About Me

Meet Warsha Piyumal

Hi there! I’m the clay artist and maker behind the pieces you see here. First of all, I’m not an expert in this subject. I started ClayandMe.com to help beginners like me become good at making things with clay.

It can be air-dry clay, polymer clay, or any other type of clay; the basic techniques are almost the same according to me. I may be wrong. I’m still learning, and I started this as a hobby. But thankfully, now it’s turning into a passion.

I’m the owner of Merkta LLC, which is a digital marketing company based in Idaho. I’m good at making websites and playing games. However, all those things happen in front of a screen. Since sitting in front of a monitor can cause eye strain and is so stressful for the head, I was seeking a hobby that helps me improve my focus and patience, and breaks me from screen addiction.

When I was thinking, I realized I like to watch people make things… especially with clay. I’m even following some professional clay artists on Instagram. I spend hours on YouTube watching people make dishes, trays, miniature ponds, magnets, keychains, trinkets, and pots using clay. I don’t care whether they make them using air-dry clay, polymer clay, or any other clay type. I appreciate the artists, their skills, their patience, how they learn from their mistakes, and how they decorate and present the output beautifully.

So, I executed the clay hobby. I had zero experience working with clay. I had no tools. So, the first thing I did was go to town and some online shops to grab a clay tool set, a mat, and a painting set (acrylic paint).

I was searching online for which clay I should start using on my journey to become a clay artist with zero experience. I found that it is better to use air-dry clay for large projects and polymer clay for miniatures which have fine details. Cost-wise, air-dry clay was cheap.

Since I am not good at handling clay and making fine details, and I didn’t know whether I would pursue this hobby after starting, I went with the cheap option, which is air-dry clay. But I kept in mind to try polymer clay as well in the future because I don’t like to stay trapped. I found out air-dry clay can improve our skills, like shaping the clay and handling the clay, and we can also learn from mistakes as well. Air-dry clay is prone to cracking, and I learned that the hard way. Lol. 😂

That’s how I started my hobby. The first project I made was a cute little rabbit. I made the head, ears, hands, and legs using small pieces of air-dry clay, attached them, and let the rabbit sit to dry for 2 days. After 2 days, the rabbit was completely cracked, and the head, hands, and ears had fallen apart. Only his big tummy and the legs were there. Yes, the first project was unsuccessful because I didn’t know scoring and applying a little bit of water is essential before attaching air-dry clay pieces.

That’s how I learned from my first mistake during this journey. Likewise, on this site, I’ll tell you the mistakes I made and how I fixed those mistakes as well, which is essential when you’re learning something new that can lead you to big places making big things.

You won’t get those learning-from-mistakes parts from big YouTubers and professional clay artists because they rarely make mistakes, and most of the channels and websites professionals handle only show the happy parts. But here, you will experience the reality with me.

I forgot to tell you, after my first ruined project, I made a trinket tray, and it came out so good with fewer cracks than the previous project. Luckily, I was able to fix them using a clay and water mixture, which is called slip.

As my third project, I made a small fish pond, and it was beautiful because I knew how to attach clay pieces and was able to avoid so many cracks. Even though one crack appeared, I was able to cover it up during the painting stage.

I’m also new to this hobby like you, and I love to share everything I do with clay and my journey. Being a clay artist with good hands is my dream, and I’m on my way to achieving that goal with you guys and gals.

You can watch the long-form videos of the projects I make through my YouTube channel. For short videos, visit my Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok channels. I do mention the links and products I use for each of my projects on all my social media, especially on my Instagram. Don’t forget to subscribe to me on YouTube and follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok for the latest updates.

But don’t worry, I still publish all my projects on this website as well. This includes tutorials and tips useful for that project, and I include the mistakes I made during the project and how I fixed them to get a better result.

Plus, you can contact me through contact@clayandme.com.

Thank you for being here. It’s an honor to share my projects with you!