Diving in!

I should go without a sewing machine more often -- I have not had such a creative week in years, LOL! (On the other hand, I am becoming VERY annoyed at the delay, and will be picking it up this weekend whether it's ready or not. 5 weeks for a cleaning? Sheesh!)

Does anyone remember this piece? I know I blogged it, but I can't find the original reference. She began as an experiment with Genesis paints on fabric, then morphed into a game to see if I could sculpt a face in profile. I never really did take her very seriously - in fact I almost threw her away in the last purge of my studio because I just didn't know what to do to her. That was BEFORE my experience at the Retreat in Iowa!

This week I sculpted and attached her hands and forearms, draped some hand dyed silk in blue and purple over and around her form, and draped cheesecloth over that. I had another piece of cheesecloth billowing up and off to right, but I had to take it off. I forgot to stir the Paverpol before adding the fabric, so it never did get hard and it drooped rather depressingly. I am going to replace that piece tonight -- it really needs it to balance the extreme curve of her body -- and I WILL remember to stir the Paverpol this time.


The pebbles, shells, and sand are attached to her base and skull with Aves apoxy sculpt. I gathered all of them myself on various trips to the Coast over the years. I think Jake is relieved to see the results of my beachcombing finally being used in something at last.


I know this piece was a favorite of my mother's. I am happy to finally be finishing it -- I just wish I could have done so while she was alive to see it. There isn't much left to do to her, but each layer has to dry before the next is applied, so it is taking time to complete.

To kill time while each layer dries, I started playing with something else. Just for fun you know, and to see if I could pull it off.


Judi Wellnitz makes the most fun artsy pincushions in the shape of severed hands. She issued a challenge over on the Doll Street list for others to try making them too, and *this* is the idea that just popped into my head. It doesn't really conform to the rules of the challenge so I probably won't enter it, but it was SO much fun to make.

The bones are sculpted in polymer clay on a 99 cent Goodwill wine glass. (Would you believe it only took me about an hour to sculpt those bones?) The red is several layers of alcohol ink applied to the inside of the glass, and the pincushion is needle-felted wool. I got a little carried away with the "bubbles" of potion oozing over the edge, (large and small holeless beads and glitter applied with glue) but I still love it. I can't help but smile when I look at it.

Better Photos

I apologize to everyone for the poor quality of yesterday's photos -- I was in a hurry to post pics of my doll and seem to have forgotten everything I ever knew about setting up my camera for proper white balance, ISO, etc. Sorry 'bout that!

Here are some better photos taken with a little more care and forethought, as well as a better background fabric. (Just in case you didn't know, if you click on a photo, you will get a larger view.) Here's a front view...

... and from the side. (Yes, she is supposed to be pregnant.)



The back view doesn't show much more detail except of the curve and sway of her posture. I'm not quite sure how I managed to achieve that, but I really really liked it!

I hope my glue and microbeads come soon. I really am dying to finish her. In the meantime, I am rescuing another piece that I almost threw away, using these techniques taught by the incomparable Jean Bernard. Oh, if only I had whole uninterrupted days in which to work on her!

I really AM grateful for my day job, but...

Home Again

Sigh... The Dollmaker's Retreat, led by Sherry Goshon and Jean Bernard in Marshalltown, Iowa is over for this year and I am safe home again. I had the most wonderful time -- exhilerating, stimulating, exhausting, but completely and totally wonderful. The artists who attended, many of whom I have known for years only through online correspondance all felt like old friends immediately. And the talent! The air in our workroom was crackling with creative energy.

Most of my best photos of the retreat itself are posted on Jean Bernard's blog . The woman holding the camera wearing a blue shirt and a goofy grin is me. :-)

Here is my almost-finished doll.

I want to add a little more embellishment, especially around her headpiece, but I have to wait for my glue to arrive. Jean highly recomments Grrrip glue, and know I know why. The stuff is fantastic. It is not commonly available, but I found a source at Dollmakers Journey.

I am indecently proud of her. She was a delight to create. Every moment spent working on her was pure joy.

