Ghoultide Gathering

The initial set up at home for Ghoultide Gathering has been completed, the works safely tucked into bubble wrap and boxed, and now we are preparing for the  journey to the big event on Saturday.  If you are a lover of all things Halloween consider attending Ghoultide Gathering in Northville, Michigan.  The talent is amazing (I am thrilled that I get to participate with such talented artists) and the show is sure not to disappoint anyone attending.  Cool temps are in the forecast to set the mood, and who could ask for a better setting then the Mill Race Village we will be occupying to enhance the experience.  Hope to see you there!

Laurie

Finishing Up Work for Ghoultide Gathering

The last push to finish up things before packing them up for the trip to Ghoultide Gathering has been going on in my studio.  Below is "Gregory Gourdhead", the only figure on a painted stand I will have for the show.  As usual, time just got away from me and the other poor heads will have to wait for their bodies to be finished at another time.  I love doing these figures because they allow me to sculpt and paint on the paper mache head in contrast with painting the body on a nice smooth surface.  I would love to do a number of them so that the heads could be moved from base to base onto different bodies to play with the display, but that will have to happen at a later date. 

Something new this year is a Skelly Head Box shown below with three new candy buckets I was able to recently complete.  The Skelly Head box can be used as a candy container or for storing any number of things on a shelf or tabletop.  The new little candy buckets shown have a Monkey-Cat, Moon Boy and Witch to add to the characters I have already painted on some earlier buckets.  I have two buckets left to finish and then I am done with my Ghoultide pieces.

I was also able to finish the second round bodied candy container for the year.  It is similar in design to the original candy container, but because they are hand sculpted and painted they are still quite different when placed side-by-side. 

There probably won't be a post next week as I'll be madly packing and boxing pieces getting ready to leave for the show.  If you aren't familiar with Ghoultide Gathering please click on the link in the upper left column of my blog page.  I am so thrilled to be a participating artist in such a wonderful show.  Think about making the trip...it is sure to not disappoint!!
Laurie

The Dumpty Pumpkin Boys

New to the Monkey-Cats Studio Halloween line up this year are two pumpkin figures seated on paper mache blocks that I have loving named the "Dumpty Pumpkin" brothers, "Lumpty and Humpty".  (They looked like they could fall off of those blocks and hence the names.)

"Lumpty Dumpty Pumpkin" is the first squatty little fellow shown and he is just tickled pink because a baby bat has landed on his fingers.  (Human children would be delighted by a butterfly, but in the world of Halloween a butterfly just wouldn't do, it had to be a bat.)  Being the youngster that he is, he grins with delight and puts his other hand up to signal his brother about the event.  If he gets too excited and doesn't pay attention that little fellow is going to take a tumble from his perch, and so begins their story that parallels another childhood tale.  

"Lumpty's" brother is "Humpty Dumpty Pumpkin", the elder of the two Dumpty Pumpkin brothers.  "Humpty" is a spider collector and is shown here with his favorite companion"Yo-Yo", named for his ability to go up and down quickly on his spun webs.  "Humpty" also adores his spider companion because he came with a pumpkin shape on his torso so he knew immediately that their relationship was meant to be.

The boys are headed to Michigan next week for Ghoultide Gathering.  Hope you like these silly brothers!

Laurie

Candy Containers.....

I am continuing to work on Ghoultide Gathering pieces and thought I would share with you some of the candy containers going to the show.  All six of these candy containers are open at the top so all one has to do is put a small amount of candy in them to make a "sweet" gift. 

There are two sculpted cat head candy containers shown, which are slightly different because I don't use molds in the sculpting process, plus in the top photo the cat has gold colored eyes and in the lower photo the cat has green colored eyes.

The smaller paper mache candy cups each have different figures painted on the front along with different painted trims so above you will see the skelly bat figure and pumpkin boy figure....

and a Monkey-Cat and Count figure in the second photo.  All of the containers have black twisted wire handles, with tinsel being added to the cat candy containers. 

