The Greek artist Constantinos Karalis was born in Athens and has lived there all his life. Ever since he can remember, he has engaged in arts, handcraft and painting.
In 1993 he first tried working with polymer clay in local courses for children. The experience was truly positive and he immediately fell in love with the material. Polymer made such a huge impression on him because until that moment only played with plasticine and what annoyed him was that what he was making could be ruined.
When he realized that there is a plasticine - that's how he saw the polymer clay back then - with which he can do thousands of things, bake them in his mother’s oven and they will last forever, he was truly excited.
Later on, Constantinos studied interior design and became involved in the design of spaces, useful objects and furniture. However, it was not enough for him - he was not satisfied with just designing an object. He wanted to see his designs being created from scratch and he wanted to know how to make objects. He started to visit and observe some local craftsmen, carpenters, and so on. He learnt the secrets of many crafts and worked on these for several years but his favorite hobby was there no matter what he was doing. So in 2013 Constantinos finally made the decision to turn his hobby into a full-time job and make a living from it.
That's how his brand, Pilofori, was created. Constantinos did a lot of research on everything about polymer clay. He dealt with jewellery, its design and philosophy. He discovered people who were involved with it and a new world opened up in front of him. Constantinos attended numerous seminars and artists from all over the world who worked with clay. He learned techniques and started carving my own little path in this world.
It took him nine years to make a living from his art. He currently has a network of stores in Greece that sell his jewellery and he feels grateful that people embrace his creations and try to find out what this material is. Having created Pilofori, he started looking for a way to improve his work in terms of materials. That’s how Constantinos discovered Kato Polyclay. He became an official vendor of Kato Polyclay in Greece and he runs a store that is dedicated exclusively to polymer clay.
Constantinos says that from the creator's point of view, it was the endless possibilities that this material gives you what won him over. Just like every creator and artist who has worked with polymer clay, he has focused on a specific technique - the imitations of natural materials such as coral, wood, minerals. He finds it unique to be able to create something that brings to mind memories of a beach or a walk in the mountains and makes you forget about reality for a while.
Among other things, polymer clay taught him to be stubborn and patient because the combination of these showed him that he can do anything he can think of and imagine. And there are so many things he would like to achieve. “If I look back, what I will say for sure is that since 1993 when I first learned about polymer clay, I feel like I'm still in the beginning and I still have so much to learn and discover,” he sums up his amazing adventure with polymer clay so far.