By the way, I want to put in a plug for one more online resource for One-of-a-Kind artists. Judy at My Wycked Ways offers a marvelous assortment of beads and baubles, papers, fibers, and films -- enough to keep a person as devoted to the adoration of sparkly things as I am mesmerised for hours! If you visit the site, be sure to click through until you come to the page displaying her wonderful wings. Of course I ordered a pair. (I am still without a sewing machine, and my sprite wants her wings!)

Two last pictures before I close for today... Jeff Kantrowitz, an artist from Reno who does incredible things with eggs and other things, taught a miniclass for us on Friday night. These "Dragon Eggs" were simple and fun to do.









The one on the right is mine, and the one on the left was a gift to me from Jean Bernard. They are going to get some extra bling as well once my glue arrives. I think I may need to make some more. Can't you see a whole bunch of them set out as the most wildly oppulent display of Easter Eggs ever?

I am already plotting how to save up to attend next year's Retreat.

An Interesting Creative Exercise

My sewing machine is still in the shop so I am painting this week.

I was stalling on painting my Day of the Dead skull. To be honest, I was having yet another crisis of confidence. (It's looking doubtful that I will ever outgrow that. Sigh...) Anyway, being without a sewing machine pretty much forced me to pick up some brushes, lay out some paint, and get started. Once I painted in the eye sockets I got on a roll and just kept going!

My idea was to create a doll that celebrates my family's Dutch culture and heritage. Deciding on the idea was the easy part!



The colors in these photos are not true; her base color is a lovely rich white and the dark bits are all the shades of blue you can find on Delft ware.


The designs are traditional Delft motifs as well.


One of the reasons I hesitated to begin painting was because I was never very good at tole painting. Something must have just "clicked" in my brain once upon a time though, because once I got into it, it was pretty easy.



Working on this doll as been an unexpected challenge for me. Making her is definitely plowing up new soil in my brain -- she is bordering on inappropriate both from the viewpoint of my Dutch heritage and my upbringing. Halloween was never much of a big deal for us, and was usually downplayed in preference to remembering Reformation Day. And Death itself is surrounded by a lot of tabboos here in North America. (Would you think I was too weird if I said that the skulls that are so popular even on little kids clothes these days kind of freak me out?)

I guess what I mean to say is that my thoughts have been travelling down some new and interesting paths since I started work on her.

Do you LOVE tomatoes?

I love fresh garden tomatoes more than just about anything else. Hmmm... maybe even more than chocolate, LOL! Unfortunately, the weather patterns in the Pacific Northwest have been much cooler and wetter than normal this year, and my tomatoes, being tropical plants, are NOT happy. Ordinarily my garden would be awash in fresh tomatoes in the first week of September. This year, not only is the crop very small, it's very late. I was beginning to think we would have no fresh tomatoes at all this year, but today we had the first ones.

Now the problem is... how do you divide a measly 3 tomatoes among a family of 4 greedy tomatoes lovers? Why, a BLT of course.

This beautiful sandwich is not just any BLT either. The "Caprese BLT" is a family favorite that I make every year. I found the recipe a few years ago in a magazine where it had won a prize for creative sandwiches. If you love tomatoes as much as I do, you have to try this.


Caprese BLT

2 medium tomatoes, sliced thin
Salt
1 loaf ciabatta bread
1 1/3 cups packed fresh basil, divided
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/8 teaspoon hot sauce
8 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, drained, and crumbled
4 romaine lettuce leaves
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced thin
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Place tomatoes slices on several layers of paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 15 minutes, then press with additional paper towels to extract excess moisture.
Slice bread in half horizontally and use your fingers to remove and discard all but about 1/2 inch of interior crumb.
Puree 1 cup of the basil leaves, mayonnaise, lemon juice, garlic, hot sauce, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a blender or food processor until smooth.
To assemble the sandwich, spread basil mayonnaise on both cut sides of the bread. Sprinkle the bacon on the bottom half and cover with the romaine leaves. Spread the tomato slices and cheese slices over the lettuce as evenly as possible -- be sure to use them all!
Mix the oil and vinegar together in a small bowl and drizzle over the tomatoes and cheese. Spread the remaining 1/3 cup of basil leaves over this and replace the top half of the bread.
Cut the sandwich crosswise into 2-inch thick slices and serve. I recommend lots of napkins. :-)

Enjoy -- It truly is as good as it looks! All I ask is, if you MUST use fat-free mayonnaise or turkey bacon, please don't tell me about it.