I still have much to do so I am headed back to the studio!  Hope you enjoyed the peek!!

Laurie

Horace Lumina

He is finally done...all 31 inches of him.  This is "Horace Lumina", grand patriarch of the Lumina family dressed for the Pumpkin Ball.  He is shown carrying his Horace (falcon) face mask and his pumpkin bucket, wearing a reversed-scalloped edged tux jacket and vest trimmed with spider buttons.  He finishes his ball attire by wearing color coordinated striped stockings and boots.

Horace oversees the Lumina family using pretty tight reins, and yet no one complains about his rule over the clan.   His demands aren't viewed as too extreme throughout the year, but come October 30, all Lumina family members are required to gather for the family harvest celebration and Pumpkin Ball, which is a two evening event culminating on Halloween night. 

Horace supervises to make sure there aren't any young Lumina boys drinking hard apple cider, that the mischief is playful amongst the frisky family members, and that the pranks pulled on humans aren't too extreme.

Horace has a gentle look, but don't let that fool you.  That appearance can quickly change when he is asked to reprimand a young pumpkin for tomfoolery!!

Horace is headed to Ghoultide Gathering in a few weeks.  He far exceeds the height of any of the other Monkey-Cats characters, but I think he will blend in nicely!

Have a creative day!

Laurie

Count R. Balance

Count R. Balance is one of the new little vampire figures completed for Ghoultide Gathering.  He is a happy little fellow because he has just learned about all of the squash and pumpkins coming to this year's Pumpkin Ball, and he is hoping to nibble on a few of the attendees....he is a vegetarian after all.

As you can see he has a pretty good set of fangs, mesmerizing eyes and a smile that will melt Miss Batty Patty Pumpkin's heart.

Being a creature of the night his companion is the bat, therefore he chose to wear a bat bow tie, a bat masquerade mask and had tiny black bats stitched on the front panels of his vest, as well as....

a handsome white bat stitched on his formal cape.

I'm getting closer to finishing most of the sculpted work for Ghoultide so I'm breathing a bit easier...well, sort of!!!  So hope to meet many of you there!

Laurie

Another Ghoultide Gathering peek

Wizards have always said that some pumpkin boys are grown on the vine, and some are hatched, but the pumpkin boys I have always known have all been vine grown.   I  have to admit I dismissed the hatching tale as folklore.  Imagine my surprise when I was told about "Hatch D. Lumina", a new pumpkin boy hatched from a jack-o-lantern.  Yes, that's right, pictures were taken showing the little fellow springing fully grown, clothed and carrying a JOL party mask for the upcoming Pumpkin Ball.

"Hatch", as his friends call him, has maintained his birthing jack-o-lantern and uses it to snuggle into during the day with his spider and other crawly friends.  Every evening he can be found popping back out of the cracked opening to locate his spooky companions of the night to prepare for an evening of fun and mischief.  He isn't terribly naughty, but when you see a worm floating in the Halloween punch, you don't have to ask who is responsible.

"Hatch" is really excited about his trip to Michigan to meet and party with the many mischief makers to be found at Ghoultide Gathering.  Hope you can come and introduce yourself to the him!

Have a great day!
Laurie

Thanks For the Spotlight Scott!!

Just wanted to provide a link to the Ghoultide Gathering website where Scott gave my little characters and studio a spotlight for the week.  Thanks Scott, you sure did make my little characters look good!

Back to the painting!!
Laurie

Making Progress

Painting, sculpting some final details and making some progress. I have finally learned I need to be painting on several pieces at once so that as I'm waiting for one surface to dry I still have another to work on. As you can see the heads and faces are one of the first things to be painted because the face tells me so much about what that figure's character is going to be like and what he or she would like to be wearing.

I still have a lot to get done , but I'm feeling much better about getting what I need to get done, done. With that said I better get some paint on the figures that still have too much white surface showing!

More peeks to come!
Laurie