Seema Jain- The Saga Of Polymer Clay
Life of an artist itself is very creative, attractive and colorful, but it seems really difficult to imagine when a well established IT professional quits her successful career to enter this world of creativity. Yes, it happens and it happened with Seema Jain. Her love towards color, nature and creativity gave her a whole new dimension and she became a Polymer Clay artist. She shared her journey with us. Take a look at what she said…..
Welcome to the platform of Indiacafe24.com. We are pleased to present an exceptional talented artist to our readers.Seema will insist you to give a brief about your background and your family.
Thank you IndiaCafe24 for having me here. As an Artist and Entrepreneur my childhood has a huge influence on my persona. My father served in Indian Air Force and I have grown seeing different colors of India in all forms…language, people, culture, tradition,arts etc…this diversity has always inspired the artist in me and encouraged me to follow my dreams.
Educated to be a Software Engineer, worked in IT Industry for 10 years and quit from a post of ‘Senior Consultant Oracle Applications. I followed my dreams, worked deterministically parallel to my IT job towards my hobby and eventually turned my passion in to profession.
I quit my regular job in 2012.
Today I am a Polymer Clay Artist specialized in two fields
1)Making ‘Thai Clay Flower’ specially Clay Orchid’s Ikebana
2)Handmade Polymer Clay Jewellery. We are trained and have received our International Certificate of Polymer Clay Graduate recently.
You are a IT lady by qualification and was earlier a software engineer too, you switched to a creative world altogether – So whats the difference between a technical and creative world as per you.
Difference…Just one…Creative World makes your life beautiful 🙂
Rest all is same.Challenges, competition, quality control, team meetings, long working hours, customer care, working weekends, profit –loss …everything is same…just that it makes your life beautiful because you Love what you do and you are doing what you love.
As we came to know that your love for orchids is the reason towards getting attracted towards this world, so will insist you to share the story of this attraction?
He he he…sure. I am an Orchid Freak and I love gardening. One day, I had few moments free in office and I started to google Orchid Nursery…while I accidently landed up into a website. The orchids were sooooo beautifull…that I assumed them to be real and tried to purchase them…only when I saw price as AUD…I realised its someone in australia…To my shock the website name read…www.pattyclayflowers.com
I was amazed…shocked…mesmerised…and hungry…all at the same time. Once I realised these are handmade Orchids using Polymer Clay…the only thing I wanted to do was LEARN the making.
It was unbelievable!!! But that very moment…my heart was caught …I was determined…that few years down the line, whenever I retire from my job THIS IS WHAT I AM GOING TO DO 🙂
I started working towards it…I wrote to Patty…purchased stuff from her…picked on her tutorial and sample flowers…and I started to skill myself.
For Clay Flower, Patty is my Guru…a wonderfull artist…settled in Australia. It took me years to skill and scale up myself. Thanks to her for my flower skills J
How Seema Clay Flower and Seema Clay Jewelry was born?
The birth of SeemaClayFlower, for this the credit goes to my husband, Saurabh. He works for iGate. He made me realise that I am an Artist’s soul stuck in a Software Engineer’s body 😉 He suggested me to make a choice and do what I wish to. He has never stopped me to Chase my dreams. With all his support and encouragement and from people in office specially our colleague Priscilla one day I dared to make my own website. It was a plain html and css website. Just did for fun and I was shocked to see that it was getting hits from people. People started to reach me for learning. That’s how SCF was born and then there was no turning back.
Regarding SeemaClayJewelry, it was a planned launch on 10 Nov 2014. While I was primarily working with Clay Flower as HomeDecor, I realised there is a huge potential in Indian market for customized Polymer Clay Jewelry. So, we went through one year of rigorous training…. I did a CERTIFIED COURSE and learnt a series of different advanced techniques in this art from Iris Mishly from Kareem Mahal. She is one of the finest polymer clay artist in world and I take pride in being her student. I would say She is an encyclopedia in Polymer Clay J
Who is your guru of this creative world?
I have a very fundamental rule…If you have to learn…LEARN from the MASTER. When I started learning these art…I picked on the best people outside India who were already Experts in their fields. They were internationally recognised for their creativity.
My Guru for Thai Clay Flower’s is Patty from Australia and My Guru for Polymer Clay Jewellery making techniques is Iris Mishly from Israel.
What actually tempted you to try clay art in making jewelries apart from flowers?
I love working and experimenting with different forms of clay.This art is new to India, but it exists in Europe from quite a few years. I have been to UK in 2006 where I got a little base on jewelry making with polymer clay from the neighbourhood…it was to a very ground level entry for me…So I had an idea,,,but then seeing terracotta demand in Indian market I experimented with Polymer Clay for Jewellery.
