Making polymer sculptures is popular among many polymer artists. How about making toys? Lara Manova's cute animal toys are original, detailed, beautiful to look at, and pleasant to the touch. Lara is a Russian artist living in Pskov, where she was also born. She studied architecture and, for a time, worked in an architectural office and also tried interior design.
As for her artwork, she began to devote herself fully to her art three years ago, making these adorable creatures while also starting her Instagram profile.
First, Lara sculpted big half-meter boudoir dolls for herself, but her interest waned soon. She moved to create animals, even fantastical ones, and delved more into this wonderful world of the author's toy. Because she loves experimenting and is interested in almost everything, Lara always tries different materials, techniques, and styles. Initially, she used to work with a papier-mâché, but polymer clay eventually turned out to be more suitable for her work. “This is a very plastic and grateful material. The possibilities are limitless,” she adds.
She puts a strong emphasis on details. Even the finest details of the animals are perfectly elaborate. Polymer clay is an ideal material for textures, and texture plays a significant part in her artwork. She creates textures that are interesting to look at and, at the same time, precisely made with no special tools, just a needle, a toothpick, the back of a brush, etc.
Lara uses a pleasant color palette which she highlights with beautiful shading and smooth color transitions. In her work, she combines polymer with other materials representing, for example, animal fur or feathers that complete the overall design. Thus, her sculptures are not only attractive to look at but also appealing to be touched. She is able to create about five toys per month.
Inspiration comes from within herself. “It is like a part of you, the natural state of your consciousness. The characters seem to appear in my head by themselves. I'm not making anything up on purpose,” Lara says.
Next month she plans to implement sketches of fantastic sea animals and has a lot of plans for the future, too. "I want to make small flower pots in the form of dragons and Cthulhu. And a lot more," Lara concludes. We cannot wait to see her new works from polymer clay!