And the winner is...

I am in deep withdrawal today. Yesterday I took my sewing machine in to the city for some routine service. I forgot to take the holiday weekend into consideration, so it probably won't be back home with me until next Thursday. Oh my... I hadn't counted on it being gone for so long. Fortunately I have some painting and gluing to do, but... but... but... Aack! My room feels so empty with that bare corner.

To distract myself, I set up my Blogiversary drawing. Now this was fun! I put the names of everyone who left me comments on a slips of paper, put all the little papers in a big bowl, and had my daughter draw a name. Then... (yes, I am this indecisive some times...) I couldn't decide which of the little pieces to give away, so I decided to give them BOTH away, and so Lydia drew another name.

And here they are...















Congratulations to Kerry and Jacque on winning this drawing. (I'm almost a little nervous to send these out, because if you check out their blog links associated with their names, you will see that both of these ladies are very talented artists.) THANK YOU to both of you for being my friends in the Blog World. Thank you to everybody who shares my adventures here and lets me know it. You are little lights in my life and I appreciate you so much.

Birth of a Sprite, and a Blog-iversary

My Sprite is coming along nicely, though I *had* hoped she'd be done by now. I should know better than to actually put myself on a time frame...

Here she she is as she was on Saturday -- all her parts are skinned, stuffed, and ready to paint.

I used Dyna-Flow paints, aiming for an ever-so-slightly tie dyed effect. It was just what I wanted when I finished, unfortunately, it dried a little darker than it appears in this "wet" photo. It still looks OK, just not what I was aiming for.


Oh yeah... I also skinned and assembled the skull mask -- I was on a roll and had to do SOMETHING while waiting for the paint to dry! When the glue dried I took off the rubber band and filled the seam with paper clay.



I know you could have seen more detail if I had zoomed in a bit, but I think Mocha the Doll Inspector is more interesting than to look at than watching clay and paint dry, don't you agree?



Today she is wearing pieces of her dress, her wig, and the beginnings of her hat. Oh my, how I love that piece of velvet her hat is made from. I am SO glad that I found something to do with it. It was too nice a scrap to throw away...



She still needs some sleeves and her wings. Maybe by this time NEXT week I will finally have a Finished Object to share!

AND... this is my 200th post. I will be drawing names for my give-away on Saturday, so be sure to leave a comment!

Thank You Thomas

All the arrangements have been made -- it's too late to back out now! -- and I owe it all... well, OK, some of it anyway... to Tom Selleck. I (yes, ME!) have reservations and confirmations and credit card statements that say that I will be in Marshalltown, Iowa over the weekend of September 12-14. What could be more exciting??

"Iowa? Exciting?" you ask, and I say YES!! Sherry Goshon and Jean Bernard are hosting a dollmakers retreat there that weekend, and *I* get to go! When the opportunity for me to attend this retreat came up, I thought about it, but gave it up as too selfish to spend that kind of money on just me. Jake MADE me sign up, insisted I go.

(I confess, I didn't argue too much.)

So... what does this have to do with Tom Selleck? Well... let's just say that I love my husband and my husband loves "Magnum, P.I.". Over the last couple of Christmases I have bought him every last episode released to date on DVD. Every. Last. One. (I think we're about through season 8 by now. Oh my.) Lately, we have watched one episode after another in lieu of network TV for... a long time now. I usually work a sudoku puzzle or work on a hand project, but he likes it that I'm there with him.

I think this is his way of saying Thank You. Isn't he the best??

I love you Jake! And...

Thank YOU Thomas!

We interrupt this artist...

...with a leg injury. Ouch! I was afraid that I had injured my knee, but it was "only" an acute muscle strain. After a week of wearing a knee brace and hobbling around on crutches, I have graduated to walking with a cane, and can get up off the couch at last! Woo Hoo! I can't wait to get back to normal.

Back-to-School shopping has persuaded me to continue my "no new craft supplies" challenge for now, at least through the end of summer. (Secretly... I'm tickled to be using up old supplies, and enjoying the challenge of coming up with alternative methods. Shhhh... Don't tell my husband!) I've been waiting to finish my Dancing Sprite doll until I could purchase some flesh colored 4-way stretch skin fabric, but I am aching to get back to work on her, so I decided use some of the white I have on hand instead.

