Bacon and Eggs Anyone?

This morning I shared a quote on my herbal tea box with my husband from who they had printed as Francis Bacon. He told me that there's a debate as to whether he or Shakespeare actually wrote the plays that Shakespeare gets credit for. Something I didn't know. I asked if it wasn't supposed to be Sir Francis Bacon to which he replied, "Yes, it is, and he had a partner by the name of Eggs. They had the law firm of .......get ready now..... Bacon and Eggs!" 

So what does that have to do with the photo? Oh, nothing, it's the way my mornings go. :-) I will be posting a delicious Apple Craisin Maple Rolls recipe on my Simply Sheryl's blog if you are looking for a tasty and warm way to start a cool Autumn morning. 

These are my WIPS for now. I'm almost done with the snowman, shading, antiquing and adding a bit of vintage is all he needs. What's on your work table today?

Halloween Candy anyone?

Candy anyone? Tee Hee..... he won't bite you, I promise..... but he's been known to try......
Working with gourds can be so fun! This fella took me two years to finalize, as I wasn't quite sure where I was going with him. He's evolved and pieces sometimes do. I knew he was going to be a candy bowl, but wasn't sure what he would look like. Well....now we all know.

 

I'd heard of Mary Janes the other day and what did I find when I went to Family Dollar but the real deal! I love anything peanut butter so I was happy. With the black and orange wrappers they go well with this big guy. 

 This bowl will hold a bit of wrapped candy. He stands high enough to be a great center piece for a party as well. I have him up for consideration on ebay. Thanks for taking a peek.

Celebrate365 was in my mail box...looky what can be found....

How exciting is this?! I feel like I'm back watching Romper Room where I see Robert and Susan and Scott and Sylvia, oh look there's Sheila and Joe and Jorge and Becca! We mustn't forget Iva, and Phillane and Joanne, and Sue, or Laura and Stephanie, and my goodness I see me! How fun to see my work amongst all these talented artists pieces! Thank you Connie for the wonderful layout. Great issue this one, as all of them are, but this one is super spectacular. For anyone who hasn't ordered one, please be sure and contact Connie at Celebrate365 . For anyone interested in my pieces, you can find the owl and moon painting at my etsy shop, and Gourdelia the witch, to the far left, at American Holiday Artists Studios Marketplace. Both links are to the right of this post. Thanks as always, for stopping by and saying hi! I love hearing from you.

Man In the Moon Lantern

MAN IN THE MOON LANTERN

I hope this works, blogger is doing weird things right now. Here's a man in the moon lantern I listed at my etsy shop. Created using a cannon ball gourd and air dry clay. If you can read this send me an email.....lol. I will be back to fix this once blogger is working again. Sigh.......I guess you get what you pay for?????

Bountiful Santa and a Victorian inspired Santa or Two

I won't tell what this tall fellow started out to be, because the Santa in him was screaming to get out. He was so traumatized, he wouldn't talk to me for the longest time, but all is forgiven since I've finished him. He stands at 21" tall, and holds a bounty of vintage and antique fruits, some of which I gleaned at sales, others from Blumchens.

He has been dusted with vintage mica "snow" which adds a touch of sparkle to his appearance. Bountiful Santa is also willing to share the limelight with his friend Victorian Santa.

 

 I love Victorian ephemera images of Santa Claus! There is one in particular that inspired the colors I used for this fella. I wasn't trying to copy him, even though the original is quite handsome.  Some day I want to  

create a Santa doll just like what I see here. I love this face and the colors. 
This fella isn't too bad either though. He has twinkly eyes,a warm color, plus the texture on his coat was fun to create. 

So there I was one morning taking a shower and I spotted this cool little bottle my husband had brought home from a business trip to Vegas. I saw a Santa staring back at me, waiting to be brought to life. Caesar's Palace has the neatest shape for their shampoo and conditioner bottles! So he is done, and there's another one waiting to come to life. This is my Twinkle Star Santa. 

Well I'm off to finish laundry, find my kitchen table again, and work on more "stuff"! Have a great weekend all.

Autumn is slowly wrapping us in her glow....

     As a gardener I tend to check the weather forecast regularly. I first became obsessed with the weather when we lived in North Pole, Alaska. I looked for the first day to plant, and the latest I could leave things out without losing anything to frost. By the end of August we had usually had a hard frost, so anything in the garden not covered well looked like something from an alien movie. Green slimy leaves, and wilted plants told the story all too well. I can still smell the high bush cranberries, and the Labrador tea, and see the Midas touch on the birch tree leaves, mixed with the vivid red of the Fireweed. By this time it can be so cold that snow threatens any day. I see that this year they are having an Indian Summer as they are basking in mid 60 temps until next weekend.
      Back to Utah though, although it will be 89 degrees today, by next week we are looking at mid 70's temps. The nights have been cooler; my one lonely apple on my columnar apple tree is huge and red. The light comes through the window at a different angle and everything seems to be touched by a sort of golden glow. The wild sunflowers are in full glory, and the hills are tinged with a purple hue come evening. Mornings are cool and comfortable for exercise, and the smell of baked desert soil is going away to be replaced by a sweet freshness.
     We are also getting ready for the big car and air show here in Wendover and the weather is critical for pulling off a successful event. It appears that we will have a nice sunny day for the show, not too hot, and perfect. We are keeping our fingers crossed as things can change in a week, but so far all looks good.
     I love this time of year and how it inspires me artistically. The painting above was one done back in 2006, but is timeless in it's appeal. I will be creating new paintings of a similar style this weekend and hope to post them. In the meantime I have 3 prints of this painting being offered at my etsy shop right now so if you have a moment, won't you stop by and take a look? Here's to a great and restful weekend for us all.

