Peter, Paul and Merry; Pumpkin Head Doll Art

We all know the legend of the Great Pumpkin who rises at midnight on Halloween, right?.  So what do the rest of the pumpkins left in the pumpkin patch do?

What if I told you the pumpkins magically come to life, and a great celebration takes place?  There is much singing, dancing and frolicking for the pumpkins who did not get selected for the festivities of All Hallows Eve.

I was fortunate enough to witness this fantastical event for myself.  Hiding on the edge of the field, I waited for the witching hour to arrive.  As the pumpkins rose to their newly acquired feet, they began to sing and make music, and I couldn’t help but let out a tiny chuckle.

To my surprise, Peter, Paul and Merry were close by enough to hear me.  Instead of running in fear, Peter gave me a saucy wink, and I knew all was well.  They told me of how excited they were to be alive, and it was decided that they would come home with me.

I am so delighted to give them a new home where they play their music and sing their songs of the fields and full moons.

Everything was made by me including the clothing and instruments.  The dolls heads, hands, and feet are sculpted from paper clay then hand painted and sealed. Their stems are a combination of pieces of driftwood and sculpting integrating them to the head. The body is polyester batting on a wire armature.  Clothing is made using a combination of new and vintage fabrics.  The instruments are made of wood, paper, and various embellishments.

 

They will be listed soon on my etsy shop.

 

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Narcisse, the Farmer Mouse of Dragonfly Milk

Little Farmer Mouse tends to his herd of dragonflies all day long.  He carefully gathers the milk, bottling it to deliver to his friends.  Dragonfly Milk is a rare drink and only imbibed for special occasions.

 

This little friend is going to his new home in the country so he can continue his work where the dragonflies fly free and create the most exceptional milk!

I enjoyed creating this little character whose little overalls reminded me of the ones my grandfather wore to do his chores, and hence the name, Narcisse.  I usually let the receiver name their little friends, but in this case, I couldn’t resist.

Small stitches and lots of love created his clothing.

There were fitting to be done.

Bottling process was to be had.

After all, he was ready to go to market.

Hope you enjoyed meeting him.

 

Narcisse is a anthropomorphic art doll whose head, hands and boots were sculpted with #CreativePaperClay and his head and hands were hand flocked with faux fur.  He stands about 8″ tall and has a soft body on a wire armature which makes him semi-poseable.  His clothing was hand sewed by me.  His basket is created by me from chipboard and the milk bottles were purchased from D. Lawless Hardware (they have more than just knobs), and hand painted by me.

 

 

A Mouse Who Would be King

Now that this little guy has been safely delivered to his new home, I can share him with you.

I’ve been influenced by the holiday season and created my version of the Rat King from the Nutcracker.  Except he is more of a mouse than a rat, but who is quibbling about rodents?  Serious Sir Simon has a smirk on his face, not taking his role too seriously, standing straight at attention to respond to your requests.

I tried a new to me technique for creating this bespoke art doll and I really liked it.  I still wanted a doll that was somewhat posable, but I didn’t want the complications (read that as time consuming) of ball joints.  So this little 8 inch guy is made with paper clay head, hands and boots with a wire and batting body. His head is covered with faux fur.  He has limited posing capabilities, but his tail is posable.

He wears a handmade, vintage velvet coat with gold bead buttons, a vintage ribbon sash and shiny boots.

Definitely more of these little guys to come.

Thanks for checking out this little guy!

 

#creativepaperclay

 

 

My Blue Angel-We Hold the Key

This mixed media project started with a curbside find.  Poor outdated little thing!  In the picture, I have started with a coat of artist white gesso on her

How many times might you have looked at one of these 1980’s cast offs in the thrift store?  Well, I thought I might be able to do something to her to give her a lovely make over.  With Christmas coming, I got to work.  I did a cut out on my scroll saw to accommodate a miniature frame, creating a shadow box effect for a Tim Holtz Idea-ology Birdcage.   I used a mixture of Delta Ceramcoat navy and Gleams 14k gold acrylic paint to create my own version of a colored metallic paint for the base color which created a shimmery teal color which made me happy.

Today, after a mixed media application of a sculptured head that I wasn’t completely happy with,  a variety of materials; Creative Paper Clay used in an Iron Orchid Design casting (on the head piece) and vintage buttons castings, several Artminds laser cut wood scrolls from Michaels, beads, microbeads, rhinestones, a Vintaj brass bird whispering in her ear, and bits from my collection of cast offs, with metallic gold highlighting and Thicketworks DIY rust paste, I’d say she was looking a lot better.

Isn’t that rust paste gorgeous?

So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key

Eagles-Already Gone

 

Pumpkin Witch Doll Sculpt

The Pumpkin Witch–she will cast a spell on your fall harvest!

Reminiscent of the old kitchen witch, the pumpkin witch will guard your kitchen and home against evil.

This Pumpkin Witch is a bespoke doll made with sculpted and painted head, hands and feet from paper clay with a soft posable body made with wire and polyester batting.  Remember those sculpted hands I posted on  my Facebook page?

Her clothing is made from vintage fabrics and lace salvaged from napkins, bureau scarves, and other items.

Happy Halloween!

 

(After my last post, I noticed a lot of people who are interested in genealogy started following me.  Although genealogy is one of my interests, this blog is more about my art and my home renovations rather than genealogy, although I may occasionally throw in some mention of my or my husband’s family history.  I apologize for any confusion in what this blog is about)

My next blog post will be about creating faux brickwork on my kitchen walls.

 

Thanks for reading!

#creativepaperclay

 

Pumpkin Jack gets a Makeover

I created Jack in 2014 and you can see him when I originally wrote about him Here.  I’m especially proud of Jack because he was the first thing I made out of Creative Paper Clay and he emerged magnificently!  I was going to enter Jack into an exhibit, and this would have been his debut.

I had to work on him again due to some construction issues.  I’ve learned a lot since creating him.

I wanted to spiff him up a bit and I proceeded to improve upon his base.

However, the dates for the show take-in was changed and because of other commitments, I didn’t finish him in time for this show before Halloween.  Well maybe next time.

Before

After

Thanks for checking him out!

#creativepaperclay

 

Persephone Returning from the Underworld

She said no to the dress.  She said that is not who she is.

This project went in a totally different direction.

She was Persephone, the Goddess of the Underworld. Captured by Hades, her mother, Demeter, cast a curse on the land.  No crops would grow until her daughter was returned to her.  After some deliberation,  Hades allows her to return to the world to bring us spring, and then she must return to him and fall begins.

Her upper arms are pressed birch leaves and her upper legs are covered in birch bark, representing the trees in the fall when she must return to the Underworld.

Her torso is covered in custom molded paper clay objects, and dried flowers, including lily of the valley, Goddess symbols for her, painted in pale green.  Her head is adorned in grape vine wreath with crystals, a gem associated with her.

Persephone can sit, stand on her own, but also has a custom stand.

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