Hey, am I not an artist? Am I not AMPLY supplied with paints of all kinds? This is going to be fun. I'm going to give my sewing machine a test drive tonight and see how it goes. I may have to learn to sew left footed...


These are front and back pieces destined to come together and become the head of a Halloween challenge doll. I used Paperclay pressed into a mold used to make sugar skulls for Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico. Isn't it the coolest thing? As you can see I have some serious sanding and patching to do, but I want to make absolutely sure it's dry before I do anything to them.

I haven't been completely idle while resting my leg. I also got a chance to learn more about levels, selection tools, and blending modes in my Photoshop. The photos I took of Alice were perfect to play and practice with.


I especially love the "Cross Processing" effect on her Next Top Model attitude pic. It's getting easier to remember which buttons to press with each photo I process, and I'm SO grateful to have had my Photoshop to keep my mind busy this past week!

Wow! I just checked my Dashboard, and this is my 198th blog post! Just 2 more posts until I draw the names from my comments for a winner for the beaded doll. I absolutely love it when people drop by and say "hi", so I want to give something back to say thanks for keeping me company in my art and messes. Everyone who has ever left me a comment (except for maybe the person who said I had the worst blog ever) has blessed my life.

Learning to see ONLY what the camera sees...

...isn't as simple as it sounds. I am find it challenging to take my brain out of the way, to let my eyes do the work without interpretation.

My youngest daughter decided that she'd rather spend her summer wages on new clothes than on a photographer, so she asked me to try taking her senior pictures for her. We packed up and headed out to the city park, she with a couple changes of outfits, and me with ALL my camera toys... lenses, tripod, and I even bought a real photographer's reflector for the occasion. I had so much fun! (You might notice we really liked the shiny gold light bounce, though I think the soft white made for better pictures. Still learning!)

I am pleased with what I did for the most part, but I still have a tendency to miss key lighting issues. This first portrait would have been perfect if I hadn't let it get so backlit. Sigh...






This one is my favorite, up to and including that little cowlick that got away from us. It's so HER.









If ONLY I had used a white light bounce for this one it would be so much better. I still love the way the light on her hair halos her face.




















Another favorite of mine, but she doesn't like it so much.




















Everything came together just right in this one. Now, if I could only learn to do it like this EVERY time, LOL!






It helps to have such a pretty girl as a subject too.

Finished Jewelry

Like many families across the country, we have been faced with rising expenses and static income. In an effort to save a little money, I committed myself "no new art supply purchases" this month. I haven't felt deprived yet as I went "shopping" in my stash instead, including looking over patterns and tutorials that were paid for and never attempted.


This Woven Cuff Bracelet is from a tutorial by Eni Oken, one of my favorite jewelry designers. All of the stones, charms, and wire -- every last one -- were left over from other projects. I bought the silver fish charms a looooong time ago to make earrings, but I could never get them to look right. It was so gratifying to finally find a project to put them in -- they weren't cheap! It is amazingly comfortable to wear, even for me, the "Queen of Those Who Fidget with their Bracelets".

Let's see... there's amethyst, amber, kyanite, rhodochrosite, jade, turquoise, denim lapis, pink quartz, carnelian, moonstone, peridot, citrine, aquamarine... it's a real show-stopper and goes with just about everything.

I bought the pattern for this Woven Hearts Necklace as soon as I saw on her blog that she had released it. The process is a little fussy, but it went together quickly. I was able to complete it in two evenings' work time. The focal stone is ametrine, a lovely blend of yellow and purple. I intend to thread it onto another chain eventually as this one is too heavy for the work, but in the meantime it's wearable as it is.

There are so many other design possibilities for this technique too! Until I can purchase some more wire, I will be sketching out some ideas of my own -- that ought to keep me busy for a while.

I have one more piece started (Eni's "Chaos Necklace"), but it's still in pieces and not ready for it's photo op yet. If it turns out as planned, it too is going to be a new favorite. Isn't Eni's stuff beautiful?

Another Distraction

I have been busy -- I have! -- but instead of photographing my finished objects, I have been enjoying a series of deliciously beautiful summer days. I promise to get some photos of my finished objects up soon, but in the meantime, these beautiful days are so precious and so few, it seems like a terrible waste to spend them inside.

