New Work - Stumptown Fairy Houses - First Friday Post - December 1st

Hello everyone!

Holiday busy-ness is fully upon us so this first Friday post is just an in-progress show and tell.

These are  start to finish pictures, of a new version of my Stumptown Fairy Houses. 

These are N scale 1:148 houses built on or into a clay "tree stump". 

Hope you enjoy this peek into the process and stages of making this little design!

Wishing you all the happiest of weeks ahead!

XO

nicolas

Each one starts with a simple, roughly shaped lump of polymer clay.

A little slicing away of the clay gives me something of a stump shape. Not too picky here as the next step will remove any of the hard lines. 

I use the edge of a clay shaping tool to start making the "bark" lines, I do this in layers so they overlap.

Then comes the next stages:

Next I add a simple shape of a house on top, gauging the size to allow for a door and window.

A flat rolled piece like this will become the first side of the roof once texture is added. 

Then the second side of the roof, sides of the trunk reaching up the house and a branch chimney get added on. In the end, this one will look as if it were carved from the tree instead of sitting onto of a cut stump.  

Here are a selection of them that I worked on all at once. The little "steps" and mushrooms have been added on the two in back. Then indentations are made for the windows and doors. They are then removed and the pieces are baked. 

The first part of the painting in the base color for the tree stump. The houses will get their own color so I am
not too particular here about getting paint on any other part. 

The houses get their gray base coat, the trunk gets it's lightest highlight and the roof tops get their black base color too. 

A few stages forward. Mushrooms receive their red coloring, rooftops their raw sienna color and the walls get an array of shades. Next will be the landscaping and the final detail touches. . . 

. . . of flowerboxes, roof tile colors, moss, windows and doors, wildflowers and spots on the mushrooms

Here are two of them complete and ready to go in the shop this weekend. 

"Ya'll come back now, ya hear!"

April 1st - New Work. . . No Fooling!

Watch out for the tricksters today! There is always mischief afoot on this day. . .

April brings me a bit closer to a time I have been looking SO forward to! Taking the first few weeks of the month to work thru the rest of my standing custom work before allowing myself a 6 week break to just make multiples of some things for the shop and continue working on my new items, stories etc for the summer ahead. Dragons, new fairy houses, Egyptian statues, figurines and more.
This is hard for me. Saying no to easy projects or, for lack of a better phrase, easy money, is hard. But I find myself constantly frustrated with the lack of time to explore new directions. I have to remind myself, time and again, that I am only a little ways down the path I am traveling thru this work. . . that while I could easily just keep making what I do now and selling it, I have so many ideas to expand and grow the world I have created and that, if I do not grow that world, it will become more of a box than a boundless landscape. 't think of anything more important actually. . .

I think it's important to stay true to that vision and to follow the heart where the heart wants to take us. I can't think of anything more important actually.


But for the day of April Foolerie, here are a few new items to share

The Enchanted Woods Inn - Hand Timbered plank by plank and the little lamp post glows in the dark.

A sweet little gateway for a fairy garden I think! Been thinking of making these with for some time but, you know. . . life!

These seem to fly off the shelf lately! My newest Mushroom Fairy House Upon a Star. 

I think little charms, like these sweet sun faces, can really add a quick touch of magic to the handmade houses.

A little experiment that went and got itself out of control! I am really determined, it would seem, to find out just how much tiny house I can cram onto the little 3" landscaped stars! :) More of these to come for certain!

 That's the latest. More soon on the "30 Day World Building" writing exercise I have undertaken, (on day 5 right now) and sharing some thoughts on looking back and seeing, with hindsight as the viewfinder, that path to "here".

Have a lovely April Fools day all!

xo
nicolas

New Work - February 2016

February already? My, my. . .

Well, January went pretty much to plan. More time spent on new items and ideas and less worrying about "best sellers" and custom work. That feels reallllllly good!

So, here are a few new pieces for you to see today. Some are already listed and some await their stories before listing. GOTTA have stories!!!

