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Sketches in Clay
By Heather Gaghan
Cecile Baird was born in Tennessee and moved to Ohio as a
child. She remembers, “from the time I was little I was drawing and I was
fortunate to have parents that supported that.” She now resides in Hillsboro, Ohio,
a small town between Cincinnati and Columbus. She attended Ohio State where her
life was full of art classes and where she received both her Bachelor and
Master degrees in Graphic Design. After graduating, the soon-to-be artist lived
in St. Louis and Los Angeles for awhile working as a corporate identity
consultant. She didn’t feel at home in the City of Angels so she decided to
take a trip home to visit and never left.
Cecile Baird talks about the creation of her miniature clay
wonders as some people speak of the birth of their first child. She started out
with Christmas ornaments—little polymer clay miniatures of clowns and
animals. She sold them at craft shows
and eventually became involved in a local co-op. It was at this co-op that
destiny lent a hand and two very important men made their entrance into
Cecile’s life: Reuben Sakes and Richard Carson. The late Mr. Sakes and 93 year
old Mr. Carson are owners of Karen Carson Creations, and when they saw Cecile’s
miniatures they knew they had to get a “tiny piece” of the action. They were
interested in selling her products wholesale through their company and Cecile
agreed to the idea. Cecile says these two men were absolutely influential in
every aspect of her business, “They became a huge part of [my] life and [my]
business.” They taught her everything she knows, especially to go with the
flow.
In his golden years and brimming with wisdom, Richard Carson
is still providing priceless wisdom to this growing artist. It seems to be
sinking in as she wisely stated, “When you are in this business you need to
find your nitch.” And that nitch was found when they began to sell the
miniatures to vendors who had booths at dog shows and “(it) has evolved into my
sole business today,” states Cecile.
Cecile creates all the designs herself with the help of photographs
and live observations of her four legged subjects. The one challenge for the
artist is to “try to bring out the whimisical side of the animal with the
clay.” For a product so small, her design process is bold, as Cecile creates without
drawings, but goes straight to the clay. She explains, “The sketches are in the
clay!” After the clay model has been completed it is ready for production. The
process begins by making only the body of the model into a mold. Then the head
of each one is sculpted and shaped entirely by hand. Creating one-of-a-kind
figurines are one of the joys of this process for the artist as she describes,
“No two are exactly alike. Each has its own little expression.” After all the
sculpting and shaping, a sparkle is painted in the eye of each dog. Her
miniatures are sold wholesale and are available in gift shops throughout the
country and at dog shows.
Oven baked polymer colored clay is the key to these
“whimsical and fun” creations as Cecile calls them. Some accessories are
included in the production of the figurines to capture their uniqueness such as
baskets, flags, strings of lights, and cushions. But it’s in the clay where all
the magic happens. In fact, after 22 years in the business, Cecile calculates
that her company uses almost a TON—at least 2000 pounds of clay each year to
satisfy her ever-increasing customers’ love for the miniatures.
Fifteen years ago, Cecile began to dabble in fine art
painting, using oils and colored pencils. She has become very accomplished and
has been published in such magazines as: American Artist, International Artist,
and The Artist. Cecile is a member of the Colored Pencil Society of American
and has just published a book on art instruction with North Light Press, “Paint
Light with Colored Pencils” which is coming out in June. Her staff is also very
supportive of her colored pencils ventures.
Cecile’s newest products of the printed kind are proving
quite successful as well. Combining the whimsy of the figurines with her brilliant
colored pencil work, they are the perfect combination of the artist’s best
loved mediums. Some of the new products include gift bags, Christmas and all
occasion cards, and pedigree evening purses.
“I’m a little dog person.” She has an 11 year old Yorkie who
answers to Sansom and two cats—15 year old Zoey and a new arrival, Louie.
Observing her own pets is very influential for the artist, inspiring the
personalities of each of her creations. Cecile says everyone at the office has
pets with emphasis on the plural and “they never get bored with dogs.” Which is
a good thing since dog lovers everywhere can’t seem to get enough of these
little clay miracles.
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