WIPS dancing around on my table today.....

Some folk just don't like being tickled, even if it's unintentional, but others love to laugh. So you can tell who thought the paint brush tickling and pushing paint around on them was fun, and who is just a grump. I'm not sure the fella in front will get finished if he keeps glaring at me that way. I may just put him on the shelf until he has a better attitude. For now, the work continues as I get ready for another PFATT Marketplace debut for August. Will post finished work so check back soon!

Soon to be March madness and WIPS

 As I headed out the door this morning I was greeted with a gust of cool air. The wind jostled me as I headed up the hill and the thought occurred to me that March might just roar in like a lion. I was hoping to beat the impending storm and get a full 30 to 40 minutes of slog in, but the clouds swirled around the sky, shutting off the sunlight over the mountains. I looked behind me to the west and saw a solid wall of white. Soon my face was covered with crystal pellets, and I was assaulted by the wind, so I trudged around the block and back towards the house, holding my wooly mitten over the right side of my face to block off the icy flakes smashing against my cheek. As folks drove by, I know they thought I was nuts, two ladies who got out of their car to go see what an estate sale had to offer shouted, "Look at you!" or something like that. I managed 20 minutes before I had to come home.

Now I'm in my studio, ready to tackle several projects. There's a bunny I'm finishing up for ebay, another that might be for a charity auction if I haven't missed the deadline. I've been feeling pretty poorly up until today, so I may be too late. I also have an Expressionist piece for our art society meeting that I need to finish, a demo set up for the same night, and a lesson to finish putting the last touches on for tomorrow. There's a towel blocking the icy cold from the stairway, shoved under the studio door, and a little heater set up to keep me toasty. I'm hoping this will be a productive day! In the meantime, Mother Nature continues her blustering outside.

Possible Dreams... WIPS

Sometimes I jump the gun on creativity and don't plan things out, just dive in and start mushing and mashing clay here and there to get a feel for where I want to go with a piece. The two forms to the right are those sort of soon to be creations. I have an idea, but I will let them play out as I add a bit of clay here and there to bring out their personality.
The bunny to the left was rough sketched to give me some direction, and he's coming along pretty well. Can you see the little vest taking shape? He will have legs and feet, but I'm still trying to decide their shape. I'm thinking I will go a bit pudgy, we shall see. I will be heading back home tonight for a couple of days of respite and to get rejuvenated for the return to the folks home. These are all going with me and I hope to have them ready to paint by Saturday. Wish me luck, I may need it! The biggest challenge will be going home and not looking at the chores that may need to be done. Tomorrow will be an all creative day, Saturday we can clean and get ready to come back. There's probably not much to do anyway but I tend to obsess about those sorts of things. Can you ignore the dust bunnies and still be fully creative? If so, how do you do it????

I Have a Plan, Really I do......

I had to laugh when I noticed what I'd done here. Can you see the hole drilled in the dowel? You're probably wondering what sort of creature I'm trying to put together that would need a hole drilled near the bottom of the dowel. As usual I was working on 3 projects at once, the dovetailing technique in overdrive, and while shoes and hands were drying on one piece I decided to glue the base and armature of a future piece together. I thought I was so cool, actually drilling the hole in the dowel before I glued the base on so it wouldn't be so awkward to drill.
Yes, well, I suppose I needed a lesson in not getting ahead of myself. So now I will knock the base off and start again. Thank goodness I hadn't nailed the darn thing in place and really made it difficult to change. Oh sure, I could probably try and drill a hole on the other end, but lining it up would take more time than knocking the base off and re-gluing, after I turn the dowel right side up that is. :-)

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...

