Turning a Page

Hello everyone!

So, I just wanted to give you all a quick update on something exciting as it pertains to my blog!

I have struggled for years to find a rhythm with keeping my blog active.  I kept wanting to discover some magic structure that will allow me to be more regular and offer more of what is going on in the creative world around me.

With the wealth of new projects, ideas, undertakings etc, I have once again allowed my posting here to slip and I want to change that going forward.

So here is what is happening. . .

I am pledging to post each and every Friday of the month. To try and make this a reality, I am going to give each Friday of the month a "theme".

Starting with October, (my favorite time of the year), I will be offering posts on the following general topics based on the number of the Friday of the month.

1st Friday of Each Month - New work. This will not just be newly finished creations but I a peek into the actual making of one of those new items each month. From start to finish. Photos, materials, techniques etc.


2nd Fridays - Inspirations and Oddities - Links and topics that I've come across that inform my work, my writing and just my insatiable curiosity for the strange and wonderful in the world we live in, past or present, and beyond. Research is a big part of my creative world and I can think of no better way to stir that "making pot" than to share those things I've found.

3rd Fridays - The Maker-of-Things -  a look into how I got "here", from an over-reaching teenage dreamer to being a full time creator.  So, snippets of those early childhood memories, the long and winding road of experimentation and failure along the way and all of the other creative ventures I tried and moved on from.  Plus some all-around advice for creating a life that supports living as a creative soul and working maker. This will be only my experience so it will not resonate for some, I know, but I think it worth expressing to hopefully help those who wish to follow in those creative footsteps.

4th Fridays - The World of Bewilder and Pine! - Many of you know that I have been focused on writing a novel and short stories centered around the world I created, the Bewildering Pine. So these 4th Friday posts will offer small peeks into that world. Details about the folk, the place, the history etc. Where these things come from in me and where I'd like to see them go in the future. Eventually, maybe early next year, I'll even offer snippets from the book itself as it moves forward.

5th Fridays, on the rare occasion it happens, well, we shall see!

Hoping Autumn is shining in your worlds!
Thanks for coming along for the ride. . .

nicolas

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!

Work In Progress: January 20th

In progress. . . the story of my daily creative world. : )

I'd be the very first to say I usually have far too many things under construction at any one time.  I will, on any given day, have 10-20 pieces in some stage of completion or design. I'll usually. . .  well, sometimes. . .  prioritize custom pieces but, after that, what I work on on any given day is really just what I feel like working on.

This is not always the best course of action, admittedly. There are days where my actual "work space" is down to about 6 inches square and I am surrounded by pleading eyes and waiting limbs and moss-less houses and half sculpted creatures!

I'm really trying to be a bit more con top of that and I think showing some of my in-progress work each week will help me push things thru instead of setting them aside for long periods while I get blissfully lost in the newest projects and never-ending inspirations!

So. . . some new things on the work table this week! Just wanted to share these as they are in progress and I'll update them when they are all complete. . .

Fairy Belles - These are the new iteration of something I tried two years ago but never really liked the results.
They actually have a jingly little bell in the hollowed bottom of the figurine that can be rung to summon fairy magic!

Two figurines in process. I've decided to focus on a feature story for my Bewildering Pine World that includes creatures known as Hobs ( like the little fella on the left) and Grimalkins ( the familiars of Hobs, as seen on the right) 

The Hob above (no name as of yet) will have a very dapper Victorian waist coat and tie and likely a bowler hat that he will be doffing! The Grimalkin (also as of yet unnamed) will look like the larger, completed one in the next image. 

Grimalkin is an old English archaic word for a cat! I love the Pewter finish and the claws that will match the eye color.

This is how I make the Fairy things on Stars! This one will become "Theia Straedoor's Tart Cart" on a Star with
mossy roof, stairs and fences, cooling table for the special, tiny Joonberry Tarts and the usual trees and landscaping!

And one recently finished addition to my Foxgoyle/Land of Kitsurada story/world. 

A mythic Kitsune, 9-Tailed Foxgoyle! 

Her name is Okudara and I think she's quite the creature!

So that's what's cooking here! Hope you are making magic today in your world too!

nicolas