We had some excitement here today -- a camera crew came to our farm to shoot a commercial featuring Jake and our creamery's products. It was very interesting as well as educational to watch them work, and I got a chance to play with my camera as well.

The shoot was originally scheduled for this morning, and Jake and I were up at an even more ungodly hour than usual, but the weather was cloudy for the first time in weeks and the light just wasn't good enough. The photographer and his crew came back this evening instead to take advantage of the afternoon sun.


While Jake is not stereotypically handsome, he is very photogenic and has a great presence. Even the cows were curious. After all, their quiet pasture is not often invaded by so many humans. (I'm practicing portraits this week -- I'm pretty sure that the book I'm working from sort of meant for me to work with humans, but I like this one anyway.)


For every picture I shot, the real photographer shot about 25. I could NOT believe the size of his camera nor the variety of his lenses! I'm not envious though -- I am barely smart enough to operate my own camera.

Eventually they got what they wanted and went away again. I look forward to see what comes out of all of this, but no matter what, it was SO much more fun than spending the evening watching TV!

Distracted!

I haven't gotten much done lately. I had a nice long 4-day holiday weekend, but it was filled with distractions, including this big one...


My granddaughter Annika is 4 months old already, and as far as I know, this is the first photo anyone has gotten of her smiling AT the camera. My son is holding her across one arm like a football, and I sat under his feet to snap this pic. I kind of got the feeling that he thought I was a little nuts, but I think catching this moment was worth a small loss of dignity.

I spent most of my play time with my continuing experiments in Photoshop Elements. I have just discovered Actions. Oh my!

It was nearly dark when I took this next photo, but not nearly dark enough to produce the image I had planned. I was experimenting with long exposure times, so here the sky looks as if it is still full daylight. Oh well... I'll try again next year.


My daughter snapped this photo of herself after having had her makeup professionally applied...

... and this is what I did with it.


I did some basic editing on my own, and then applied an action called "Gothic Glow" that I found at ATNCentral. Lots of fun toys for Photoshop there! They don't all work with Elements, but some of them do, and just looking around on the site was an education. It took me 3 days to figure it all out, so I guess that this counts as my latest "finished project", LOL.

I'm not done with this photo quite yet, but I wanted SOMETHING to post this week. Hope everyone who celebrates had a wonderful 4th of July!

Almost there

I had intended to post before we left on a camping trip, but now I'm glad I waited because I see that this piece isn't quite finished after all.

I am pretty happy with it for the most part, though I curse the moment I thought that #$%^&* octopus would be a good idea. I am about out of ideas as to how to make it look better, but oh well. I see I also need to add a few more highlights to the seahorse and a little more depth to her hair.

Hmmmmm... a bit more green in her tail might also help to set off the jewel a bit better. That jewel and those bubbles were SO much fun to paint!

I've already started another piece using this technique. It is VERY different, as I am DETERMINED to break out of my "pretty" mold. I'll post a WIP photo here soon.

Happy Father's Day

I hope Father's Day was filled with the joy it ought to bring for everyone who reads this. I know there are bad fathers out there, so perhaps for some the day is painful instead, and oh! I am so sorry! But I am blessed with a wonderful Father of my own, and blessed again to be married to the wonderful father of my kids. I don't tell them how much I appreciate them nearly as often as I should, but I hope they know how much I love them anyway.

Another blessing of the day was the special music number at our church. One of our men sang Stephen Curtis Chapman's "Cinderella" while 3 sets of dads and daughters danced. It was so beautiful and touching I had to bring along the new camera -- I hope I didn't bother anybody. Look though... no flash!


Who WOULDN'T want to give this darling little princess a big twirl?


These waltzers looked as if they were floating. The grace and ease with which they danced was a pleasure to watch.

Alice danced the part of the 3rd daughter, the bride-to-be. I confess... I cried.

Jake isn't much of a dancer ordinarily, but he held his end up. Aren't they a beautiful couple? He's going to have a hard time of it when he real Wedding Waltz plays, and I don't mean with just the steps.

I'm so glad the clock hasn't quite "struck midnight" for us just yet.