First Friday - New Work, New Year - January 4th

Hello everyone!

Well, it's a new month and a new year to boot. I'm not one for resolutions but verrrrry big on plans.

Last year I shared my list of projects I wanted make progress on and I managed to do just that over the last twelve months. Not much progress on some but, in other areas, my novel, short stories, etc, I came a LONG way.

This year only have one goal thus far but I give myself the entire first week or so to come up with the list. I am planning to start an account on a social media sight and I think I've set my sights on Tumblr. Of course, I'm not doing it to promote or push my work out there any further. It's done quite well growing organically on it's own and I see no reason to think 2019 would be any different.

What I want to do is start a series of posts where I can, while removed from the work I create, talk about creativity and the way I got "here". And, I feel that by keeping it disconnected from my shops I can say some things I would not normally put out there, here on my blog for example. That includes tales from childhood, the decisions I made that led to positive or negative experiences and the way I came through it all to reach this point where I make a living from that creative work and world.

Its as if to give MORE of myself I have to offer less of myself other ways.

I am not sure when It will launch but since I am terrible at planning such things, I expect one day I will just get it in my head to make it happen and, it will come to be! :)

I'll be sure to keep you al posted when that happens. I won't be leaving the blogosphere at all, just adding another outlet for my desire to inspire that is purely the written word.

So there's that.

In other news, the novel, as I said, is coming along. I will get back to dedicating one Friday a month to that novel and showing more of the work that comprises it and how I've gone from having no idea how to write a full length novel to having a tiny bit of an idea. But I understand now that that first "tiny bit" is the hardest part. :) I have now been writing almost every single morning for 2 hrs minimum for over a year and a half and it's been wonderful. I don't feel write if I start the day any other way and those hours, from 5 to 7 am are so serene and perfect for the creative mind before any of the rest of the worlds energies can enter.

So, I am happy to be back and I look forward to visiting all of your blogs soon!

For now, just a few pieces from the last few months that I really loved creating!

May you find the magic and wonder of the world around you in everything that you see!

XO
nicolas

Wood Witch/Strega
First, a progress pic of one of the many projects I moved forward last year. I have wanted to create deck of "Fortune Cards" for ages. I once thought I t might be tarot but I love the older, Eastern European fortune cards. The wood witch is the first card image I finished using all photoshop and digital coloring/filters. 

A large statue of a winged Wadjet, the Egyptian Cobra Goddess. One of the most involved pieces I have ever attempted and it turned out better than I had imagined at the start! Best of all. . . it made it to its destination in one piece! :) 

This was one of the many custom orders I created during the holiday rush.
This hanging ornament is an N scale rendering of a Faroe Island Church.
Made with polymer clay and scale clapboard. 

The Fairy House of Brinny Longfellow was one of the first I created with these new larger bases to
allow for the inclusion of a bit more lush landscaping. 

In Shadow of the Sphinx, I've been expanding my original designs. This rendering of Seshat's headdress has been popular. Allowing for a nice sized altar icon without the cost of a full statue. 

And what December review would be complete without at least one Household elf figurine?
Schnee is on a snow covered landscaped base and has snow on his elbows, hat and shoulders! 

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.