Smiling Santa!!

This smiling little fellow that I finally finished is going on eBay tonight.  He is a unique character with lots of details that measures 8" x 5.25" x 5.5", and is made of paper mache, wire, bottle brush and gold thread.

He has blue eyes, a rosy nose and cheeks and a toothy grin under his textured moustache.  All of his hair, beard, eyebrows and moustache are textured in a similar way, are painted in cream and then touched with a brown wash to accentuate the surface quality.  The brown wash is used throughout the figure to emphasize the folds in his hat, sleeves, tassel and mittens, as well as to give the character a more vintage feel.

I hope you like him in his finished state!!

Here is the auction link!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180594378233

Happy Holidays!

Laurie

Here Comes Santa Claus

I started painting on the short Santa yesterday and was able to block in his body color and paint on some of the smaller pieces he will be holding, but I forgot to put the candy canes in his hands before I took the photograph...oops!  I'm hoping for an afternoon of painting to get him closer to his finished state.



We are having family on Thanksgiving so tomorrow will be cleaning at home, time at the tree farm and food prep on those things I can do ahead of time.  I really do enjoy the holidays and find them less stressful when I do a little preparation the day before.

I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving filled full of family, food and memories in the making.

Laurie

Working on Christmas Elves

I'm in the studio working on a couple of elves this week and thought I'd show you what I have done so far.  This is the second elf I have ever sculpted that is popping out of a large Christmas ornament.  Like the Santa figure, the paper mache he is created from is pretty wet so it will be a few days before I can put paint on him, but I'm excited to see how he will look in full color.

He currently is sitting atop a tripod base and I'll see if I still like that when the figure and ornament are painted.

Hope you like the peek!
Laurie

Working in Clay This Week

I'm mixing paper mache clay and sculpting this week so I won't be on the computer as much....I have a terrible habit of checking the internet when I have clay on my fingers and I really need to stop that before I ruin another keyboard!  Not a good thing when pieces of mache get trapped under keys and then you can't type with those letters any longer.  Not that I would know from personal experience or anything.

Below is the grand elf himself, Santa Claus, with his little candies and a Christmas ornament in his mittens.  He has thick layers of clay so he will take some time to dry completely before I can start painting.

I'm off to get my fingers back into the mix!!!  The elves are on the table today awaiting their next layers and they are being slightly impatient!

Have a great day!

Laurie

SpookyTime Jingles Update!!!

Where is the time going to? It can't possibly be time for another SpookyTime Jingles update on Saturday night can it?!!!! Yes, it is time and luckily I managed to get some pieces done this month in the middle of the Christmas tree farm madness!!! Not everything I wanted, not everything I thought I would get done (I have exceeding high expectations), but I did manage to produce 4 pieces for the update!!! (This seemed to be a really SHORT month!)

First, is "Standish the Pumpkin Elf," that you already had a preview to in an earlier blog. "Standish" is one of Santa's "go to guys" at the North Pole and he is a Pumpkin boy loving his elf costume!!! He is shown grinning with pride and holding a paper mache teddy bear and paperclay candy canes. Hours and hours in sculpting and painting the hat and those boots, but so worth it!!! The jingle bells on his hat and boots are actually paper mache balls painted to look like bells.


Then, there are the jingles for the month of December, "Topper", "Siegfried and Bubo" and "Tosser"....the 3+ snowmen from Monkey-Cats!!!


"Topper" is a unique piece that functions as a tree topper, but I also designed him so he can sit on a shelf. He is the shortest and smallest of the three, but he looks adorable on top of a Christmas tree.


Next, is "Siegfried" with his wise little snow-fellow companion, "Bubo". "Siegfried" loves this little stack of snowball goodness and carries him lovingly where ever he goes. "Bubo" may be small, but he is loyal and has kept Siegfried of a hot water more than once...which is really critical to a snowman!! You might say they are made of the same....stuff.


