal processing.

From the very start my crucial point was to find an individual style which would make my works unmistakably distinguished from the others of the same category. And that aim is definitely reached, whether you like my art or not, it is hardly associated with any other artist. The singularity lies both in original visual aesthetic form (individual proportions exaggeration, specific mixture of realism and grotesque) and in individually developed sculptural technique (including unique paint-free technique of working with just polymer original colors).

Most of you will find the more specific details boring and that is natural and right - speaking about art we rather prefer looking, don't we:-)

What is your earliest creative memory?

I started my way to art in the earliest childhood, about 7 years old, with risky clay satire on Socialist leaders, though the risk was in fact realized rather by my parents:-)

Do you ever suffer from a creative block and if so how do you get yourself out of it?

I can't remember any... maybe because the creative process itself is the best way from any block:-)

Who inspires you?

Certainly the fabulous models of my sculptures themselves do. When for instance I admire some outstanding movie character I can't help but immediately start to to consider him/her as an object for my art:-)
And besides in fact the reality itself is an indispensable source of inspiration for me, with all its numerous components... from every event, every phrase, every face I never fail to draw humor and positive for my art.

What is your favourite piece of work that you've created?

Well, I really take a risk to offend the others... but I love my old good De Niro... I truly admire the real De Niro, and specifically in that Paul Vitti fantastic role! And every time I look at him he keeps saying "god bless you you've got a ... gift:-)

That's part of the reason I love your work, the characters are so recognisable you can hear the lines they say.

What are your creative ambitions for the future?

They haven't changed yet:-) First I've always been fascinated by animation movies (stop motion animation), so I'd definitely be happy with an opportunity to try myself in that industry.
And one more perspective - in fact I've always meant my sculptures primarily for their prototypes, I've always wondered about their possible reaction, the impact from the meeting with their big-foot clones. So I'd love to have an opportunity to present the small funny copies to their prominent models:-)

I'm sure they would love them!

How do you silence your inner critic?

That is my key assistant., why should I silence him... I prefer to listen to him attentively and cooperate:-) (great answer!)

What do you do when you're not being creative?

Elvis Presley CD helps in any circumstances. Well, and a good movie of course, with some remarkable impressive characters:-)

Can't go wrong with a bit of Elvis!
Tell us where we can find your work and your social media sites.

I can be reached by e-mail: MikeKViner@mail.ru.

To learn more please take a look around the site:

Viners Sculptures

Photo resource: Mike's Facebook Gallery

Click HERE to see Mike's Portfolio of work

It's been fantastic getting to know a little about Mike, he is very talented, his work is exceptional .. the people that he chooses to sculpt are very cool people and Mike captures them perfectly.

I hope you will check out Mike's sites.

Thank you for your time Mike and I wish you nothing but success for the future, I hope the real life versions get to see their miniature selfs because I'm convinced they'd love them and if I were them I'd be flattered that you'd chosen me to work your magic on.

Can't wait to see who you do next!