ONLY 3 DAYS TILL X-MAS!!!!!

Wow, I can't believe that Christmas is in 3 days and that 2009 is only a week and a half away!

I have been working on many things. Sorry I can't yet show the commissioned piece, I was asked to wait until after the holidays so I don't ruin the surprise. So instead I will show you what I did on photoshopCS4. My uncle gave it to me a few days ago so I started messing with it and I LOVE IT!!!! I have only managed to make a few things because I didn't have too many images on my computer to work with and they took me forever to cut and put together...okay maybe it was 3 days.  I used over 100 layers on the frame image!!

I also got the gigantic manual for it and all I can say is-- I doubt I'm going to read it-i think I will just try to figure it out. I have a ton of ideas and an ephemera collection to photograph so this is going to be a fun new direction for me. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!

A Pretty Little Christmas!!

Today is the Blog Party for A Pretty Little Christmas so in honor of it I am putting some pictures of my decor for this year. I really didn't have the energy or the $$$ to do too much this year so I kept it simple. The family tree is the white one with all of the kids ornaments and favorite colors as well as my more traditional tree in green and red by the hallway. The gift boxes are all going to remain empty until Christmas Eve because our curious kids pick them open and peek every year, so this year it will be a real SURPRISE!! hahaha! 

I wish I had more time to put up more pictures but there aren't enough hours in the day for me, maybe in 2009  I will start a flicker account so I can share more everyday pics with everyone.

Happy Holidays to All of You!!

Ms. Whisolbautum

Allow me to introduce to you Ms. Whisolbautum. She is and has been a social worker for orphans for as far back as she can remember, which doesn't say much since she has dementia and is forgetful. Ms. Whisolbautum suffers from cataracts and is hard of hearing but she is unaware of this.  

She is applying for work at MRSBO's in order to transfer her cases and maybe have better luck. For some unknown reason she has had several unfortunate incidents and accidents in her former orphanage. Also, her "precious" and "charismatic" orphans keep getting returned to her after just a few short days. She believes this is the result of living in an unsafe neighborhood filled with irresponsible uncaring adults. 

Ms. Whisolbautum has never married, there was no time for this. She had too many cats to raise and her duty and responsibility is and has always been to help the children. She won't retire until all of her orphans have been adopted...Unfortunately she isn't aware of the year and with her cataracts she can't tell that she keeps being given new children. And just between you and I--She also doesn't realize that out of the 50 years she has been working, she hasn't had a raise in 47 of those years! This makes her a highly desirable candidate for employment. 

She will begin introducing the orphans as soon as she finds employment and is settled in somewhere safe. 

also...

first off, let me just say-I am electronically challenged!!

that includes phones, cameras, DVR, MAC, etc. If it has a battery or a plug I will mess it up.

So with that said...

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but when I try to enlarge the pictures I post, it doesn't work! If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know. Thanks

I know i need lessons on all things listed above but my poor kids just don't have the time or patience to deal with my extremely short attention span and outrageous hypothetical situations.

Just kidding-sorta!

working

I have had a really busy week and weekend so I didn't get to work on too much. But here is a sampling of what I HAVE been able to do. 

This is for my daughter I used the girl in pencil image and tweaked it a bit, its acrylic and pencil on wood--she loves anime and bright colors.  SORRY for pics, I need photo lessons.

This is the original version of the girl above in graphite on paper 

This is Ms. Whisolbautum 

(or as the children say Mzzz. Whistlebottom)

She is a social worker that is trying to transfer her "cases" over to MRSBO's 

(just imagine cataracts, dementia, and moth balls) I hope she gets in.

If any of you have any ideas for photographing drawings or paintings in low light without a flash please inform me, my pictures with flash kill the image and without it they are blurry.

I had to scan the pencil girl and it comes out awful! It looks like grey paper-it's actually white.

I would like to sell on ETSY but I want to offer the best quality I can (in paper and printing), so if anyone has any advice, I am listening. 

THANKS!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I will be back to work on Monday and add some pics next week. 

