CREUSE TON NEURONE- LA PATE BEURK/SCRAP

I recently joined a group of French-speaking polymer artists in a forum called Polym'air de rien. 

I love looking at the photos and reading the comments of this group of fun, spirited, innovative and kind clayers.
One of the activities on this forum is called "CREUSE TON NEURONE" which I would translate as "delving into something with all your brainpower." The specific topic for the last few months was to create new objects with scrap clay, LA PATE BEURK/SCRAP.  
I don't really consider my clay "scrap" until it is an ugly, ugly grey or brown color or if I have unintentionally picked up "inclusions" like micro beads, pet hair or dirt. Generally, I end up my projects by blending leftovers in common color groups and storing them in the fashion of  Elaine Robitaille of Tooaquarious:

Sometimes I just want to make a variation on a theme using the actual leftover cane pieces.  One of my favorite French books on polymer is a wonderful resource for using scrap clay.  It is titled Pâte polymère, Techniques et astuces pour utiliser vos restes de pâte by Marie-France Tournet.

In this book Marie-France explores and gives tips for making wonderful objects and jewelry with your leftover clay.  I purchased my book from Amazon.fr. You can find Marie-France on Facebook.  She is amazing!

As an inspiration for my piece for this brain-racking challenge I decided to do a bit of sculpting with my scrap clay.  It isn't something I do often, and I wanted to expand my boundaries.  I love a photo by Alex Lee Johnson which he posted on "Paint my Photo"(an online community where photographers share with painters).  

 I liked the stance of the girl in the photo, and I liked how natural and at peace she seems.  
I set about sculpting on an actual prepared canvas.  

The muddy area around my girl is from my use of clay softener in an attempt to smooth out the surface,  I wanted her hair to look a bit more natural, so I textured the clay with something that is immensely abundant in my yard, helicopter seeds from our silver maple tree. 

After curing the sculpted girl on the canvas, I painted the canvas and the sculpture with acrylic paints.

The impression I was hoping to give is that she is skipping across a pond on top of giant lily pads.  

Please come visit Parole de Pâte to see all the lovely creations the Polym'air de rien artists have made using scrap clay.  It is a delightful collection.