Dark Inspiration

Of such great powers or beings there may be conceivably a survival... a survival of a hugely remote period when... consciousness was manifested, perhaps, in shapes and forms long since withdrawn before the tide of advancing humanity... forms of which poetry and legend alone have caught a flying memory and called them gods, monsters, mythical beings of all sorts and kinds...

- Algernon Blackwood
From The Call Of Cthulhu by H.P.Lovecraft

I always find it interesting where people find inspiration; sights, sounds, smells all evoke memories long hidden in the deepest recesses of our minds.
Artists in particular find ideas all over and some are rather obscure. As a child I found most of my inspiration for my fantasy life in the movies and tv serials (I seriously wanted to be the Lone Ranger). As I got older the darker side of entertainment appealed to me and I was introduced to all the early pulp mags with "strange, amazing tales". I particularly liked H.P.Lovecraft, who could give you goosebumps on the steamiest day of the year. 
Lately I have been re-reading some of my old, well-thumbed Lovecraft and I found it inspired me to experiment with some dark art. No, not the occult, but the darker side of polymer clay. I started out with beads rather than a larger project and found it just the thing for my mood.
These beads may have been dredged up from the shores of Dunwich or from some dark and nameless cave. 

The material I used here is polymer clay "mud". I make a slightly light, muddy mix that gives the color a darker look once I apply it. Then it is alcohol ink, acrylic paint and gilders paste. Pretty simple really, but the overall effect has me thinking of The Dark Ones..."striding against space and time."
Summer is bright, light shocks of color, but winter is coming soon and darkness falls early....