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! 

A Rather Fine Elven Friend

So, some of you know that I have been working thru the process of creating figures/art dolls for some time now. Definitely one of the most difficult skill sets I have ever tried to gather and gain some semblance of mastery over and I think I am still just in the beginning stages in so many ways!

Sculpting expressive character faces is just one thing. . . I mean, gargoyles are one thing but more human-like expression. . . yikes! Learning to create little hands and feet is another skill set altogether. Constructing armatures, painting eyes, coloring of skin, making clothes etc etc etc. It has been a real journey! And, then, on top of it all, trying to find my own "voice" with the characters I am making.  I started with the well-known artists for inspiration and direction. Wendy Froud, Jodi Creager, Dawn Schiller . . . learning more and more with each new tutorial as I went.

It seems an endless and meandering oath to follow. Working with fur or mohair for the hair, grinding pastels and blending them for face and skin coloring. . . oh it seemed so daunting and yet, SO exciting!Learning often that less is truly more.

And in the last year I discovered some art-doll makers who were using beautiful handmade papers and decoupage techniques to make the clothing.

Now, I have to say that THIS is where it all really clicked for me. I instantly found my comfort zone with sculpting bodies that would fit the clothing instead of going the soft. posable body/wrapping and fabric clothes. Also, truth be told, I was instantly taken with the idea of being able to find a use for my admittedly hoarder-like collection of lovely handmade papers for the clothing. . . for anything really since, some of which, I have had for 8 or 9 years!

OK, now I just had to put it all together and see what happenes.

Well, I am happy to show you my very first complete, paper-clothed, figure. And while I still have a ways to go with finding a truly unique "voice" for the figures I will be making, this is as close as I have come to really putting it all together in one doll! (and finishing it!)

Making this really takes me back to my childhood-action-figure days. I made a lot of clothes and accessories for those folk back in the day too. Of course, given my 10 or 11 year old skills back then, I ended up with a lot of post apocalyptic torn outfits, wrapped shirts and long capes. . . but they made do. :)

It was a little sunny when I took these so there is a bit more warmth to the overall images than there should be.

Still no name for this guy but my Lunar Hare seems to find him appealing just the same!

He is holding a fairy reliquary like the ones I made a year or more ago. That story still to come. . . 

The suspenders are tiny, vintage silk ribbons and the "buttons" and hat are polymer clay.

Three different kinds of paper make the clothes and shoes, Indian Lokta/Rag, Nepalese Lokta with inclusions and Marbled Nepalese Lokta. The hair is faux fox fur.

Well, as you can plainly see, he needs some friends. . .  so back to the work table I go. The next one, I think,  I will try to post in-progress images from the start so you can see how they come to life!

Reinvention - In Progress Pieces

Three items, all reinventions of older work with new ideas, techniques or stories / themes.


Have wanted to revisit these little guys for a year now. Originally called Grumpusses, they were garden or terrarium trolls who were, well, rather Grumpy. I believe i made 6 of the originals and they all sold but I knew I had to evolve their story. . .

Now these new editions are called Grumpus Garden Gnomes and, while they are NEVER grumpy with their human companions, they ARE quite grumpy with each other as each sort of sees itself as the self proclaimed "King of the Fairy Vegetable Garden".  This guy, who obviously favorites fairy carrots, has gone so far as make his own crown to claim the :throne" which,of course, is completely disputed by the Bok Choy,  Radish and Cherry Tomato Grumpus gnomes who all have their own crowns. . . I recommend owning more than one only if you are up for the role of peacekeeper in the fairy/gnome realm too.  

Still needs some inclusions in the "moss coat" and some sort of cuffs and bottom "hem". . . and a name. . . King Carotene perhaps?

These guys are 3 inches tall and perfect for little terrarium and fairy gardens.

Next is a new rendition of my wall-hanging pieces.  I've done little villages and fairy scenes but, again, wanting to get more into figurines and art dolls, I came up with this idea for little scenes.

The bamboo box is 6x6 and the little sweet dreaming elf is just 3 inches long. Still want to ad something in the tree's knothole and along the branch.

So sweet sleping among the tulips and the mushrooms! Of course, this will have to wait for the final story to be written too.

And lastly, this is the second edition of my Fairy Houses of Giddings Hill. Giddings comes from the street that ran along my childhood home bordering a lovely dense wooded hill.  These will come in 6 pearl colors and have different windows and adornments as they are developed.

My favorite part of this house is the winged accent with the crystal at the point of the roof!

These are around 4 inches tall and 2.5 inches wide!

Hope you enjoyed these sneak peeks into some new work and the constant path of reinvention I like to indulge in with my creations!

Have a wonderful day!

nicolas