Never Too Many Owls

 

 

Last summer when I went to the NIADA conference, I took a wonderful workshop from Connie Smith on sculpting animal doll heads in stoneware.  For the class, she made a little set of sculpting tools for each of her students.  She made them by whittling bamboo chopsticks, and one of those tools is the most useful sculpting tool I have.  It's like a tiny pointed spoon and I use it to form eyes, among many other things - such as the "tile" roof on my fairy garden house.

 

On this piece I used it for the smaller feathers you see on the forehead and upper wings.  But what I really need is a variation on that tool.  Instead of pressing in on the feather tips, I need the tool to press into the "v" shaped space between the feathers.  In fact, a variety of sizes would be useful.  So I guess I'd better get out for Chinese food and bring home some chopsticks!

 

This is supposed to be a druid owl, complete with leafy chaplet and the celtic cross on his chest.  When I started to tackle making the celtic cross I expected it to be really difficult, but it went surprisingly smoothly.

 

This is no particular species of owl, but is loosely modeled on the burrowing owl which, unfortunately, I don't think is an inhabitant of traditionally celtic lands.

 

All the details were the most enjoyable part of this piece.  Now I'm contemplating how to glaze him.

When Your Groundhog's Too Skinny

 

 

If I had a real groundhog and she were too skinny, I'd feed her more treats!  But since my groundhog is made of clay, I need a different solution - surgery!

 

Sculpting tiny animals is easier than sculpting larger ones (this one is about 5" long).  The tiny ones I simply sculpt solid, then when I have the form the way I want it, I cut it in half, usually around the waist, hollow out the halves with a small metal measuring spoon, then put them back together with the "score and slip" method.  After the seam hardens a bit I can finish my sculpting.  The only "hard" part is remembering to put a small hole in the sculpture so that it doesn't explode in the kiln.

 

But for these larger ones, I make them hollow from the beginning.  The clay is soft and as I pinch and pull the basic shape distorts so easily.

 

Anyway, once I had the basic shape of this little girl finished, it was clear that she was too thin - and by quite a bit.  So adding clay wasn't really an option as the walls would then be too thick.  So I took my tissue blade and made an incision as you see here.  I pulled her apart until I thought she looked right, then cut a slab that would fit the incision and added it.  I left a rather large hole in the under side so that I could get a tool or a finger inside to smooth the seam, then let her rest and heal for a day.  Poor girl, but she'll be much better in the end.

The FRA Troop is Forming

 

Here are the cured polymer pieces for the three little Future Raccoons of America troop members.  I've tried to model paws that will have each of the three in different positions.  Two of them will hopefully be holding hands.  But we all know about the best laid plans!

 

These raccoons will be small, so I'm not sure that my usual method of beginning with a stuffed felt body will work.  I have an alternative - wrapping a wire armature with wool yarn - and that's probably how I'll start.  But first, I have to paint them.  So, time to get out the paints and brushes...

Rocky is Fully Furred

Rocky has all his/her fur now.  And also, after trying out many ideas in my mind, I've decided what he/she will be doing.  Rocky will actually be a she, so I'll have to think of a new name for her.

She is the leader of Troop 682 of FRA, Future Raccoons of America.  She will have three little troop members.

The costumes will be minimal - perhaps a scarf and badge sash for the little ones and a jumper uniform and scarf for the fearless leader.

"Raquel and the Rockettes" perhaps.

Her fur is needle felted and I must say that it goes really well over the stuffed wool felt base.

So now it's time to turn my attention to the Rockettes.

The Fairy House in Situ

 

The Fairy House is now finished and in place in its own little fairy garden.

 

To finish the house, I glazed the roof and birds with Mayco stoneware glaze, using Black Walnut for the birds and Green Tea for the roof.  This was my first glazing experience with stoneware, and I was very happy with the results. I especially like the Black Walnut.   Oh, I also glazed the roof of the little lantern which is sitting on the stone to the right of the house.

 

For the windows, I rough-cut pieces from a broken pressed glass plate and glued them in place.  They look very pretty, especially when I put a battery operated tea light inside the house (the roof comes off).  The door is a little piece of well weathered wood from an old garden stake.  The door handle is a faceted crystal bead, and for the hinge I used a small strip of artist canvas which I glued on the inside to both the door and the door frame.  I used E6000 glue.

 

The garden is in a planter box I made from cedar fence boards.  It's 24" x 14" and two boards deep on the right end and 3 extra inches deep on the left end, allowing for the little hillside.  That's a parma violet planted on the hill.  I transplanted a tiny bit of baby tears, a teensy violet, and a bit of moss from my garden.  But it was hard to find anything to transplant with the terrible drought we're having here in California this past year.

 

I ordered a half flat of elfin thyme for covering most of the ground.  A friend is giving me a little start of Japanese maple.  So there's more planting to do, then waiting while the plants take hold.  A fairy primrose might be nice, but possibly too big.

 

I'm planning to make a gazing ball from a marble and a stoneware base.

 



Epona Pendant

My Epona pendant is done!  I'm happy with everything except the color of the leather cord.  It's supposed to be pearl but it looks more gray.  This cord is braided Nappa leather which is beautifully soft and supple while being genuine leather.  Unfortunately, I can't find it in white or off-white, either of which would have been much better.  Dark Brown would also be an option, but I'm out of it and wanted to get this piece finished.

I've seen a product called Eco Leather in various Etsy shops.  It's a faux leather which, in my mind, has both good and bad points.  The bad is that it looks sooooo even that its "fauxness" may be a bit too obvious.  But I haven't seen it in person yet, so that may turn out not to be a problem.  On the plus side, I just don't like to use animal products in my artwork.  Somehow, it just doesn't feel right when I profess to be so fond of them.

I guess the thing to do is order a bit of the Eco leather and see what I think.  I've been justifying the real leather on the grounds that if I want to set higher prices on my pieces the materials should be good quality.  One the other hand, there is a selling point to anything "eco."  So stay tuned!

Those Darn Pesky Threads!

 

I was itching to get a needle and thread in my hands again, so I started another bead embroidery pendant necklace.  This is another one of the mustangs that I made from polymer clay a few years ago.  Since she's white, I've decided to name this piece "Epona" after the Celtic white mare goddess.

 

The shape in the lower left is meant to reseble a Celtic knot - just resemble, though, as one would be too complicated to embroider this small.  As I look at it now, it also suggests a trillium to me, a beautiful three-petal white wild flower that I remember from my childhood ramblings in the northeast Ohio woods.

 

I think the large stone may be Ocean jasper, but I'm not sure.  The smaller three stones are beautiful faceted rose cut smoky quartz which I bought on Etsy at a wonderful shop named Tiger Bead Store, which you can visit at https://www.etsy.com/shop/TigerBeadStore. 

 

I say "pesky darn threads" because when I was looking at my enlarged photo I saw a thread wrapped around the pony's nose!  Apparently as I was sewing the beads on the backing behind her head the thread looped around her hose and I didn't notice it.  Now I'll have to cut the thread, tie the ends together if I possibly can (they may be too short) and put a dab of glue on the knot.  The beads can't come off because after I sew a row, sewing each bead onto the backing, I run the thread back through all the beads in the line so each bead has two separate threads.  But it could get messy if the thread ends worked loose somehow.  Fortunately, the correction won't show.

 

Back to beading tomorrow!