I received this award from another Great Artist and new friend in Spain, Rosa Grueso of Nenufar Blanco. Check out her work at nenufarblanco.blogspot.com its in spanish, but her work is so beautiful it really speaks for itself.  Thank you Rosa. 

a Sneak Peak and an AWARD!!

WOW, I can't believe its almost Thanksgiving! I still have so much work to do. Here is a sneak peak at the Virgin Mary's idea board, and some other things I made like the victorian lady head and Yes, I make stuffed animals too. 

As soon as I finish Mary I will be working on a creepy OLD cutie and some kids that I would like to use to try to join a group that does some wonderful work,  MRSBO's.  Wish me luck!

  BIG NEWS FOR ME!

I am honored  to have received a Marie Antoinette award from the amazingly 

talented AMY SHORT!!  Please check out her blog at 

amyshortart.blogspot.com , she is a multi-talented artist and such a sweetheart too.  Thank you, thank you, thank you Amy!!

Hi Everyone!

I'm still working on my commission-

Its going to be my interpretation of the crying Virgin Mary (La Virgencita) with some red roses. The daughter requested it for her mom as a gift.  I loved looking up images of Mary. She has been depicted by so many artists throughout history, at so many different ages and in so many different styles. I have done angels in the past but this is going to be my first religious Icon. I am already having fun gathering the materials. I will post some pics this weekend.

P.S. For all of you Tim Burton fans out there, this is the new Alice in Wonderland. I can't wait to see her and Johnny Depp in this remake.

I'm a member

I have joined this wonderful group that has so many of my favorite fairy artists.

My sketchbook

I figured since I show my sculptures here, I should also show my other work as well. I do some paintings from time to time and these are some of the sketches in my journal. When I finally sketch one I love then I paint it.  The bottom one is currently being made into a painting, I loved her pose and expression. I am thinking of putting some of my work on ETSY, let me know what you all think.

PIRATE GIRL

Hi Everyone, Happy November!

Here are some pics of my almost completed little "Pirate Girl"

Like all of my girls, she's caught in that amazing age just before you lose your innocence and where magic and make believe are still possible.

All of the fabrics, new and vintage, have been aged and distressed except for the lace fingerless gloves, that lace is almost 100 years old and VERY delicate so I left it alone. 

She wears a white dress and matching pantaloons and wears a blue tulle and wool shawl 

that wraps around her shoulders. 

Her hair is tibetan lamb and was hand dyed by me. She is made of a blend of polymer clays and a sturdy wire armature and then is lightly blushed all over even her fingertips. She has freckles and hand painted dark glass eyes. 

SORRY...she was delivered before the final picture

I added a few more details on her hat, some feathers and fabric 

of course!

 

I LOVE HATS

I hope you enjoy!

 

Happy Halloween

Just a quick sketch to say-Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Alice, a darker side

This doll is for Giovanna, thanks for giving me extra time to TRY to photograph her. 

This is my take on Alice, at least a dark sad version of her, hence the blues. She longs to escape Wonderland but then realizes that it isn't a place she is trapped in, it's her mind. Will she ever find her way home?

FYI, there is usually a meaning behind many of the items I make;). I love using colors as emotions and I am a HUGE Jung fan. His works have had a great influence on my works.  Her little top hat has several different bird feathers, even crow. 

**Sorry for the quality of the pictures, my camera is having a FOCUS issue. But I wanted to get the pics up anyway.

Come Back Soon--I'm finishing the other girl and starting a commission for Amanda. 

Parents Be Warned

PARENTS TAKE HEED

This creepy cutie is Emily-Louise.

She died.....of embarrassment.

After a rather rough start at her new school Emy-Lou was finally starting to fit in. She was invited to a social gathering at the most popular girls house. 

She carefully picked out her outfit and practiced the witty things she would say.

The day finally arrived and everything was going just as planned, when out of nowhere 

Emy-Lou's PARENTS showed up!!

They thought it would be nice to meet Emy-Lou's new little friends and spend some time with them.

Emy-Lou felt a rush of heat rising up in her as her parents blurted out all of her secrets and then asked her to wear the hat they had bought for her while traveling abroad.

