Ghoultide Gathering 2011

September is passing so quickly and it is almost time for the Ghoutide Gathering weekend. I am getting very excited and so is Mr. Boots Purrington and Professor Purrington.  Boots, and his cousin, the Professor, will both be available in Northville, Michigan this weekend.

Boots is a shoe cobbler by trade, hence his name, and.....

the Professor has the brains in the family with multiple discoveries in the culturing of milk. (notice the white tux)

I do hope you are able to come see these two little Halloween creations at Ghoultide, and if so, please grab me by the elbow and introduce yourself.  It is a magical weekend filled with fun and frivolity and I would love to meet you!!

Have a great week and weekend!
Laurie

Seeing the Light at the End of the Tunnel

My list is growing shorter of what needs to be finished before Ghoultide Gathering and I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  It feels really good to have another body of work created for a show that I feel so privileged to be participating at.  Here are some of the most recently completed paper mache heads that form the handles for the lids of the boxes.

A little pumpkin head box and.....

and a little squash head box.

I still have candy cups waiting for their painted images so I better get back to work.  Hope you are seeing the light as well! 

Have a great week!

Laurie

Enjoying the Fall Weather

The past few days have ushered in cooler temperatures to the Plains, and it has me anxious to do some fall decorating.  Hubby grew pumpkins this year, including some "blue" pumpkins so I'm hoping to have a few of those to place on the porch with the big orange varieties.  I'm trying not to get ahead of myself too much since it is only mid-September, but with night temperatures to be in the 30s tonight, it's hard not to think autumn is here.  Perhaps I need to calm down a bit and just have a cup of hot chocolate!    

The weather has also inspired me to finish up the pieces for Ghoultide Gathering.  Yesterday I finished the last time consuming piece for the show so I thought I would share a few photographs. 

There are four figures that surround the piece and this is one of them, a little witch figure, Willendorf Wicked.  Willy, as her family calls her, is still a child at heart and continues to carry her pumpkin doll.  She is a kindhearted witch, but a word of warning, don't let her her sweet face fool you, she is a prankster.

To Willy's side is Spidey Pumpkin.  He loves those eight-legged arachnids and plays yo-yo and web games with them daily.  His room would scare most mothers, but Spidey wouldn't have it any other way. 

The last photograph is the bottom of the orb.  I painted a little lumina pumpkin character placed against a night sky to finish the piece.  I love pumpkins so it just seemed to be the right thing to complete the work.

There is a night sky and two other characters not shown in this post...I want to have a few surprises for the collectors at Ghoultide to look forward to.

Hope your weather is feeling more like fall too!

Laurie

Hunky-Dory

This Saturday, September 10th, which also just happens to be my birthday, I will have one Halloween work available on PFATT Marketplace at 10 a.m. Pacific time.  His name is Hunky-Dory, because in his world everything is just hunky-dory, and karma seems to smile upon him.

He is only the fourth fully sculpted Halloween figure I have offered this year so if you are unable to attend Ghoultide Gathering, this will be the only other piece offered in September.

He has long sculpted fingers holding his candy bucket and carrying his jack-o'-lantern companion.  Hunky-Dory is just under 16" in height, and is made of paper mache, wood and wire and comes painted in acrylic paints sealed with a matte polymer varnish.

I have been in contact with a school counselor, and 1/2 of the selling price of Hunky-Dory will be given to a local elementary school that I think will benefit from the proceeds of the sale.  The staff at the school has repeatedly proven to go above and beyond for their students so I am thrilled to be able to help in a small way.  We are so blessed to have such devoted teachers and staff in our community.

I also want to mention that my thoughts and prayers are going out to all Americans suffering from the flooding and damage caused by Irene and Lee, and the drought related fires in Texas and California.  It breaks my heart to watch the weather related emergencies unfold on television, and makes me wish I had really deep pockets to assist more people in need. Lets all hope that the tropical depressions currently in the Atlantic do not find our shores.  

Have a wonderful weekend and here is wishing you all the weather that you need wherever you live.

Laurie 

Diversions

I've practically been living in the studio for the last month, and suddenly this past week someone has put some diversions in my life, which is a good thing.  As I was watering the container on the front porch last week I noticed a small lavender bloom on my sweet potato vine.  I plant sweet potato vines annually, and this is the first year I have had blooms.  For whatever reason this little vine is giving me bloom, after bloom, after bloom and each morning it makes me smile and take a moment to go "aawwhhhhh".

Sorry for the water on the porch behind the planter, but I had just watered the planter to thank it for it's lovely gift.

The other recent diversion has been a small kitten appearing in our yard that has such a flight instinct I worry about being able to capture her to get her to a vet.  She seems to like Jake (one of the monkey cats) and he will sit with her at the door while she tries to take a nap.  A neighbor and I have been trying to get her for over a week so I now have an outdoor litter box for her, a pad on a floral table to sleep on and fresh food and water to keep her nearby.  Keep your fingers crossed for me she will eventually accept  my actions as non-threatening. 

Diversions can be good.  Back to work for me!

Laurie