First, the Little Caravan I showed in it's initial stages a few weeks ago. All done and ready for listing: "Theia Straedoors Tart Cart"!

How does Theia make all those delicious tarts in such a small space? Fairy magic of course!

Loving the poofy moss and the tiny tart table piled with Joonberry tarts!!

Next is another new idea and new way or working with creating small figures.

I have been trying to develop a style of animal figurines that will allow me to use colored polymer as opposed to painting with acrylics.

Now, in my world, this presents itself as an issue for several reasons.

One, I am not in any way shape of form, neat enough to keep colored polymer clay pristine as I work with it. There are always mossy bits and flowery bits about the table no matter how hard I try to keep it clean. This leads to having to rework soft faces, hands etc and, in the end, ruining them before I can complete them.  With the fox figure below, I took a completely different approach. Making the face from flesh toned super sculpey and then, after baking, layering the thinnest layers of colored clay over top of that already baked, flash-toned face.  It went better than I could anticipate.

For a first try, I think it worked amazingly well! I was able to blend, texture and work around the face without worrying abut smashing the face's form as I often seem to do trying to get the perfect details. I used the same technique with the body/clothing too. Making a flesh toned body-form and then layering the clothing on top of it. Only the feet and hands were made in colored clay without a base clay beneathe them.

For a first go with this new technique, I think Brother Severon is a wonderful lil' fellow!

His white birch staff and lantern are also polymer clay, but they are painted.

And then, a few random pieces. . .

A Lunar Hare. . . just because. :)

A little gold crescent on her back. . . she still requires a short story before listing!

 A little Tudor Style, timbered inn. Usually I make the timbers from thin strips of polymer applied at the time i make the building and paint them but, for this new "Enchanted Woods Inn", I wanted to make the timbers from scale lumber so they would be perfect and consistent. Very tedious but worth the results!

"The Enchanted Woods" Tudor style Inn.

And a completed group of 5 Fairy Shoppes/Inn/Crooked Tower upon Stars for one of our dear, regular customers!

Anyhoo, that's a look at some of what has been coming out of the studio these days. February promises a whole other bevy of new items and ideas so I hope you'll check back over the month and visit with me in my little world. . .

Have a lovely February wherever you may be. . .

nicolas

Scaling it Down

Continuing to explore the world of tiny, N scale miniature work. . . .and given the futility of trying to hide anything from the fairy spirits around here, it was probably just a matter of time before the very wee-est of fae in the studio decided they needed their own Mossy Lane Fairy Houses to dwell within. 

I am desperately trying to keep up with their demands around here. . . seems every fae in town wants one of these tiny little abodes now! Even those too big to fit comfortably!!

The new occupants are asking for a little street / lane to go along with these now as well. . .sometimes I wonder who exactly is the boss around here!

These fit just about anywhere and are just 2" tall!

I can't wait to work on more N scale designs. . . mostly because I can fit more of them on the work table at once as well as in little nooks around the house!

The two sizes I offer: HO (this one still needs it's bad-hair-day mossy top) and N scales side by side.

More to come in the weeks to follow. . . hope you are all finding the magic of the fairy realm within everything that you see!

xo
nicolas

New Fairy Houses on Stars in Bewilder and Pine

It took a bit of fairy magic to get these four pieces all done today but somehow, when I need it, it is always there for me!

I've been experimenting with  new styles based on old single room school houses and even a Reliquary cabinet turned into a little house style too!

And I am working in a new idea this evening as well tha I hope to be able to show next week. . .

But for today, justa little magic to spread around and, hopefully, bring a smile or two to your world. :)

nicolas

Little Red School House style.  . with a touch of Autumn Splendor!

Fairy Towers Upon a Star.  . one of my faves to make!

The Fairy Abbey / Monastery  (inspired by an old wooden Reliquary) because even fairies need a place to regroup in silence. :)

Purple Mushroom Fairy Houses upon a Star