They thought she was just the cutest thing!!

As the guests and the hostess stared in disbelief

Emy-Lou could feel the life slipping right out of her.

Next thing she knew, she was a ghost.

And to her horror she was still wearing the hat!!!

     

OOPS! I BURNT MY HANDS!!

This is the easiest and fastest method for me to make hands when the doll is very small or when I don't feel the doll needs a hand armature.  

1-I start with 2 small squares of clay for the palm. 

2-I roll out a long thin piece of clay for the fingers, then cut 2 sets of four fingers. 

3-I attach the the middle finger first then index, 3rd and pinky. 

4-Next is the thumb which I make sort of a teardrop shape and attach to hand.  

5-I mark 2 straight lines as the sides of the fingernails with a needle and then do the rounded part on top. 

6-Bake according to clay you use---but BEWARE-if you walk away from the oven the little hands will burn!!

7-Once cooled you can blush with artists pigments, acrylic washes, heat set oils or whatever make up you want to use.

REMEMBER- This is just one of the ways I make hands, there are many different ways to do it, so just have fun!

Hi everybody!

 I have been really busy so I haven't updated my work yet. I just got a chance to unload some pics of my trip to Disney. They have the cutest fall decorations, I love all of the colors. The weather was extremely hot as usual but I really enjoyed the food festival they had going on. There was an Alice in Wonderland thing happening too. I LOVE DISNEY.

I just added my banner that the incredibly talented Gail over at Shabby Cottage Studio designed for me. I gave her the pictures and a list of things I liked and she turned around and brought my list to life. I wish I had that kind of talent with a computer but thank goodness she's there for those of us that don't. 

Thanks again Gail. 

I just want to thank all of you that have taken the time to visit my blog and left me some wonderful comments. I am humbled and flattered that such talented people are interested in my work. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful October and come back and visit soon. I plan on adding some tutorials in the near future, if anyone has any suggestions or requests just let me know.

Many incredible artists have been kind enough to share their knowledge with me and I will be happy to do the same with you.

I will also be adding some wonderful blogs I have discovered as soon as I figure out how to do that on this blogger stuff.

 These are just a couple of my muses I thought I would share with you

Pugley and his son Paxil

 have been a constant source of ideas and laughs for the past five years

Here is my tiny homage to Waterhouse- i love the pre-raphaelites.  I used to be obsessed with trying to sculpt of lot of  dolls that looked like this but I am exploring other types of features now.

body parts

I have made an effort to keep my studio clean and tidy but its very hard when you're trying to find just the right color of mohair or the right fabrics or the right colors of clay to mix. I love the process but I don't like the picking up and putting everything back---I work messy! Here are some heads and bits and body parts I found around my desk, I'll call it the doll cemetery.  Also those are some eye colors I have been working on. The body with the drawings on it is my guide for errors in anatomy that I tend to make if I am focused on just one body part at a time. This helps me remember. 

Sorry for the continuing posts- I am new to this , so I don't know how to load a picture after a new paragraph.  Anyhow- this is a current WIP (work in progress) if you look closely you can see that a creepy cutie is in there too.  I hope you enjoy.

This is my take on welcoming Fall and all of it's colors- the Fairy under the glass is one I made a while ago but I love her colors so she's there too.

 

This week I joined Artsy Mama's Sweet and Sinister blog. I love the things that they are making and it is inspiring my creepy side. I can't wait to get started on my own take of the projects. Don't get me wrong- I love pink and teal and sculpting beautiful victorian fairies and dolls but I have a weakness for the strange and unusual. I think this came about because in he past when I was hired or commissioned to make or paint something, it has always been "pretty", it isn't very often I get to break free and make some "creepy cuties" so this is a great place to do it. Thanks Artsy Mama for putting it together!!

Wait for me!

Hi everyone and anyone reading this, today I took a giant leap and decided to start a blog. I think I might be the last person in the world to start one. I will be blogging about my art, the creative process, my obsessions with old and shiny things, my musings and sometimes rambling on about my passions and dreams. I hope you enjoy following along.