Adina Bonca is a 25-year-old artist from Romania who loves to sculpt animal miniatures. Her inclination for art was noticeable at a very young age. “I always used to draw in my notebooks,” she recalls, “trying to perfectly capture either something specific or to free my imagination.”
Adina became interested in sculpting when she was in middle school but never had a chance to take a real sculpting class, so this kind of crafting always remained somewhere in the back of her mind.
The first time she tried polymer clay was two years ago when she thought that she would like to have a little version of her cat, Nova. Adina says that she loves miniatures so after lots of attempts and hours of watching youtube tutorials, her first figurine came out. “It turned out a little weirdly shaped, but it warmed my heart so much that I was able to create something with just my hands and a blob of clay,” she remembers. This was the moment that powered her passion and she decided to continue sculpting. Like many artists who started working with polymer clay, Adina was fascinated by the versatility of this material.
A few months after playing with different shapes and techniques, Adina was confident enough to start an Instagram page and show the world her creations. “My portfolio was at first composed of my friend’s pets which I sculpted as tiny little figurines.” This is how pawpaw_studio was born.
Not long after, her first order came. “It was such a blast to know that somebody trusts my abilities to create a figurine of their pet,” she remembers.
Adina only sculpted animals until recently when she decided to try making some whimsical objects to celebrate her first Christmas with her studio, such as cat-themed candle/jewelry holders, earrings, and tree ornaments.
“I mostly do commissions and I love to get to know every new pet that I have the chance to sculpt,” she reveals. “As I’m still a learner, I learn something new with every new figurine order that comes by. The beauty of this is that every pet is unique and so are my little clay figurines in which I try to capture their personality as much as I can.”
Adina’s favorite part of the process is when the sculpture comes out of the oven and she starts to paint it. “I really like focusing on tiny details,” she says. “Sculpting people’s pets is by far my favorite type of job as I manage to bring so much joy to the pet owners and of course to myself.”
