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

Second Elf sculpted

Work is progressing and I was able to finish the second elf bursting out from his ornament with his right foot sculpted popping out near the bottom of the orb.  Now, if he and his sibling would hurry up and dry I can paint soon.  I was also able to finally get the head on the tree shaped Santa sculpted, but he still needs his body finished.  Time seems to be moving really fast and we open the Christmas tree farm this weekend so time in the studio will become even more limited in the coming weeks. 

I'm off to the studio table to start painting on a fat little Santa this afternoon.  So anxious to work in red, green and cream again and to play a little Christmas music.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great day!

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

Bunnies are done, on to Christmas!!

The bunnies are done and the pastel paint is going back into the seasonal paint drawer, and it is now time to get back into some Christmas figures.  Before packing the rabbits up in boxes for shipping I thought I would share the little fellows in their completed state.

Rudy, Russell and Randolph Rabbit, also known as the blue bow tie bunny boys, are shown with Easter buckets, an Easter wreath and painted eggs.  They were a labor of love and make me look forward to making a few more in the spring months.

We are forecast to get snow tonight and it will be the first of the season for us if it happens.  Since I'll be working on Christmas figures it has me sort of excited so with that I will close with  "HO-HO-HO", it's off to work I go!

Laurie

Making Progress

Finally made some good progress on the bunnies over the weekend.  I still have so much to finish by Thursday, but they will get done with some extra hours in the studio and less time spent on errands and laundry....ohhh, I like the skipping laundry part!! HA!

Hope you like the little hoppers!
Laurie

Work in Progress Update

I've been painting the last few days and not making a whole lot of progress on the rabbits because of other duties and responsibilities to attend to.  Today I plan on a full afternoon and evening of painting to get this little fellow done so I can move on to the other two bunnies.  I need to move on to Christmas pieces-Yikes!!!!

It is gorgeous outside here and that isn't helping me stay at the studio table.  

Hope you like him so far.  Have a great day!
Laurie

Ornie Loving Orville

The snowman is finished and I thought I would share!!  This is little "Ornie Loving Orville", who stands just over 10" high.  He is the first piece completed for the 2010 Christmas Season and will be available tomorrow on Nancy Walker's blog shop, as I am her guest artist for the month of November.  Orville is SOLD-Thank you!

He is made from paper mache, wire, thread and mica, and has lots of added details on his hat, vest and ornament he is holding.  The ornament isn't attached so it can be moved to either hand, plus the arms are wire and can be moved slightly to change his pose.

His vest even has peppermint candy buttons on the back!  He comes fully signed, dated and numbered and will not be repeated.

Hope you like him!!
Laurie