Senior Connor Hoffman was only in sixth grade when he and his classmates started a unique form of art, clay sculpting. What began as a mere hobby has since grown into a full-blown passion that has motivated Hoffman to create roughly 100-200 clay figurines.

How did you first start getting into this art?

It started mostly because there were a bunch of kids who were bringing in, not the polymer baked clay but they were bringing in, like, oil clay that you can’t bake; it’ll melt in heat. And, you know, it was a fun little gimmick that everybody was doing, and I brought [the clay] in and I played with it a little bit; it was fun. Eventually, people moved on but I never quite did. I continued to mess with [the clay] at home or bring it with me anyway and eventually, I thought ‘okay, I want to preserve these’ so I looked around and eventually I found a type of clay called Sculpey III Modeling Clay, which you can bake and preserve your [creations] so that’s how it started with me.

What do you do? Briefly explain how you construct your art and what you use.

I’ll find something that I want to make, say, a Pokémon … I will find one that I like and then I will usually craft the head or the body … I would perhaps make a clay core out of clay that I don’t use very often … and then cover it in another core, like, an outer layer of a shell of the color. I want to try and save clay … I would take that base and add on. So I’d, like, stick toothpicks into its neck, for example, and then make a little head. In the head, I would put holes there and so that it can slide onto the toothpicks and then I could have the other head turn a little bit if it’s one toothpick or removable if its two. And for limbs, I would take, like, a little toothpick or a just a little, like, clay drill [to drill holes through the body], put some string through it, tie it off at the ends … and then mold clay around it for an arm so that when it bakes [275 degrees fahrenheit], the clay and the string don’t catch fire … And I can repeat the process either way for the legs with toothpicks or string and tails, whatever, you know, all sorts of little things. And it’s all solid clay so it’s a little heavy … and it can take anywhere from two hours, if it’s a small thing to, I’ve actually had one that took me 10 hours straight of work.

What are your biggest inspirations? Where do you draw your inspirations for your art?

Mostly everything I do is Pokémon. That turns some people off, but I’m just a huge fan. I’m a nerd for it.

Biggest successes? Proudest moments?

The green and black one, Zygarde, he’s hands down one of my favorites. He’s very intricate, and I love him. He’s such a great little character, but another one that I did really well on was the big one, [Kyurem], that took 10 hours. Like, just the time that that one took, I was exhausted at the end of day … I was sitting in my bed working on those things for 10 hours straight. I was so sore when I was done. Like, some people take breaks; I don’t take breaks. I don’t take breaks because I’m afraid I’m going to mess it up or I’ll lose interest or something. I don’t eat. I only rarely get up to use the restroom; that’s it.

Have you had any failures? If so, what have been some of your biggest failures you’ve had as an artist thus far?

I have had some failures. I don’t take pictures of the failures as much. Some of my failures mainly come from things that break or things that are just rushed, like when I was younger I’d try making these intricate things and then I’d rush, and I’d get emotional and just screw everything up. It was a disaster. Whenever I fail, usually I’ll ignore that particular character and I won’t touch them again … I don’t usually redo my stuff and I’ll just move on.

What do you hope to accomplish in the future art-wise?

It was always a thing that I just wanted to do it because I love the characters, and I wanted to have, like, little toys or little figures that I can look at. And that was the main inspiration. I have had dreams of sort of, you know, maybe making them as a sort of, aside from maybe just a hobby like a minor job or something just to, like, sell them or do commissions but I’ve never actually tried that so I’m not sure about that yet. It’s, you know, things that are still [in my mind].

How has art significantly affected your life — good or bad?

It’s given me a lot to think on. It’s something that I’ve done for my [entire] life. I think primarily art is just a great pastime. Like, if I didn’t have art I would just be, you know, that gamer sitting in the corner, and I still kind of am that, but it’s something that I can do that is more productive … It’s a hobby but I love it. It’s kind of what keeps me going.

Why do you love art or the specific kind of art that you do? Why did you choose this art versus other kinds of art?

I do some drawing too, but mainly the reason I love the clay is that it’s something physical that I can hold. Like, you know, a picture is fine and they’re great to look at but, in the end, you’re just going to hang them up on a wall and, you know, you look back at them sometimes, but with clay, I can hold that in my hand. I can, you know, feel the detail. And with my stuff in particular, I can move a limb or something or have a little bit of fun playing with it like a doll or action figure.