Who could resist this little face?

Meet Pippi- the Painter fairy!
Did you ever wonder how the trees got their beautiful fall color?
Well, I found out! This morning while on my walk through the woods, I was enjoying the splendor of the rich and vibrant fall colors. I wondered how such a phenomenon could take place- nature is always such a mystery. Then..... suddenly right there on the forest floor, I saw her! This tiny sprite with her cheeks all rosy from the crisp morning air- busily attending to her task! A wee bit sloppy she was, but she was certainly getting her duties doneI She told me she is called Pippi... I thought it fitting for this tiny little painter...

The Fairytale continues...

A few weeks ago I showed you Genevieve and her little frog. She was making a wish for a dream come true. This week the story continues when Sir Arion appears like magic, right before her eyes!

If you click on the small photo to the left, you can read their story on the second page of the listing. I don't do many male sculpts but really enjoyed creating Sir Arion. He has leather-like riding pants and real kid leather boots.

Gosh, this is fun! Thanks for your time--
Hugs, Deb

And for this week, Semone...

I love women who show power and sensuality all at the same time. I think Semone possesses both traits. She can be seen by clicking on the thumbnail to the left. Let me know what you think!

Hugs, Deb

Busy busy--still busy as a bee! Commission Chat!

Spent the whole week finishing up commission number 2. I will now be starting #3 and happily so. A little explanation....

Last year I had a good number of commissions on my waiting list. In the dead of the previous winter we decided early spring would be the time to tear into the kitchen and remodel. My house is laid out in such a way that doing that involved the whole first floor of our home--which includes my studio, just off the kitchen area. WHAT A MESS......
This went on for several months....

Then in the fall, my dear daughter in law called in distress, she was told she needed to be on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy; three months. Well, they have a two year old, Ella (now three!). We all know how THAT goes.

Gramma to the rescue.

Actually, I enjoyed it immensely, but getting ready to go and stay for a week at the time was a challenge. Needless to say, that commission list didn't get any attention AT ALL.

All ended well, even though the baby was born a month early. I was lucky enough to be invited to be there for his birth. Such a gift! Jamison Allen Wood was born at the end of November. That led right into the holiday season!

And so it goes...
Also, once I got this blog up and running-- I started the list over with #1. I don't want you to think that after all this time I am only on number 3, actually, it's more like 10, but who's counting, right?

Anyway, I am happily making progress this year, and so far no one is pregnant and we have no more remodeling plans. YEAH. Finally getting finished up with that-that HAS been a 10 year process here. A story for another day...

Sometimes we just gotta have some fun!

And this week, that's just what I did. Meet Flitter! She is a dragonfly fairy, floating above her cedar display. Here is a photo of her.

She is sporting some of the mohair I showed you last week- it's short, very shiny and very soft. Perfect for the short hairstyles. I really liked how her wings turned out too-all those holes were burned into the film with a soldering gun. Took hours. Good thing I LOVE MY JOB!

Have a safe holiday weekend! We are going away and I will be back Sunday evening very late. A cousin is getting married on a sunset cruise. Should be fun!

Deb

Processing mohair-all part of the job!

This is Taja, the end of the story! Her beautiful tresses are the result of this lengthy process. I couldn't be more pleased! She actually has two colors blended together- for a very natural look.

So this is where it all started....

Tonight I want to share some photos with you of the process of dyeing mohair. It is such a job- but the rewards are tremendous. I did a bit of it a few years ago- then bought some from other sources already colored. That has it's disadvantages though- because you never seem to have just the right color.

I had tibetan lamb (around 60.00) as well as angora mohair that I got from my friend Terry in Australia. I had heard they had the nicest mohair there- and it is true- this fiber she sent me is just the softest and finest I have ever seen. Not cheap though- we now have about 70.00 invested in white ponytails. Anyway, here are some photos showing this very messy (and expensive!!) process!

First, the mohair is brushed, washed and dried and then bundled. I got 70 bundles and this process took me about three days.

Then I laid out plastic, and donned the rubber gloves. I had been buying up several- actually dozens of boxes of haircolor. (approx 150.00) Then I decided that maybe I should have professional haircolor instead- so I enlisted the help of another friend, Debbie. She was a hairdresser before she went into her artwork full time. She sent me a box of several colors- ring up about 80.00 more... MESSY....

Turns out I used all the boxed haircolor- all the professional color AND went back to the store for about 6 MORE boxes of color. Add 50.00.

After the color process was finished, we rinsed. And rinsed, and rinsed... AND RINSED. They are spread out on the washer and dryer...

Then off to the clothesline to dry. Thank goodness it was hot and windy those days. (My hubby was a bit worried what the neighbors would think. :) )

The beautiful results. The top photo is the Australian mohair and the lower photo is the lamb.

This is a closeup of a tighter curled mohair, also from Terry. Thank you again, Terry! As I said, expensive and time consuming. But, I would say I have nearly a lifetime supply of hair for my sculptures. Except that I did tell Terry I was willing to take more if she gets some! :)

And now I know why they charge about 20.00 an ounce for dyed mohair! I thought about selling some as I was getting started with this- but heck NO. Too much work!!

Do YOU believe in Fairytales?

This week I had a lot of fun creating a fairytale scene- The fairy Princess Genevieve is about to grant a wish to her little Froggy friend. She's hoping he is her Prince Charming!

Seated on toadstools, this cute twosome are hoping for the best! Enjoy!

Seems like forever...

...since I have been back here to post. Please forgive my absence. We were gone for a while- visiting the kids again and since we returned, I have been working with some mohair that I had bought several months ago. Beautiful mohair from Australia. I also had some Tibetan lamb to work with. Been dyeing it for days now- some great successes, some not so great! I will post some photos when it's all finished- the last batch is drying now.

Back into the studio today- finally back at it! I miss it when I am away....

Checking in--checking right back out again!

Just a quick update here- we will be gone most of this week, returning on Sunday evening. Then things will settle down here soon after and I can get back to the commissions I am working on at this time.

I did list Renata this week- here is a picture of this feminine blond beauty! I love the coloring in this piece...

Have a great week and I will get back soon!

Deb

Such FUN! Sweet little Elke....

Had to get a new server this week- for my website as well as my ebay listings. A pain to get it all switched over, but this new system is a dream!

Anyway, it took me the better part of the week to get it all up and running again, so I was late getting my fairy listed. I wouldn't have been able to get her listed anyway until I had the new service activated! But, we did it- all is well, and Elke has arrived!

Commission #2

This is the base for Commission #2. A combination of real and faux coral, shells, starfish and ocean sand collected from our last vacation to Florida!

Coming this Sunday evening on ebay....

A little sneak peek! Actually it was a perfect day to take pictures today...I love the challenge of good photos. This is Shea.

Hint: it's all in the lighting....