A sculptor working through a creative block notices something strange about the sculptures molded from a particular brand of clay.
On this page, you’ll find the podcast episode trailer and the full episode.
And of course, a link to the source, the short story.
[Video description: Trailer for “Cloaked in Clay.” 55 seconds. Digital drawing. A clay sculpture of a griffin looming over a man lying on the ground. The griffin, a mythological creature with the body of a lion and head and wings of an eagle, is seen from left flank, facing to the left, looking down at the man. The tail is curled into an “s” shape. The left wing extends at top of image, behind the tail. The right wing is curved down toward the man. The left paw, whose bottom part looks like an eagle’s leg and claw, pins down the man at his waist and chest. The man raises an arm against the griffin. A watermark of the word “Storyfeather” appears over the image. Title card with the words “Podcast Episode” and “Genre: Mystery” is displayed at top. Story tagline is displayed at center. Tagline reads, “A sculptor working through a creative block notices something strange about the sculptures molded from a particular brand of clay.” The title card and tagline fade. Subtitles appear in time with music and narration at the bottom: “Maybe I had unlocked something within me that was already there. Something I’d locked up because it was wild and dark, and inappropriate. I couldn’t decide if that would be more or less comforting than being haunted by a spirit in my clay. Maybe it was both. Lots of people were using the same clay. Was anyone else’s hand directed to make the shape of this man’s face? Was anyone else sculpting sculptures that seemed to tell the story of some horror that befell him? I was revealing something in the sculptures. But what was I revealing? My soul? Or his?” Website URL appears at bottom center throughout and fades at the end as the image blurs and shifts hue, and story title appears at top. Text box appears at center displaying the words, “Listen on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, and so on. Or listen on my Podcast page at storyfeather.com.”]
Cloaked in Clay – Storyfeather
Episode Released: 5 May 2022
EXCERPT:
They say that a sculptor doesn’t create what she sculpts. She only reveals what is already there in the medium. I was not finding that to be true. Either there was nothing to be revealed in the lump of clay that sat on the workbench before me, or I didn’t have the skill that a real sculptor is supposed to have. The skill of sight. The skill to see what it is that is seeking to be revealed in the medium.
Come on, I thought. Reveal yourself.
CREDITS
Story: “Cloaked in Clay” Copyright © 2018 by Nila L. Patel
Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production: Nila L. Patel
Music:
“Trip-Hop Lounge Abstract Background” by Digital Emotions (Intro/Outro)
Music by ROZKOL
“Ambient I-IV”
“To the Water’s Edge”
Music by Lee Rosevere
“Start the Day”
“Night Caves”
“Under Suspicion”
“Thoughtful”
Music by ROZKOL and Lee Rosevere is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Find more music by Digital_Emotions at audiojungle.net
Find more music by Lee Rosevere and ROZKOL at freemusicarchive.org and bandcamp.com
Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com
JUMP INTO THE PORTAL BELOW TO EXPLORE MORE STORIES
FROM SEASON 5 (AKA YEAR 5)
THIS SEASON’S THEME IS S.T.E.A.M.
(SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ARTS, MATHEMATICS)
Genre: Mystery, Mythology
Tags: ACOSTA, CYRUS RALEIGH, GRIFFIN, SCALES OF JUDGEMENT, SCULPTOR, SCULPTOR’S BLOCK, SCULPTURE
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For more podcast episodes, visit the Storyfeather Podcast page.