Happy Harpies!!!

Happy Harpy assemblage class at the home studio of Clarissa Callesen, creator of Strange and Wonderful Things.

On a fabulous Sunday in Jan, Ben, Kelly, Shannon, Kim, and Jennifer joined me for a day of laughter and of fabulous creations. Everyone had a great sense of humor and made some really amazing works of art.

In Progress

Kelly’s Harpy in the process of getting mummified with beautiful ribbons and fibers.

Jennifer’s tail feathers almost done. She used wired ribbon to add spiral texture to her tail along with all the other plumage.

Mostly Finished

alot people add finishing touches when home

(would love final pictures if any of you have them, please)

Shannon’s Harpy

check out her blog about her art work

Kim’s fancy girl Harpy

Dang I am not sure who belongs to this

dark and mysterious lady bird. Kim? Jennifer?

and the answer is Kim, she made a sweet harpy and a dark harpy.

Jennifer’s fabulous display of plumage and color

Kelly’s sweet girl dressed in ribbons and beads

Benn Mann’s dark and beautiful pair of Harpies

Benn is a local artist (check his work out if your not familiar)who is know for his very bright and cheerful work. So it was extra fun to get to watch him explore some darker work.

Benn and I have joked about doing a collaborative show called “Perpetually Perky meets Dark and Twisty”.

So that wraps up Happy Harpies. I will be teaching this class again later in the year. Let me know if your interested?

ArT DoLL QuArTerLy

Look what came in the mail!!

Steampunk Sally gets some publicity…

PlAyiNg with Surface texture

So in between what has been a pretty darn busy January, I did get a chance to do some playing with fabric surface techniques. I did these experiments leading up to my Steampunk Sally class in my home studio. It was a lot of fun to try some new things and then I got to play around with Photoshop on top of the pictures.

YAY! a little time for playing!

I have been wanting to play with rusting fabric for quite sometime now. I just hadn’t got around to it. This isn’t the best results ever, I didn’t take much time in preparing the doll, but good color and good potential…

How did I do it:

Wrapped the fabric of the doll body in steel wire that was already starting to rust and thin pieces of steel wool.

Then I sponged on generous amounts of Sophisticated Finishes Rusting Solution and then went to bed.

Next morning rusty headless doll… Ok she was headless before I started but it sounds more dramatic…

Mummy Doll… I love the look of fabric wrapped and bound layer upon layer. Easy Peasy…

Tear strips of white cotton fabric, I used an old sheet.

Wrap and tie … rinse and repeat till your happy.

Secure ends with a little gel medium. Let dry

Then apply washes of Walnut ink.

Fake Batik… or Spots and Stripes…

I painted melted beeswax on to the fabric body in you guessed it stripes and spots.

Then painted Walnut Ink washes over the wax and fabric

Used a heat gun to melt the wax and blot off excess…

Then washed the doll “lightly” to tone down Walnut Ink.

Unknown bonus from unknown causes…. cool red and blue stains from the stuffing in the doll..

Check out the yummy fabric scraps I have been

playing with also..

Lots of instant coffee and rit dye …

rinse repeat.. don’t rinse repeat…

TEACHING, teaching ALL over!

Whew! Through the xmas season and time to breathe… oh wait its the end of January and I fill like I have been going, going, going! I am teaching a fair amount in my home studio and I have a pretty full schedule for teaching at Art Retreats out and about.

MARCH 2012

I am sure you have probably heard already, but 2012 is going to be the last year for Artfest in Pt.Townsend… cue sad sad music and tears… But I am teaching fun fun classes there!

There are still spaces available don’t miss this amazing retreat that will be missed dearly

STEAMPUNK SALLY class full

WILD THINGS spots still available

MAY 2012

I will be teaching at CREATE in Irvine, Ca

for the first time May 30-June 3

AUGUST 2012

I will be teaching and vending at Art Unraveled

in Phoenix, AZ July 30 - August 7
Embassy Suites, Phoenix-Scottsdale location

OCTOBER 2012

And wrapping up the year teaching at Art and Soul in Portland, OR Oct 1-7 Red Lion on the River

Doll Transformed

Junque Crow

Hope to see you at one or more venues!

Allied Arts Opens This Friday at 10 am!

The Xmas season has officially began!   I spent the last two days setting up Allied Arts literally two 8 hr days. I have So much stuff there.  Then of course I have been working the last 6 weeks to get stuff ready.  I am ready for a vacation, too bad this is just the beginning! 

I have lots of new original one of a kind pieces so shop early!

The official info:  

Allied Arts Holiday Festival from 11/18/2011 to 12/24/2011 same location as last year, the old Michael's Building at 3548 Meridian Street, just South of the Bellis Fair Mall, Bellingham, WA

The 32^nd Annual Holiday Festival of the Arts is a six week long festival featuring the work of over one hundred local artisans and craftspeople. The affordable handmade products range from jewelry to paintings to wearable art to specialty foods. Weekends are packed with activities; hear live local music, catch some of our artists in action, and bring the kids in for fun art projects.
The festival will be open weekly, Wednesday through Sunday, 10am to 6pm. Join us for a special night, December 2rd during the festival to meet some of the artists and do some exclusive shopping. We will also be open Monday and Tuesday, December 20th and 21st for last minute shopping before Christmas. The Festival will close at 3pm on December 24th.

Here is a few teaser pictures of my booth and my worktable in the last weeks…

 

New free standing Harpy in the works

  

New booth decorations patiently made by my fabulous assistant Layla

 

New small original paintings on wood blocks and sacred heart assemblages

 

 

Steampunk dolls and skulls

New designs for my talisman hanging cards

 

Assemblages in process

 

 

 

Lots of pottery waiting for ribbons and hangers