The final snowman in the group is "Tosser." Tosser is a guy's-guy, and has the throwing arm of a major league pitcher. He is known to always have a spare snowball concealed on his body somewhere (literally), and in an instant can toss a snowball with such accuracy that any challenger doesn't stand a chance. One good thing about "Tosser"...he never throws the first snowball.


I hope one of these new pieces finds a place in your heart! They will be available at midnight tomorrow night!!!!
Time sure is flying!
Laurie

Fa-la-la-la-la La-la-la-la

Well, I just had a pleasant surprise. I went to Flickr to upload my images and much to my surprise I found this lovely holly frame to put around my photos. It is cold outside, snow possibly on Sunday, holly frames available to "Christmas-up" the figures...all is good with the world. (It doesn't take much to make me happy!!)

Below is the finished Pumpkin-Elf, "Standish". I need my head examined for putting the hours into sculpting and painting his hat and boots, but I just couldn't resist. Unlike last month's "Elf in the Ornie", this hat doesn't have real jingle bells, these are made of paper mache and painted to look like bells.

"Standish" is another one of my Pumpkin Boys that loves all holidays. He doesn't deliver presents on Christmas day, but he does help Santa with the distribution side of things up at the North Pole. He checks the names and packaging of each gift (along with a crew of "elves", if you know what I mean *wink-wink*) so that Santa successfully delivers each child the correct toy and gift. It isn't like it use to be at the North Pole as they have even gone to bar coding! "Standish" takes his responsibility very seriously to assure that Santa doesn't disappoint the children of the world and is shown here holding a teddy bear (also paper mache) and candy canes (paperclay) to be packaged for....oops, that would let the surprise out!

"Standish" is one of the more dashing of the Lumina family members and is never seen without his full elf costume except when he takes his January vacation to the Caribbean....then it is strictly island shirts and shorts for this little guy.

"Standish" hopes as Christmas approaches that you have a joyous and loving holiday season and that he doesn't see your name on the naughty list!!

Have a great weekend!
Laurie

PFATT December Giveaway!!

Come join in the fun at the the PFATT blog for some wonderful December giveaway items....yes, giveaway items, and I have made a little something to make the holiday season just a little more cheerful!


As you know if you follow my blog, I believe that elves are born from ornaments. Below is little "Onslow" bursting from his ornament from both the top and the bottom with a small Christmas tree and Christmas gift present in the foreground. This is a 7" x 8.75" hand-painted original on 140 lb. weight watercolor paper, signed by me and created just for the PFATT December giveaway. How do you win this you ask? Click on the link above and go to the PFATT blog to register!!

Lots of wonderful things being given away this month by PFATT members (getting in the Christmas spirit) so don't miss the chance to put your name and email address into the giveaway for a chance to win some really lovely pieces!!!!

Good luck!
Laurie

2 New WIPs

It has been a busy week in the studio making paper mache clay, making armatures for hats and then building the hats, building faces, making elf shoes and boots and making bodies. Below is my first ever Pumpkin Elf. He will be a crossover piece from Halloween into Christmas and comes with an elf hat with balls on the tips and elf shoes designed in the same manner. He carries a teddy bear and candy canes and I plan on painting him in striped stockings with a little ornamental vest. The figures don't have much of a personality punch at this point....that will have to come with the paint.

I also roughed in several snowmen this week. The little fellow below has a carrot nose and an over sized top hat. and two "stick" arms. I think he gets a scarf today... he needs it to break up that large body of his.

That's how I work. I sculpt, set a piece down, work on another, then look back on the piece I worked on earlier and let it tell me what it needs. That little bit of separation during the creative process is very necessary for me to keep moving forward in the design of the pieces.

That's this weeks peek into the studio and my artsy little mind.

Have a great weekend!
Laurie

SpookyTime Jingles Updates Tonight!!!!!!!

The November update for SpookyTime Jingles is tonight at midnight!!! I have one little jingle, Phineas the "Elf in the Ornie", and two little spooky-jingles....


the "Christmas Count" and "Pumpkin Claus." These three pieces will be available tonight at midnight on that very special marketplace!!

