Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

A mad dash in to share my latest ebay listing. You can find him here... Mother's Dream Artworks

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas.....

 What can I say? It's Christmas year round at our home as I try to get ahead of the game and be ready for next season. This handsome fella above is created using a bottle gourd.

Another gourd creation, this Belsnickle was so fun to make! Each of these pieces is available at MothersDreamRtworks

PFATT Marketplace Offerings....

 Wallowa Lake bark driftwood is the inspiration for this piece. Hand sculpted features, hand painted and dusted with vintage mica "snow", this fella comes ready to hang.

Another driftwood Santa, all hand sculpted features and the same attention to details. These handsome fellas can be found at PFATT Marketplace. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blue Or Brown, What color are Santa's eyes? A Victorian Santa...

When I sit down to create a Santa I run into what color to paint his eyes sometimes. So I ask, what color are Santa's eyes? Does it really matter?
I painted Santa's eyes blue this time, but who knows, the next one may have brown....

A New Gathering of Folk Art Gourd Santas on PFATT

 From Remote Controls to gourds, there's nothing I leave untouched when it comes to creating Santa pieces.

These handsome fellas are on PFATT now and ready to go to a new home. You can find them here: PFATT Marketplace

The Newest Santa on the block.....

He's roly and poly and jolly with holly, and ready to find a new home. Stop by my ebay listings to learn more. Victorian Holly Dreams Santa

Light The Tree Santa - Upcycled Folk Art

Since I can't get a real job right now due to caring for my elderly in-laws, I might as well play when I can right? So I'm looking for new homes for some of my Santas that didn't get listed online during the holidays. This Santa is a re-purposed light bulb, hand sculpted with Creative paper clay and hand painted with layers of paints to add depth and shape to his features. He's a one of a kind, listed at MothersDreamRtworks ETSY

More Reasons to Believe....

 A friend of mine found a stash of awesome bobbins at a yard sale this last spring and immediately called me to see if I wanted them, of course I said yes! She bargained and dickered so I had a nice collection of unique bobbins to play with when I got to Oregon.

She collects Santas and knows what I do, so she is always on the look out for things she thinks I might want to create Santas from. Friends are so wonderful and give us another reason to believe....
Here's where you can find these handsome fellas..... Reasons to Believe

A Country Style Santa, or is that Primitive, Rustic, Northwoods?

 I googled Northwoods Santas and guess what?! My Santa listing on Reasons to Believe came up top of the list. Wow! I'm going to have to give Scott a high five for that one! Anyhew.... Santas come in all sorts of shapes and styles. Fat, skinny, tall short, round, smiling or serious, or even frowning!

Color themes vary from  the ever popular red and green, to purple and gold, blue and white and all shades in between. This Santa has a touch of Victorian with his long robe and flocked greenery, but goes country with the leather belt and homespun ribbon on the wreath. He's a bit rustic  with his wired on arms, and Northwoods with the vine wreath and birdhouse with cardinal, as well as the driftwood he's made of. So no matter your Christmas style, this handsome fella will fit in well. He stands 19 inches tall. He's ready to find a new home, so if you are interested please send me an email and I will paypal you. $175.00 with free shipping

A Santa A Day #5

A Victorian Style Santa that used to be a hair product bottle. He's carrying vintage fruit and leaves. A true, one of a kind collectible.

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