Having done artistic things her whole life, Phoenix artist Macy McKenny, 29, accidentally landed on clay as her medium of choice.
With a degree in graphic design, McKenny tucked her artistic offshoots away. But after some gentle prodding from a friend, “The urge to sculpt kept coming in little bursts until I broke down and bought some clay and have been messing around with it ever since,” she writes in an email.
After posting some of her tiny creations on social media, the reactions quickly snowballed into people asking to buy them.
“I didn't know that anyone would actually want to trade cash monies for my sculptures," she says, "but it tickled me that they did!”
Having completed a whale shark for a National Geographic researcher, one of McKenny’s next commissions is a space-themed creation for a NASA researcher.
The pieces are actually more complex than they look on the outside, she says.
To make them, first she builds an armature out of tin foil and wire, giving each petite creation a sturdy skeleton that's also light and prevents the creature from cracking when it's cured in the oven. Gloss or painted details are added depending on the piece.
One of her biggest commissions has been a set of Bob's Burgers snails for the show's studio.
After McKenny posted the snails, Bento Box Entertainment — the studio behind Bob's — reposted it from their accounts and requested a set.
Describing her brain as "twisted and whimsical," McKenny says she can't pinpoint where the idea came from because "those sorts of things just kind of squish around in there all the time."
McKenny says she adores the show, as well as cartoons and video games.
And that's led to her bringing the Adventure Time cast to three dimensions.
She's also made GIR from Invader ZIM.
And his piggy compatriot.
Other masterful creations include animals.
Like this gathering of frogmuffins.
And this tiny pink dinosaur!
It's OK to give inanimate objects belly rubs, right?
Then there's this little guy.
Feel free to dissolve from the cuteness.
And this predator.
We won't ask where he got his gold toof from.
Then there are these potted cephalopods.
They need a lot of water.
And this wide-eyed bird.
Owl be seeing you later!
There's also this fire-breather in training.
He's still singeing Kleenexes when he sneezes, but it'll get better.
Check out more of McKenny's adorable work on Instagram.
Or her website, Simon Says Macy.
