Good day Steemians! Today, I am going to announce the winners for my own #clayartcontest. Click here to see the details, if you haven't heard of it. But before that, allow me to share my thoughts on this matter.

Why Clay Art?

As I mentioned before, I am exploring ways to help minnows such as myself to grow here in the platform. I have entered a lot of contests in Steemit before but none of them showcased clay art, a hobby I used to associate myself with. To rekindle this flame in my childhood, I decided to conduct my very own weekly #clayartcontest to reward those with exceptional hands in molding clay into such fine works of art.

Hosting my first contest

I had a total of four entries in the opening of my contest. Truth be told, I wasn't even expecting any. After posting, I told people I know in Steemit to grab their modelling clay at home and start making some clay art, and post them as entries in my blog just to shield me from the embarrassment. However, that didn't happen at all. Most of the people who entered my contest where people I had not yet known and I had a great time reading about their blogs as well. Most importantly, I had fun looking at the entries which I will show later. I didn't expect their outputs to be so vibrant and full of life!

Commitment to Reward Quality Clay Artists

Seeing the quality of their entries, I really wanted to reward them what is supposedly due to them. Being a mere plankton here, I cannot do that yet. I want to commit to rewarding quality clay artists all over the world with my teeny weeny upvote on their posts and the SBD reward for the winner.

It felt really degrading to host my own contest yet not be able to reward those whom I really think deserves it. Anyways, tough luck for me. It will take some time for me to grow my influence in the platform but I pledge to do so. I am even considering powering up to speed up the process. This way, I can be a full-pledged quality curator in the platform. Hoorah!

Announcing the Winners

1st Place: @tonie
This entry has got to be the best one. @tonie used polymer clay, molded it into its shape, baked it and added the intricate designs which you can see. Reading her blog, she has made her own DIY polymer clay art. No wonder she is so good at what she does! Congratulations to you!

2nd Place: @davids-tales
This entry is good enough to pass as a real live squid to me. @davids-tales' is a fine artist indeed. Check out his latest posts to see how he creates his masterpieces.

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!

Other entries

Here is @chenchen's entry. You can see the details she put into her work

Here is @funbobby51's son's entry of his sea turtle. Hope he had a lot of fun making this one

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So that's it for last weeks #clayartcontest

This Weeks Clay Art Theme: Turtle

I urge you to make clay art featuring a turle. Let your imagination run wild with the texture, colors, sizes and designs. Just make sure you include that turtle in there. Have Fun!

Two weeks ago was my pet turtle's death anniversary. Aristurtle, as I call him was really precious as he was given by a close personal friend. Sad how easily he was taken away from me. Anyways, hope you have fun making that clay turtle!

About This Week's Contest

Because I had so much fun with last week's results, I shall make this into a weekly contest. Here are the details for this week's #clayartcontest

Inclusion Rules
Like all contests here in Steemit, I need to lay down a few ground rules for everyone. I will use this as a basis whether your entry is considered official or not.

• Upvote this post: Hope that doesn't sound too much. I believe more upvotes on this post will merit more rewards later on :D
• Resteem: Not everyone is totally on board with this one as it disrupts the delicate layouting of their blog. But I do need a bit of exposure. You may resteem before making a post so your latest post appears on top.
• Make a post and use #clayartcontest as your main tag: This will make it easier to look for the entries
• Post the URL of your entry at the comments section below. I would also appreciate it if you upload the photo with your comment and URL so everyone can see your work!

Other Rules

• As of the moment, you may use any type of molding material. But I do prefer if you use modelling clay.
• Your post should include a short writeup. It could easily be a short explanation on how you made your entry. It does help to make you post more appealing. We are after Quality Content afterall ;D

Judging

• The contest will end 7 days after posting.
• I will be the judge for the contest and will focus more on the quality of the clay art and the short writeup.

Rewards
I decided to add in a third place so everyone gets a little share

• First Place - 1.2 SBD (Minnow Food)
• Second Place - 0.8 SBD (Minnow Bite)
• Third Place - 0.5 SBD (Minnow Scrap)

Benefits

• It's fun! How therapeutic what that be to spend a few minutes of your time molding clay into the desired theme. It won't take you long.
• Minnow Food awaits you lol

I know what you are thinking. A minnow conducting a contest? Sounds pretty absurd, I know. But I find that minnows helping each other could be a great support system. Minnows are Friends. We are on the same level and we know how it feels to be new here. We should definitely push each other to greater heights. Let us feed each other.

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This is Aaron. Just keep steeming!