We can all use a little jingle in our lives... don't you think?! Hope to hear from you at midnight Eastern time (11 Central, 10 Mountain and 9 Pacific).

Have a great day!

Laurie

The Christmas Count

Here is what has been occupying my time this week, the "Christmas Count". This is little Count Vacula, dressed in his finest Christmas attire carrying two sugar-free candy canes (he is such a health fanatic), and a little present for his sweetheart.


He is full of little details on his hat (striped hat-band and holly), his cape (dots and stars on the front, and holly and a swirled-mint button on the back), his vest (a swirl-mint button, matching trim and kerchief to the hat-band pattern), swirl-mint stud cuff links, 2 removable candy canes and shading to round his form.

He is hoping to sit down for a nice cup of herbal tea flavored by his candy canes with his sweety after she sees what the present contains. Because they are vegetarians, you guessed it, it has "carrots" inside!!!

Have a great weekend all!
Laurie

Elf in the Ornie

"Elf in the Ornie" (where do elves come from?) is the new WIP I have going. I worked on him yesterday while the KHAS-TV news people were here talking to me about Halloween art so I should have a link on Wednesday, which might show the addition of the hand and shoulders to the figure. They were really smart to have me work while we talked so it was more conversational and less intimidating to have a camera in the room. They were both delightful and I feel so lucky to have had the chance to get a little snippet on local television. Because of the subject matter they told me that other NBC affiliates might pick up the interview as a human interest filler.


I was also interviewed on Tuesday by a local newspaper writer and the article is suppose to be in the Halloween edition next weekend. Of course the two cats weren't the least bit concerned with that interviewer and jumped on the studio table and drank from their water dish and behaved normally... very cat-like!! I had this little fellow's head loosely sitting in the cracked ornament opening and had to move it during the interview to insure I had a piece left to finish. Those two cats have an extreme interest in my art and what I'm doing!!! (They must know I pay for the cat food and kitty litter.)


I'm excited to have this piece dry so that I can put some paint on both the ornament and the Elf figure. I also plan to paint the front of the small base that the ornament will set on. Something new for me so we will see if it works!!

Well, I better get ready to set up for tomorrow's show!! Have a great weekend!
Laurie

SpookyTime Jingles Updates Tonight!!!!!

At midnight tonight STJ will update!!!! I have been working on Halloween and Vine's inventory this past month so I will not have anything new to offer tonight, but I do have a little fellow below that is still available for the Christmas collectors. I apologize profusely, but I really needed a month to focus on the big show in California and nothing else. I promise to be back next month with new Halloween works!!!

Have a great day all!!!!

Laurie

New Peek at Purrseus

Just an update on little "Purrseus." I worked until late last night finishing up a few details on the figure. He now has a striped hat with tinsel trim, a red bow tie and a striped vest under his high collared white jacket trimmed with holly leaves and berries. Lots of details on this fellow.


I put a little more gold in his eyes, worked on the cheeks, painted a peppermint button on his vest, a snowflake on his hat and....

gave him striped socks to match his vest and trimmed his boots in holly leaves and berries to match his jacket collar.

Remember, as part of the SpookyTimes Jingles 1st Anniversary Celebration, Monkey-Cats Studio will give 10% of the sale price to the Kearney Area Humane Society in the name of the buyer. They do such good work I'm very excited to do this.

More peeks to come! Enjoy the day.

Laurie

SpookyTime Jingles Updates Tonight!!

Tonight, tonight, ♪ won't be just any night, tonight STJ has artists' updates ♫. (sing to West Side Story music...if any of you are old enough to remember!! YIKES) That's right, we update at midnight tonight on STJ! Below are peeks of my works for the month!!

I have 2 Patriotic Spooks....

and one little Jingle, "This is for You."

Hope one of them catches your fancy!!

Have a fantastic weekend and see you next week!! I'm off to mix clay now... ♫ gourd heads and pumpkins and ♪ whiskers on kittens ♪ ...I think I'm in to Broadway musicals today ♫ !

Laurie