WIP'S

Every weekday as I head out the door I'm loaded down with my laptop and tub of projects. These are what I brought with me today. Two driftwood chunks that will have clay elements for a different twist on my usual driftwood Santas, two egg gourd Santa ornaments, that just need to have the finishing touches on their painting done, two clay pendants, one a black cat, and the other a Santa, one bottle Santa that needs painted, and a large gourd that I am getting ready to work on. He will need a bit of stabilizing as he wobbles a bit so I will be painting the whole piece as opposed to leaving the natural shell show.
With the gourd Santa figures, I like to turn the gourd around and around, getting a feel for where the face should go. I always start with the face, and that usually reveals the theme each Santa will take on. Sometimes I do preliminary sketches, because I already have a specific concept in mind, but sometimes I just go with the flow and let things come to light on their own. How about you? Are you a sketcher of ideas, or do you just let things happen?

Did I tell you?

Well the wonderful Suzanne has been so kind as to ask if I would mind being featured on our AHA blog and of course I said yes! Who would pass up the opportunity to "get out there" and American Holiday Artists is the premier holiday art group. Stop by our blog to see all the fabulous artists we have on board.

On the home front, here's my biggest WIP.....


Between running to Utah to see my hubby and grandson, oh and his mommy and daddy of course, the car breaking down on the way back, deadlines and issues with suppliers as well as internet fits, I'm a little behind. But there's one more coat of red, and then the trim needs to be done. The yard? Well it's hard to tell but right in the front of the house is a big long hole that had to be created for drainage when the addition was put on. So next year I will be adding a wrap around deck on the front and paving some pathways. This is is garden boxes, finishing painting, and if there's any money filling in the paths around the boxes. I sure wish there were 48 hours in a day sometimes! Now I'm off to get some work done!

WIP's

I just got done mowing the lawn and couldn't resist taking a picture of the mountains this evening. I can smell the Ponderosa pines and fresh cut grass..ahhhhh......The work in progress is my house and the yard. We need to put one more coat of paint on the house and trim, and then put a deck around the front and side of the porch,(wish I would have thought of that last year) and get the rest of the landscaping done for this year. Next year we start on the inside. But I will post before and after photos of the outside of the house as it will amaze you!
Not sure if I bit off more than I could chew here, but my paintings always look iffy half way through. Can you guess what is standing in front of the barn on the hill?

WIP and Family Art History

I'm still plugging away at this doll. I painted her face, and used pastels to dust her cheeks and other features for shadows and color. I have wet wool wrapped around markers to form curls for her hair. When Emmett leaves I will be getting a design for something else done, and then working on this!
I had to share this, don't know why I haven't before. My great, great, great, great, grandfather was a designer of glassware. He has several patents, but this is the first piece I found out about, and then acquired. It's interesting how the finished piece is different from the drawing above.
Here is my Bird Pickle Dish, by Julius Proeger. The Proeger line is on my mom's side. The photo in the backround is mom with my real father on one side, and my grandma on the other. Mom is the dark haired women to your left as you look at the monitor.
Here are more examples of the dishes my gggg grandfather Julius Proeger designed. Pretty aren't they?!

WIP and too many choices....

I've been eye balling this gourd for awhile. He has such a bumpy texture that I had to see if I could create his features to match the texture of his skin and it worked! So he is going to be a truly creepy, and fun goblin!
But now I have some choices to make. I have 4 different fabrics, an old, crinkled, black lampshade cover that I peeled off to do something else with, and several different trims. I was also thinking of little bells, beads or whatever to add some extra fun. Aaaah the fun of choosing! Check back later...I will have made some progress and post some photos. By the way, there's still 3 slots for the Craft It Forward opportunity so scroll down and check out the details.

More WIPs

Fresh fruit for sale! I've been going back and pulling out things that were started and not finished. I have a real desire to get back to painting for a bit so I will start with finishing these.

Now I'm committed so someone will have to hold me to this.....lol.

New WIP"S for PFATT

Okay, I hope Sandy doesn't have heart failure if she sees these, I'm really farther along than it appears here....:-). I'm trying my first cloth and clay doll, who will be a patriotic angel when done.
Another White Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland style. This will be a clock when all done. Check out PFATT Marketplace on the 10th for all the new creations for Spring.