Dawgs

A couple of happy dawgs.

All ready for WinterArts!

Kitteh gots mousies

Kitteh and mousies will be

for sale at WinterArts

next week.

Kittehs!!!

Three more kittehs!

Making lots of wacky animals these days but will get back to the 'serious' business of doll making

soon. :-)

Gators!

Wow! It's been a long time since I posted. I've been working on lots of new pieces for an upcoming artists market, but have not been putting them on here in a while. I will be making up for lost time though.

Just finished this pair of happy alligators! Stay tuned for more.

Caught in the Act!

I couldn't figure out why some of my Zinnias were gorgeous and healthy one minute and scraggly stalks with only one or two sad little petals the next time I looked. What was eating them? Mites? aphids? Then I caught these little guys red-handed..er red-beaked?

Kittuh Kat

 I just finished this small cat sculpture...'Kittuh'. I'm planning to make a whole series of Kittuhs. Do you think the world is ready for this?

Dusky

 Just finished another wacky dog sculpture. I named him Dusky.

Flutterby

  This gorgeous Black Swallowtail butterfly has been busy checking out all my Zinnias this morning so I couldn't resist taking his picture. I suppose he's a he and not a she. Not sure how one would tell.

Here's Mr. Horse!

 I'm finished with Mr. Horse. 

Decided to paint a little landscape on

 him and not give him eyes etc. 

He's more dream horse than real horse. 

I'm thinking of calling this piece 'Fancy Free'.

Horsing around in the studio

Here's a peek at what I've been working on lately. I was working on four dolls, as you can see by their various parts scattered around my work table, but I decided to go ahead and finish Mr. Horse.  He's being made out of Papier Mache and I'm still trying to decide how I'll paint him. I've also started a dog sculpture a cat sculpture. Making crazy animal sculptures is just something I have to do every now and then for therapy. :-) 

My four dollies will have to wait awhile!

Madeline

 All finished with Madeline! 

I added a bit more lace around

 her neckline and wrists

 and gave her a necklace.

Here she is so far!

 I'm not quite finished with her but I'm not sure what else I'm going to add to her ensemble. A hat or shawl perhaps? Anyway, I thought I'd show you how she's coming along so far. I don't have a name for her either. Any suggestions?

New Doll in the Works

  

Here she is! 

Now to make her some suitable clothes!

 

Here's the next dolly I've been working on. She's a bit smaller than the last two. Her body is  already made and she'll be about 15" tall when she's all put together. I've done her hair in an elaborate Romantic Era style so I'm planning a costume for her of the same period.

Julia

 Julia is all ready in her blue dress and apron.

 I used vintage fabrics for her clothes and gave her

 a basketful of brown eggs.

The 'Antique' doll is almost finished

 She's all ready for her clothes.

 I'm making them from the remnant 

of vintage blue fabric upon which

 she is seated in the picture.

 Shall I call her Julia?

Maggie & Jiggs

Well here they are, Maggie and Jiggs! It took me forever to get their clothes just right. I did a lot of research to see how they dressed in the cartoon strips and wanted to stay as true to that as possible. I made several outfits for Maggie but none of them really suited her until I found this black and white fabric. Somehow it just works for her!

Mystery Couple

They're all put together now except for their clothes!

 

I've been working on these dolls

 inspired

by a couple who were

 very famous in their time.

 Your grandma was probably

 very familiar with them. 

 Can you guess who they are?

New "Antique' Doll

 She's all painted now

and ready to assemble!

 Here's the next dolly in progress. I'm going for a more antique feel with this one. I have again used paper clay over paper mache and have chosen to sculpt her hair. In my opinion, there's something slightly creepy about doll hair.... or maybe it's just that I haven't yet perfected the art of hair.  Fortunately for me, many of the old dolls had painted/sculpted hair.    @:-)

Finally Finished!

 Here she is, my first paper clay doll. What a great medium. This has been quite a learning experience and I can't wait to make more dolls.

 Now the problem at hand; what to name her? I had planned to call her 'Fanny' for Fanny Price of Jane Austin's, Mansfield Park, but I don't really like the name Fanny. (I'm suddenly thankful that my Mother didn't name me Fanny!) Sooo, any suggestions for a name for her??

-Daphne

 

Patiently Waiting

 She's patiently waiting

 for her clothes to be made.

 At least she has her 

 pantaloons and camisole. 

Almost Finished!

                                                              Here she is almost finished.

She's painted...

 Now to sew the

 rest of her body

 and put her

 all together.

Two Dolls

 The first doll is almost ready to paint. I think she'll be a redhead. Her arms and legs are all ready too but her body will have to be sewn and assembled. I have no idea what kind of clothes to make for her. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  :-)

 Thought I'd show the other doll I'm working on too. I want her to look like an old fashioned baby doll.

Running out of room!!

 My studio and work table are

 so full of works in progress that

 it's hard to tell what goes with what!!

 I keep starting things. 

 Please somebody stop me from starting 

 any new works until some of these are

 finished! 

That's the good thing about this blog, 

assuming that someone is reading it. 

It will make me accountable to you, 

dear reader, to finish all these and 

post them here for your

viewing pleasure!

Doll in Progress

 This is a new doll I'm working on.

 I've used paper clay over papier mache. 

First time I've used paper clay

 and I'm loving it!

Jake the Dog

 This is a portrait of Jake that I did for my friend Jane. He's such a sweet dog. She rescued him from being shot by workers on the horse farm where she boarded her horse. They thought he was a fox cause he was so covered in dirt you couldn't tell he was a dog! Jane said he used to slip into the yard and hang around with her horse.  She noticed that he would chew on sticks and try to play with the horses...not very fox-like behavior! Eventually they caught him and cleaned him up. Low and behold, he was a dog! So Jane adopted him. I'm sooo glad they didn't shoot him! He's so precious! I painted this portrait of him a year or so ago.

Side view

Monkey Sculpture

 This is another recent piece that I did before Christmas. He is also for sale at the Brooks Museum gift shop. He is around 16" tall and is made of papier mache composite.  His vest is made of all kinds of sparkly buttons and found objects. I'm planning on making some other monkey pieces or maybe a lemur. I love their beautiful striped tails! Stay tuned!!

-Daphne

Fat Man with Dog

Here's another view of 'Fat Man with Dog'. You can see his fat little dog in this one!

New Sculpture- 'Fat man with Dog'

 This is a fairly new sculpture. I did this one before Christmas and it is currently for sale at the Brooks Museum gift shop. I call it 'Fat Man with Dog'. I was inspired by the work of Colombian artist, Fernando Botero but wanted to give it a distinct retro feel. It is made of a papier mache composite. I love working in 3-D and am trying out some new clays, metals and other media. I'll be posting all my new works here!!

Happy New Year!!

  I'm thankful to be home safe and sound and off the streets! Though I prefer to stay home on New Year's Eve, I was invited to a progressive party by a dear friend so I ventured out for awhile. It was good to see several old friends and I was surprised to see on the wall of one of the houses, a large painted tapestry that I had done several years ago. I had forgotten that piece. It was a new technique I was experimenting with and for some reason I never did anymore like it. I'm so inspired to do some more like that. I'll be posting pictures of my art here so do check back!

 May God bless us all in 2009!