And the winners are.....

Mother's Moon's Message and Suzanne Urban are the winners of my give away goodies. Thank you to all who participated! The comments were so kind, and we hope you all enjoyed the blog hop to see all the other artists fun collectibles. We at American Holiday Artists are thrilled to meet new people! Have a great week all!

3 Ribbons

We have a tradition in our family when it comes to the fair. If I've entered a painting or something in the creative arts competition we head straight for those buildings after arriving at the fair. Kent and Annie, if she's with us, will go ahead of me to see whether I've won a ribbon or not. I'm always a bit hesitant to just rush in and look, so he does it for me....lol. Well, I can tell by the look on his face when he rounds the corner whether I've won a ribbon. So he comes up to me and says. "Oh, you'll like this one!" and I have to guess whether it's a blue, red or other color. Yesterday it happened to be red. Last year I hadn't won anything in fine arts so this was a nice surprise. I have a hard time sharing sometimes, because I don't want to appear boastful. There are so many talented artists out there, and winning a ribbon is most often subject to the judge's taste. This year, my piece happened to appeal to the judge. The blue ribbon piece was an incredibly detailed colored pencil drawing of desert mesas and the red sands of southern Utah.

So far I've not been able to get a blue ribbon at the fine arts competition so as we meandered over to the creative arts building Kent asked me what I thought I would have to do to get one or even better, a best of show. Well, as we entered the building he ran ahead again, and came back with a huge grin on his face. He says, "You're not going to believe this one!" Much to my surprise and delight I had both a blue and a best of show on my Jingle Bells Santa. Whoohoo! Why do I do this? Compete for ribbons? It's fun for one, and of course it's nice to get recognized for the progress I've made in my art. It also keeps me on my toes, and I look at it as a way of getting exposure. My husband asks me months in advance what I'm doing for the fair each year, so it's a family thing as well. How lucky I am to have such a loving and supportive husband.

To show you what a trooper he is, Kent stayed with me for 6 hours while I demonstrated my sculpting techniques to passing fair goers.

He made sure I was fed, had plenty of cool water to drink, and sat there and chatted with me when there was a lull in the crowds. I loved the look on the children's faces as they watched, and what was fascinating was that the 10 year old boys seemed to be the most interested. I had a lot of inquiries about classes so I will be looking into teaching some. Logistics will be interesting as I will have to travel to teach, but I know it will be fun as I've done it before and it's so rewarding to see the look of joy on a new sculptor's face when they finish a piece. I'm also going to be working with someone online to teach online classes so I will keep you posted.
If you are looking for a way to get good exposure, and meet new people, buyers and collectors, or perhaps students, look into your state or county fair.

Horse and Santa WIP's

I found a great use for a Pampered Chef bowl. It works great to hold my gourd sculpts when I'm working on the top details. I will add the base later, but for now, hurray for Pampered Chef!
 This horse head will end up with a bronzed look with vintage sterling silver design work on the base.

This Santa is two feet tall so he will be an eye catcher when he's finished. He will be embellished with vintage look "ornaments" before I'm done. I sure have fun with gourd sculpting. Uh oh, the wild Wesley is awake and ready for lunch so I'm off to have some fun with the twins. Have a great day!

It's not Wednesday, but why not anyway? See Sherry's sale!

One of my favorite blogs to visit is Got Art by Sherry Goodloe. Not only is her art more than worth stopping by for, she teaches classes, and has THE best taste in music. I could sit and listen to her blog music all day, and sometimes I do...lol. Today I discovered that she's having a wonderful sale of her art pieces as well as some vintage goodies that will all make you ....okay drool isn't very ladylike, so how about swoon? To see what wonderful delights Sherry has to offer run over to her etsy shop, right now! GOTART ETSY
Don't wait too long or you will miss out on some fabulous art!

Oregon Bound

My gathering of some of my finished pieces going to the galleries in Oregon. Roxy want's Oregon driftwood Santa figures so I have a few to show her.

The little guy to the left is Wallowa Lake driftwood, and the smiling bust behind him is a gourd Santa.

Another driftwood piece. He is all wood, with clay embellishments.

A rolly polly gourd Santa.

A 24" tall Wallowa Lake driftwood Santa. His arms are lake wood as well. He was a lot of fun to make. I have some other pieces for the galleries as well but no photos as we had to go! If they like these I will be bringing a load of wood back with me. I'm so glad my hubby loves me. :-)

I'm really not goofing off....WIPS

Here are some pieces that I'm finishing up for Oregon. There's so much to do, so little time, so I'm off to continue working while the tots are asleep. Hope you're having a productive day!