Abby gave me that hair fabric. I love it and only use little bits. And every time I use some I think of her.
lady with wave hair
Here is a peril of working with reclaimed materials- sometimes, after the artwork is very far along, I find a problem. Since this doll is unlikely to get rough handling (I assume), I didn’t think it was toss worthy and so I made a little mend.
The next lady is on my desk. The computer is too and that is not a typical sight in my studio. I try to keep the computer out because it is so distracting. But, I am working away on my kitty pattern, getting very close finishing. So, there it is.
another tattooed lady
Finally. Something to post! I think she has a 40’s kind of look.
Salley sneak peak
There is a dearth of finished projects around here, although I have made a great leap forward with my Kitty pattern. I spent yesterday working on the computer with a friend helping me out. Another few days of that and I might have something to show for it!
Salley sent me some photos from her upcoming book and I asked her if I could post them. Here are the details- It is called POCKETFUL OF POSIES: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes. Publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Available, Sept. 2010.
I love the beautiful leaf designs- they are often in my head when I work on a tiny world.
I LOVE this one! The baby, the tree, the walnut shell! Swoon!
Here is the cover- although Salley tells me that the actual cover photo will be much better.
And, here is the drawing for the cover. So interesting to see the idea and how it comes together.
Thanks for the preview Salley! Here are some other photos of her work.
Thanks!
Thanks to everyone who jumped in on my Halloween sale! It was great fun and got me feeling excited about starting into the Holiday season.
And here are some strange postcards for this November 1, All Saints Day-
I found them in a desk drawer when I was clearing stuff out of my parents’ house. I think my Dad probably bought these postcards in Mexico, in the early 60’s.
And one more thing-Â here is a link to a bat graph- obviously I should have put that up yesterday!
Halloween sale
I am having a 20% off sale of everything in my Etsy shop, starting now and ending at midnight, 10/31 wherever. Just write “blog” in a buyers message, or send me a convo with that information and I will refund 20% of the selling price (not shipping).
Okay, now that you are back, let me explain. When the market was canceled 2 weeks ago, I was left with a vague feeling of letdown. And, a pile of dolls with nowhere to go. There is no greater disincentive for me to get to work then having many finished dolls looking at me. I’ve got to get those guys moving out and get the energy going into new work. So, I thought I’d give this a try!
It’s not as if I am not working. I am just not finishing anything.
I am working away on the pattern- tweaking, testing. Today I worked on photographing the steps. Mostly done with the kitty part.
Next, the clothes.
And some more tattooed ladies-
and now for some nature photos because Hey! It’s autumn and everything is very pretty right now!
ghosts of Halloween past
When I was a kid, Halloween was never about the costume. I was focused on was the bag of candy ahead. I would usually find something left over from my brothers that could be a costume- like a too small (for them) football uniform. That is one I remember.
It got more fun when it was my kids dressing up although we started out very casually. I went on a little nostalgia trip today…
This was the first year with costumes- construction paper circles, cut out and attached to shirts= clowns!
We skipped a year- I seem to remember croup.
Second costume year- sweatshirts with ears and tails= cats. Except Eleanor also wore a frilly skirt and wings, so she was a kitty fairy.
next was one of my favorite Eleanor costume memories- little Indian girl. Julian was a boy in armor. The armor lasted about 4 houses before he came back home and took it off. It was way too uncomfortable.
And then there were 3.
I put a paint brush in Peter’s hand and, being 6 months old, he held onto it… add a beret and tada- he was an artist! Eleanor was a fairy again, although more traditional this time in a pink tutu. And Julian… well, he found that yellow mask and he really wanted to wear it. He put it together with some other dress-ups and told us he was “Love Man”, the most powerful force in the universe. Gotta love that 4 year old brain!
Okay, enough of that. So much fun though!
baby present
I’ve been working away at my kitty pattern, slowly but surely. I printed out what I had written and tried following my own diections (so far), as I made this baby present. I will get it done- I am feeling positive about this very slow approach to writing it. Gives me time to think it all out and mull over what I’ve already written.
The most recent tiny worlds are now in the shop.
view
We had to pull all the pots off the front porch when we had a few nights with frosts. That always seems to happen right before the brugmansia is about to bloom. Now it is in the enclosed part of the porch, looking beautiful and giving off a most exotic fragrance. When we open the front door, it perfumes the house!
more tiny worlds
I’ve been following the Hand Embroidery Network and they have a Stitch A Day feature. It is inspiring me to try some new stitches. I pulled out all my embroidery books and have been paging through them. Trying out new things on my Tiny Worlds.
Sometimes it seems to be impossible to get the light and/or color right when I photograph my work. This one is the closest to showing all the colors correctly-
I will be putting these 2 plus one more tiny world into my shop over the weekend at some point.