Happy Monday! Okay, it is for me at least.....

 Oh the joy of listing an item on ebay and having it sell right away! Printed on very high quality heavy duty gloss finish paper, with very high quality ink, this is the last of the series I had printed from the original painting I did. I only have one of the prints left of the above painting so head on over fast to snag this! Prim Pumpkin Pear Print

 A sweet and woodsy gourd Santa, hand sculpted and painted with layers of paints, this little fella is also available here: Northwoods Dreaming Santa
So I'm having a good Monday, mailed off a few pieces that sold last week and today, and this little guy will go to some lucky home so we are starting off the week right. How's your week going?

Hagatha Witchley

 August has arrived with an outlook for back to school and fun holiday times just around the corner. Soooo, I pulled out my gourd collection, which is growing by leaps and bounds, and found this lovely lady just waiting to be brought to life. A gourdeous pumpkin witch isn't she?

Hagatha has made her debut on ebay this week, so scurry on over and learn more about her and how you might be able to have her keep you company this Halloween. You can find her here:  Hagatha Witchley

Large Gourd WIP continues She has hair!

 I finally got to the first layer of her hair yesterday and then had her baking in the warm car for most of the day. I added more bulk to her hair and have now stuck her head in the oven to dry. That can be a tricky thing, as she is very large, but it's working.

I'm still thinking she needs a tad more height to her hair to give her a balanced look. What do you think? I need to finish the sculpting and get her drying today as I have two days to sand and paint her. What do you think so far?

Gourd Art doll WIP continues....

 I've been working away on this piece today so I'm getting much closer to having her ready to paint. I know, it doesn't appear that way, but trust me, there's more painting than sculpting in the future for her.

A bit rough here and there, and yes, she will have hair...lol. It helps to let each step dry a bit. So I'm off to prep dinner to take to hubby; he has a soccer game to supervise. I do need a break and then back at it. I have one week left to finish this...think I can do it?

Mother and child WIP continues...

 I have a head now, yay! Not perfect yet, but on the way. I've discovered that the fore arms will have to be made of something other than gourds, they weren't working out, but hey, that's what the creative process involves, learning and changing an approach.

No, my house doesn't have stuff laying all over, the soup can props her body so she can dry over the air vent. See how big she is? I better get cracking here, she's still got a ways to go and I have two weeks to do this in.

My biggest sculpt yet...WIP

 It's time to finish my pieces for the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts in Joseph, Oregon. Hubby says I should enter the chicken pastel I posted in my previous post so now I have two more to add. I am also adding one of my abstracts, but I'm going to do some touch up before I post that one, so now I'm working on a sculpt I've been wanting to do for a long time. I have a friend in Wallowa Valley that snagged some very cool and very large gourds, this one happens to be 26 inches tall. She offered to let me buy a couple as she has plans for the rest. I originally started on a Santa with this one, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish it, so here I am, working on an Indian mother and child. I peeled off the face of the santa, which will need a new and very large gourd. :-) I'm using more than one gourd in this sculpt, the arms will be made up of two gourds each.

Here are the forearms. Look Mom, no hands! Actually, I have to wait for the top of the arms to dry before I add the forearms and since I'm not completely sure of the way the hands will go I am waiting until I attach these gourds and let the clay dry before working out the hands. For now I will work on the head and the baby that will be cradled in the mother's arms. The most exciting part of this will be the design I'm planning for the mother's dress. I'm working up a stylized version of Nez Perce designs to finish the piece off with. I only have a couple of weeks left so I'd better get to it! I'm hoping to have more pieces before the show, which is in June because they've asked me to demonstrate my sculpting so I want to have a variety to share. Gourds are so much fun to work with, the possibilities are endless don't you think?

Hagatha Dearly...a gourdeous witch...

 Hello my dearies, I'm so pleased to meet you! My pet and I would love to get to know you better....

I've got some mischief planned would you care to join me?

ebay

Queen Cucurbita Maxima, Ruler of the Pumpkin Patch!

 

All hail the Queen Maxima, ruler of the pumpkin patch! She reigns with a gently but firm hand. She's looking for a place to hold her Harvest ball, so if you are willing, she would love to make your "castle" her new home! You can view her at ebay.