Bottle stoppers (BS) that is.
Wine bottle stoppers are among my best selling wholesale products. However, I’ve become a little bored with the standard designs I’ve offered for the last 1 1/2 years. Now that I’m sculpting I wanted to try and combine faces/heads with the stoppers.
At first I thought of creating a stopper made entirely from polymer clay. That required a lot of clay and I was concerned about strength and durability.
Then I realized I could simply paint the wood core, pull faces from molds I’ve made of my own face sculpts and other faces I’ve collected and mount them to the wood core.
These Head BS remind me of masks or shields. I brought them to the Paradise City show to “test the waters” and see how they would be received. I sold three of them.
I need to play around with the idea a little more and will introduce them to the wholesale market in 2008.
What do you think?
Musings from the Moonroom 
October 17, 2007 at 4:10 pm
I think plain wood – they look classy and the color distracts…
October 17, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Amy – I think you’re on to something. These are pretty cool!
October 17, 2007 at 5:36 pm
I love them! So much fun! Perhaps you should make some two faced?
October 17, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Are the corps actually wood… they look like OLD wine corks. Which is quite cool.
October 17, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Thanks for the comments and compliments everyone!
Judy, thanks for the suggestion. I did the core coloring/design first and then applied the faces. Those bright colors are certainly out of the box for me which is part what made these BS so much fun. I used Daler-Rowney Pearlescent acrylic metallic paints and yes, they do pop. Muting the color with an antique wash or using a more neutral color is something I’ll consider. I wouldn’t leave the wood unfinished as it is not very appealing (essentially a 1″ dowel.)
Libby, I love the two-faced idea. That could lead to some rather interesting images….
DrMom, yes the cores are wood. I stamped a texture over the paint in complimentary colors.
-Amy
October 17, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Love the faces, Amy ! I’m sure they will sell. They would make a great gift for a wine lover (with or without a bottle of wine!) I wonder, could a wood stain be applied to the cores instead of paint? It might give you a more ‘earthy look’ to go along with the faces. Another idea would be to cover the wood cores with clay, maybe using a faux bone or stone technique. You might have to cover the cores with Sobo glue first to make the clay stick. I would also recommend baking a ‘test piece’, because some woods expand when baked and make the clay crack.
Just throwing out some ideas…
Dora, who is a lot better at generating ideas than she is at executing them, LOL !!!
October 17, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Amy.. I love them.. you know me.. anything with faces is a winner. It’s interesing to see the bright colors then the antiqued.. very contrasting.
Judy
October 17, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Very Cool!
If you wanted to go all out, you could keep the innards of them wood, but perhaps fashion hair, or hats or scarves over the wood to fully encompass the dowel of wood. (I think of some old monk’s face peering out from a big hood…)
October 18, 2007 at 3:01 am
Wow! Great ideas guys.
Debbie, I love the idea of adding hair, etc. Actually, that gives me another idea for sculpting the entire top piece and eliminating the wood base entirely. I’d have to play around with that idea but it does open up different possibilities for themes & characters.
Dora, I was thinking about a wood stain too. So many possibilities here.
The only thing I have found, at least with my current BS designs, is that people tend to like color and texture. That is what lead me to paint the wood core. This is the fun part of experimenting with different design styles.
-Amy
October 18, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Hi Amy, I love them! However, I agree with Judy about coordinating the color with the faces. I love the bright colors but would humbly suggest a more muted tone for those particular types of faces. I also love Libby’s idea of a “2-faced” stopper. There could be some interesting symbolism there!
What a wonderful and unique item you’re creating. There is so much possibility there. Keep up the fabulous explorations! -Karen
October 18, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Hi Karen,
Yep, I am giving more thought to muted tones or an antique wash. And in some ways that makes sense as I often use an antique wash on my art dolls so it is in keeping with the overall theme.
I’m looking forward to starting some new designs.
-Amy