New Work - First Friday Post - June 6th

Hey everyone!

July has arrived and while much of the country is under the heatwave we've been inundated here with weeks of summer days in the 60's, foggy mornings and breezy afternoons.

I let things slip again the last few weeks as far as blogland goes. It wasn't my intention but there have been so many things going on, mostly good, and I had to cut back somewhere.

But i have aa LOT to share this month and look forward to the usual weekly Friday posts to get caught up!

For now,  just a showing of some of the new work around the studio this past month.

Hoping you've all been well and I look forward to catching up on your blogs this weekend!

Thank you for coming by, as always,

XO Nicolas

The newest of my Adobe Fairy Houses - HO scale

An original design based on ancient Hathor iconology

A new selection of tiny towers with holiday shoppers in mind. . . .I love the patina copper roof on this one.

And I love the texture and aging of the surface brick of this one.

Continuing to expand my Ancient Egyptian bust icons, this is Sutekh or Seth/Set

Looking back at 9 YEARS of selling on Easy. . . this was inspired by one of the first villages I made and sold there. 

An original Auset amulet design with an 8mm Carnelian cabochon

And this Auset throne piece with added ankh and a 12mm carnelian cabochon.

New Work - July 2nd

Welcome everyone!

Summer is on it's downward swing already, days getting shorter as we're headed to my most favorite season of all, Autumn.

This month, instead of just a string of new work, I wanted to share a few images and thoughts with you about something I think is often misrepresented in the art/craft/maker world.

The creative workspace.

In this internet age of "lifestyle blogs" where people do their best to present their life, their travels, their world, their day to day activities as an unending stream of peaceful moments and perfectly placed home bliss. I'd like to offer the artist/maker-in-waiting, a slightly different viewpoint. . .

THIS is what my work table looked like one day last week, as it does most days.

An average workday of projects old and new, many in process and this is a LIGHT day! Includes paints, files, craft wood, brushes, and two drawers filled with miscellaneous magic. 

Every surface I work upon is speckled with paint, or patina or clay!

A separate work area for sculpting-in-progress and tools. That is the potted Medieval Walled Village in it's beginning stages front and center. You can see the final piece below. 

There is never a day where the tables are clean or neatly arranged. Not totally. An organized chaos is as close as I get.

The point I want to make is this. If you want to be maker of things, a painter, a sculptor, a writer, a woodworker. Whatever it is. It's going to be a life and pursuit filled with messes. Some literal and some figurative. Too many people, I believe, let the fact that they don't have the "right space" or enough space, keep them from moving forward.

There is such a desire in life to present the picture perfect side of ourselves but ART, my dears, in any form, is found mostly in and thru the messes. Not in the perfection.

So set your life up to allow for and accommodate the messes. That "studio" you see in the above pictures takes up what would be the living room/dining room of our place. What would be our "spare" bedroom is the packing and shipping room and is wall to wall packing materials, wash tape, glue dots, paper cutters, metal shelves, boxes, tissue papers, bubble wrap and another shipping work table too.

I know people who have tucked their art away for years because the thought of taking a room in their house to dedicate to it is unthinkable. "Where would guests stay?" "Where would we eat or watch tv?" Well, our guests have to sleep on a fold-out couch (which is crammed between the work space AND a FULL SIZED, 4 heddle, weaving loom!)  and we crammed a tiny pub table in between all the work spaces for ourselves to eat our meals at. We don't have dinner parties and we don't have a bedroom for long term guests. Those are the sacrifices we made. And might I remind you, we do this full time.

In a world where people are more and more given to trying to present their lives, their homes, their  every waking hour as an instagram moment. . .  we offer you the unending reality of creative MESS.

A creative Etsy friend of mine calls herself a "maker-of-messes".  And I like that very much.

Here's to the mess-makers!! The "perfect" ones in my book!

nicolas

And here are a few new work photos including the potted Medieval Walled Village! Enjoy!

The timbering is all done by hand, tiny strip by tiny strip!

I don't make these often but oh I DO love them when done!

A traditional Slavic amulet but a little stylized my own way!

A new addition to Shadow of the Sphinx. My own design, not taken from an ancient example. 

Ram headed ancient Egyptian deity Khnum. Another favorite to create.

This was FUN! A custom request for an Edgar Allan Poe mini tombstone with a raven!

New Work - May 1st

Happy May Day!!

It's been a month.

I went from having the the flu at the end of March to Sofie being sick with a nasty cold and then I got that cold as well!

Three-plus weeks of at least one of us feeling under the weather.  When we were finally all better we found ourselves far behind.

And the weather itself. OK, I am a HUGE fan of inclement weather. Rain, snow, wind etc but it has been raining just about very day since I got back from my trip. Yesterday was the first sunny day we had in weeks and it was glorious! I mean, it's May! I definitely get a reverse SADS effect when it is sunny every day for stretches and I wasn't exactly feeling blue in the rain, it's just taking walks, errands etc etc become sooo unbearable after a while and you find yourself waiting for a break in the weather or  just for it to be raining not as hard. :)

I've enjoyed many aspects of the last month despite the illness. Things like reading more and having time to peruse things I never seem to find the time to look into.

Yesterday an article on a Han Dynasty tomb that was recently unearthed while a subway was being constructed in China caught my eye. Inside the tomb, that of a mildde aged woman, they found four 1/6th scale weaving looms complete with all the accompanying tools for weaving in miniature as well. Even cinnabar-dyed thread strung on the loom for weaving. Add to that the number of carved figures, male and female, each with a name engraved upon them and also to scale.