When you first realized that customized jewellery can be the reason to make you an entrepreneur?
For me it has always been Mother Nature, Flowers and Colours that gives me a kick in the deepest of my sleep. So, as an entrepreneur I have been working with Thai Clay Flowers since last many years. However, I have done a little study on jewellery market in India seeing the high demand of Teracotta…hence planned to introduce Polymer Clay in my work towards jewellery making which was very appealing.
To be honest the concept of customized jewellery is now high in demand, so what acted as an inspiration for you to enter this competitive market?
Yes, there is a huge demand for customized jewellery. There is no artist bigger then Mother Nature…that’s my soul inspiration for creativity…and regarding competition..its every where …in every field…where is the fun without competition 🙂
Who inspired you to become an entrepreneur? Any Idol for you?
Yes, My Father and Mother. They are my idol to become an entrepreneur. While my father was serving Indian Airforce, that time the Salary was not enough to run a big joint family. Although we are only two (Me and my brother) we have a big joint family in Haryana. Both my parents are WORKoholics. In order to support our family needs… While other people were used to chill after duty hours…my parents were struggling to setup their business parallel to their work. They are very simple and honest…the true fighters in life who never give up. I have grown seeing them rising in their business with all the extremely hardworking day and nights…all those tough times…all their hardwork has always boosted me towards following my dreams and work towards it. They are my real life entrepreneur who inspired me to be what I am today 🙂
In case anyone wants customized design then is that possible for you to design exactly what the client wants?
Yes, Indeed.
What materials you use in making these jewellery and flowers and where from you are sourcing it ?
Polymer Clay is the main raw material in both the art form. Thailand is the main manufacturer of Thai Clay for flowers. Whereas for jewellery making we use FIMO, a Staedtler product. Made in Germany.
You are also teaching students about this art form, so where you take classes?
Yes, we take classes to teach this beautiful art form. We take face to face classes at bangalore. We are also taking ONLINE classes for which we have a separate setup. We are trained and CERTIFIED polymer clay artist. We received our International Certificate of being a Polymer Clay Graduate recently. All our Polymer Clay Course are certified course….so student’s get certificate from us too.
What sort of response you get when you announce classes in different locations?
Its very satisfying, when you see students coming all over the corners of India to learn from you. We Love to share our knowledge and experience with our students.
What curriculum you follow in your class?
We have different subjects to offer, from the very basic to professional level that helps a hobbyist as well as a professional to pursue their goals. Starting from the very ground level, we teach the subject with every minute detail in great depth. All the material is given in the class for usage.
We also give SALES GUIDANCE to our students with which they can take a leap from a Hobbyist to an entrepreneur.
Who are your targeted customers when it comes to selling of your handmade products
There is no planned target as such. People of all age groups are reaching us. Starting from toddler’s mothers, who reach us for their return gifts for the b’day of their loved ones. Kids Jewelery, home décor ,gift items , corporate gifts…jewellery design for all age groups etc. Learning enthusiast are from almost every age group.
How you are reaching your customers and what sort of response you are getting for your creativity?
As I mentioned, I am a Software Engineer by profession, so I am using my IT skills to reach the customers in all fields.
What are your future plans for your projects?
Plans…as such..just go with the flow..work hard-work smart with all our honesty, sincerity and dedication…in a word just LOVE our work.
What are your other passions in life?
He he he…Love my son…family…my work…love gardening…collecting plants n handicraft wherever I go ….playing with colors…talking….the list is endless 😉
What else you are learning at this moment?
I am undergoing an International course in designer candles right now. Plus always keep pitching in with new techniques in Polymer Clay.
What are your views about Indian women entrepreneur and how you want to encourage such ladies who want to come up and establish them as entrepreneurs?
These day’s Indian women are very successful in every field. Its very inspiring to see each other growing. I would say just follow your dreams and work hard…and you will come out with flying colours.
Determination, hardwork and honesty these are the wings that take you to the higher things.
Also I would request specially the mother’s… that please fullfill your daily responsibility of being a women towards your children and family along with the career. Your kids need you as much as your career. So find the best way to balance both. I personally think that along with your career investing your time in your childs good-upbringing and education is the best investment in our future.
Apart from my passion towards my art, giving time to my child was the main reason for me to quit my IT field and be an entrepreneur.
Define Seema- The clay artist ?
Seema the name means ‘Limit’. But I know NO limits when it comes to Clay Art 🙂
To me Seema is “Love for Mother Nature, Flowers, Colors and Clay ‘
pleased to read this interview. It was great to know seema and learn this art and get this knowledge from her. best wishes and success to her.
Hi…..
How to join for this online class dear ?