Victorian Style Santa Make-do

Mrs. Claus has been so busy trying to get Santa's new suit made, she's behind on the cookies, but now that she's finished she can get baking. He's a handsome one if I do say so myself. Take a peek at him on Ebay

How am I doing so far? WIP

This is getting exciting! I've never quite made a Santa this way before, and so far I'm really having fun! The beard is done, and now on to the mustache and eyebrows. Then the hat...

EVolution: Coming Soon...

EVolution: Coming Soon...

To antique or not to antique, that is the question...

I often wonder as I get to the finish of projects whether I should antique or not. What are your feelings about this? Do you feel it adds or can it detract from a piece. The head with no hair is destined to be a make do Santa on a vintage milk glass lamp base. I've been waiting to use the base for a long time, and have wanted to create a Santa doll as well. This is a start. So what do you think, should I or shouldn't I antique? I would love your opinion!

Conventional....or Not?

I was coloring with my grandson the other day when it occurred to me that I'm a conventional artist. Even as a small child, when Mom would get on the floor and color with me, I was very particular about staying within the lines. I don't know if that idea came from her, or I was already there mentally. I know she encouraged me to stay within the defining lines on my color book pages, but she also taught me how to shade, where to put the shadows, and what colors I could use. Even that was fairly well defined, for instance if I was coloring a flower yellow, the shading color was a gold, or if red, I would use a crimson for shadows.
I find that as I am learning to paint, I have discovered that purple is a great shading color for red in my still life paintings. There are more that I can't think of right now, but it has opened a whole new world to see that I don't necessarily always have to go with a similar color to get the results I want. In fact, I should be looking for the true shadow color. Snow scenes are fun as the shadows can be purples, blues, peach or pink, grays, a myriad of color depending on the sunlight, and the mood you are trying to create.
With sculpting I still tend to be conventional in that I really like the old world look and have a hard time with whimsy. My favorite children's books have classic illustrations, even though there are a few illustrators such as Suzanne Urban of Smirking Goddess Studio that I would love to see create a children's story book with their delightful, whimsical, unique creations.
What sort of artist are you? Conventional, whimsical, abstract?
For a look at more of my Santa's created for this season stop by Reasons to Believe

PFATT Offerings for November

A snowman ACEO with a lot of charm. He comes with an easel or I can attach a hanger.
Vintage Style snowman ornament.
Gourd Snowman with sled. Hand sculpted as all my pieces are.

Antique Vintage Hand Pieced quilt block Variety

For any of you doll makers or Primitive artists, here's a wonderful deal! Go to my Simply Sheryl's
link on ebay and I have starting at 99 cents, some wonderful antique quilt blocks. I can see some real possibilities here so don't delay!

New WIPs and a Mother's Dream tradition

Each year I work on new Christmas card designs, primarily to send to friends and family, but this year I'm looking into some licensing venues thanks to some very dear friends. The design on the right is finished, the one on the left needs the finishing touches. How am I doing so far? One of my collectors asked for snowmen so I got inspired and busy. Hope you like them.

Sharing and sharing again!

I have to share a wonderful give away prize I won after I had wandered over to TDIPT and got my name in for a give away they were having. Ivonne of The Crackling Crows Designed the gorgeous banner I received. She has some wonderful holiday banners so run on over to the link above and see what she and all the other talented artisans at TDIPT have to offer.

New snowman art on ebay.

AND THE WINNER IS......

NO NO NO....these aren't the winners, Cathy Darling of Pure Art Studios is! She gets to choose from either one of these. Thanks to all who participated. I will have to think up something fun for Thanksgiving. Have a great week all!