Amazing.

That sent me to Pinterest and down the rabbit hole which led quickly into all sorts of my usual searched for dolls, ancient fabrics, sculpting tips, fantasy art etc etc.

I realized it had been months since I have allowed myself that sort of down time to just seek out inspiring things. New things. Undiscovered things.

Sometimes I try to keep myself from diving into the new because my "to-do" list of ideas is so long, so unending that I will never get to them all as it stands right now. But I've come to accept that that's ok.  The whole list may not get done. I can add things to it as the new ideas reshape and reform the older ones.

Mostly, I need that new inspiration. It keeps the creative fire going inside and I am never more in tune with my own creative self than when I feel like I have multiple, unexplored ideas orbiting my head like moons!  It pushes me to go beyond what I already do. Try new avenues and explore the possibilities.

It's funny too how easy it is to forget that. Like I have to deprive myself to get the full hit again when I rediscover the truth in it. lol

What inspires you? What pattern does inspiration take in your world? Are you an active seeker or does it hit you randomly?

Well, the month is over and I am excited about the one to come. I'll be back with more posts and catching up on comments soon but here is just a small peek at a few of my latest April creations. :)

Here's to hoping you've been inspired of late and that the month ahead will be filled with it for you as well!

Happy Beltane!

nicolas

New Adobe Fairy House

Wepwawet, similar to Anubis but the not as well known member of the Jackal Cult of ancient Egypt. 

I've ventured into more original pieces in the Shadow of the Sphinx shoppe such as this winged Auset Throne Altar Piece.

Tiny Village on a Resin Garden Bench. 

Slight variation on the Jizos in the shoppe with a Swarovski pearl in the flower center. 

Another Mushroom Fairy House. I really never tire of making these. ;) 

Custom Nephthys statue from April's requests. 

Custom Seshat also completed in April for a lovely customer. 

I rarely "paint" statues anymore, preferring the aging patinas instead but this idea intrigued me.
Indigo and Silver patina sponge finish on a Seker statue. 

Request for 8 of our little groundhogs for a birthday cake! How could we refuse? :) 

PS: Next post: Secrets and what  I miss most of the of the days before the internet.

September 1st - New Work

So much going on this month. . . it was an exceptionally busy month. I received a LOT of practice in saying no to custom work I did not wish to take on and I laid the groundwork for several 2017 ideas.

I will get into those more as the new year draws closer but, at the top of the list, I have been toying with one idea in particular for a combination of a limited edition figurine, chapter based story and interactive experience. So a certain character set (say 100 total figurines made over time) that would come with several accessories (scrolls, old spell books, coins, map, staffs, glowing orbs etc etc) and also each would come with the first chapter of a story which revolves around the whole group of figurines, their reason for their journey to our world and their quest while here.  Then, perhaps every two months the next "chapter" of the story would be sent to anyone who purchased a figurine. Each might include a "mission" for the owners of the figurines to be a part of (photographing their figurine in a certain type of location or sending field reports back to the "base" here at Bewilder and Pine either of which may become included in future chapters!) The goal being writing the story in 12 chapters over 2 years and letting it evolve naturally over that time too.

 Each chapter would arrive via mail and include another little "something special" for the buyer/figurine. Anyway, more on that to come as it is just in the early stages of planning. . . so much to figure out such as pricing for mailing 11 successive chapters to people all over the world but I think the shop has the credibility and longevity now to pull it off.

Most of this comes from the reaction I get to the little stories, scrolls etc that I often include with almost everything that comes out of Bewilder and Pine. Customers write and say that on one hand I should "advertise" those little extras in the listings and photos but, on the other hand, they are so happy to open the box and receive little fairy messages, booklets/stories etc when they are unexpected "extras".  When all is said and done, the figurines might be all sold out at some point but I'd have another short, 12 chapter book to offer, hand-bound in it's complete form, as well.

They're small and just a little added touch but it got me to thinking that I could offer something so much larger and actually more immersive, for those who truly get into that experience.

For this month I have little actual new work to show but here are a few of the things I enjoyed/enjoy making most this past month!

An original design - Auset/Isis Altar Statue, I had not made on in a year or more and of course, when it is done, I ask myself "Why is that?"  lol

I've said it before but I NEVER tire of making this guy, Bes, a multifaceted protector deity. I am surprised how many different reasons people buy this form for. Everything from new house protection to baby/birth/pregnancy protection to a desire to ward off bad dreams.  

On the Fairy side of things, I never tire of making these Mossy Lane Fairy houses. It's interesting to look back and see how they change and evolve in little ways over the last 5 years.

And it's always the least expected things that I get repeat requests for. The fact that these little houses sit on their own little wooden platform, above the landscape and with the tiny stairs, seems to appeal to SO many people! I never could have guessed that.

Always a favorite too is Sekhmet. A fiercely protective, but loving, lioness companion deity. 

And lastly, I am trying to get these stocked for the holiday rush to come (and that's all too soon!)  they seem to find homes so quickly though. . . I'd love to be able to have them available in maybe eight pearl colors in the shop all at once. :) 

So that's the scoop for now. Hoping everyone is ready for the autumn season ahead (or spring if you are down under) It's my favorite season, always, and I could not be more ready for the autumn chill and the end of the tourist season around here. All the little woodland paths and hideaways as well as the beaches. . . will all be deserted again. : )

Thank you, as always, for dropping by!

Until the next. . .
xo
nicolas