Face to face: meet Lucy Struncová of Lucy Clay Tools!

I do not like to use fancy words. They don’t come to me naturally. Wonder, miracle, treasure. I don’t remember in what connection did I write them down the first or last time, or even if I ever used them in my articles. Not about beads, not about traveling, nor designers or jewelry. You might think because of this, that I am not easily impressed. But I must say: it’s not true. I just like to use simple, everyday sentences. A nice combination of colours (in a necklace or in the nature as the sun is setting), an interesting shape (new beads or a rock lying on the ground), a meeting and a good talk (with or without coffee) can all have a deep impression on me. However, the most awesome words are reserved for really important matters and unique people.

And now I would like to write down the word “prodigy”, and introduce you Lucy Struncová 🙂 

Lucy is a 16 years art student from the Czech Republic. She fall in love with polymer clay in her early teens. She is the artist behind the professional quality PC tools Lucy Clay. (Yep, I know. If you work with this material, you already have at least some of them or you just desperately need them.)

You will find here interviews with jewelry makers  and fashion designers every second week. Together with Lucy we wish you a pleasent time reading!

Please tell us about yourself and your brand a bit!

I’m Lucy Struncova. I live in the Czech Republic. Soon I will be 17 years old. It has been a long time ago when I’ve started to work with polymer clay, and I fall in love with this material. My brand LC Tools was developed together with my daddy. I needed high quality tools for my creations and and to teach workshops. So my daddy put together our first product. We called it Czextruder. It means CZech extruder. It was a huge succes. This was the first time, that we were thinking about the possibility of designing more tools and sell them for other clayers who need it. Currently our company produces a lot of new things and tools for artists. I’m happy that a lot of people really love them. Just like me!

How did your story as a designer begin? Do you remember the first piece you sold?

I was a child, maybe 11 years old. Everything started with beads. My grandma was helping me with making jewellery. Afterwards we went on markets to sell it. It was a nice time. I already knew what it meant to work and sell. And as a child I earned my first money. After the beads I found polymer clay. And that’s how my big love for this material started!

Please tell us how does your average day look like! It’s so exciting to get to know more about the lifestyle of a designer!

I do similar things every day. I wake up at 6:30 am. Than I pick up some food and things for the day and go to school. I study at an art high school. It’s pretty nice that after classic subjects like maths, languages etc. I have a chance to learn new things and I can enhance my creations. I work in our school atelier until 5pm. It is a really nice place to create and together with other students. We draw, learn about graphic programs and art history. I usually go home after school and work on my homework. I also go to yoga and dancing classes. I really like running outside! Every day I spend some time to share my work with people who subscribe to my FB page, Instragram and web page. On weekends I can sleep more. I create with clay and develop new tutorials for my web and Etsy.

What makes your designs stand out of the crowd of other designers? Which are your favorite colors, shapes, materials etc?

I’m a huge fun of minimalism. However, it’s pretty hard to put this style to my own designs. I ussually make what I like at the moment. I always say, that your style has to represent yourself!

For me it’s important to try new things. I try to learn everything I can to improve my artwork. Everything what I make can bring new ideas and skills, so I never stop. I really like nature and microscope views. My inspiration comes mainly from these. All the colors are my favourites. I don’t know the reason, but I’m in love with olive green. I don’t have favourite materials at the moment. I learn new techniques in school every day , so it’s hard for me choose only one!

For what kind of occasions can we wear your pieces? What’s the woman who wears your design like?

When I have a cheerful mood, I usually make crazy jewels. I like brooches the most. So maybe people who wear my designs aren’t like everyone else. They are more original and honest. Because they don’t worry what other people think about them. Just like me 🙂

Where does your inspiration come from? Do you have some rituals to boost your creative energy?

I drink a lot of green tea 🙂 When I have a boring class, I grab my phone and check news on Pinterest. It’s my most favourite app. It brings me a lot of new ideas and summary what kind of designs were already made by someone else. Thanks to this I know what not to design. I try to get inspiration from other techniques, too. For example, I had a subject at school about designing furniture. I came up with a really nice chair with interesting decorations. And these decorations I transfered to my polymer clay jewelry.

Do you have a piece of jewelry you made, that is somehow special to you?

I never sell my most favourite jewels. They mean a lot to me. I collect them like treasures. But maybe the first jewel I made from polymer clay is the most special. I still have it in my memory box. It looks like any other piece made by a child. Even if I was the one 🙂

If you could design something for a well-known person or maybe a fictional character from a film or book, who would it be, and why?

Probably Madeleine Albright. I’ve read about her obssesion with brooches. I’m obsessed, too!

What kind of clothes and accessories do you wear? Who are your favorite designers and why?

I really love simple design. Black, white, brown… These are my most favourite colors. When you wear simple clothes, you can add a really significant designer jewel. That’s one of my rules. I’m happy when I discover a store with handmade things and clothes from original designers. So I can’t say who is my most favourite designer. Probably everyone who create with love and respect for nature.

What is your goal in the future? Where would you like to see your brand?

I would be really happy if I never stopped with the activities I like. Designing, jewelry making, tutorial writting… In two years I will finish high school (I hope). No one nows, what future will bring me. I have a lot of dreams. But the biggest is to live in the nature and create. I would like to write a book about polymer clay creations. Now it’s just impossible. So I hope that after school I will have a lot of free time for this. My brain is full of ideas. I hope our brand will still produce interesting and helpful tools for other designers. And the world will be calmer, more cheerful and happier.

Where can we see and buy your designs?

More often that my own jewels and work I sell my tutorials. Step by step information with lots of photos about how to make things from polymer clay. Time after time I share my tutorials and ideas for free on my blog. I’d like to see if someone likes it and share their own comments about my work. It brings me a lot of useful information for future project. For sure, if anyone is really interested to own my jewels and stuff, there is nothing easier than write my a mail and ask 🙂

etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LUCYstruncova
fb: https://www.facebook.com/Atelier.Lucy/
youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAp6aJwQsIWgsuclsWSHuVQ
web: http://www.lucystruncova.com

Lucy has a major surprise!

She not only writes tutorials and makes video lessons, but has some e-books in her portfolio, too!

And yep, she’s a sweetheart, so one of you can get her Bubbling e-book as a gift now.

It costs 32.91 EUR in her Etsy-shop, but one of you will get it as an early Christmas-gift from Lucy!

Random.org will help me to choose a winner a week from releasing the interview from Lucy (10.12.2015).

Thank you very much for answering my questions, Lucy!
I wish you a lot of success and creative ideas for the future!

Tell Lucy in a comment, how do you like her art!

And what do you think about the new series “Face to face?”

Whould you like to tell us more about your art and be featured in one of the upcoming interviews?

Don’t hesitate and drop me a line here 🙂