She begins to appear.....

A new piece in process...

Cleaning out my studio and finding the bird heads has inspired a new piece.  Not quite sure what she will end up looking like, but she will be part bird/part human.

I don't usually work this way...with the armature first and I rarely use apoxie sculpt for the body, but I just have to step outside of my box and stretch myself.  Otherwise creating loses that wonderful edge that risk brings and that edge, I think, creates good/great pieces

So the body was built on wire with apoxie sculpt, which I really enjoyed.  I could get the legs and body really smooth.  The head was sculpted with Prosculpt.

Her arms and torso will also be painted white and my thought now is that they will be covered with black antique netting that I have, with tiny sequins on it.  So the white will show through.

She will be a black & white bird, with magenta highlights.....maybe.....

More to come......  :)

A Bone Faery to heal bones.....

Here is a little bone fae, created with mink bones, and donated to Robin's Relief Fund auction.  These have sold for $450 at the Chalk Farm Gallery, so you can pick up this little guy for a lot less and help a wonderful woman heal.  You can see the auction on ebay by clicking here:

Read about Robin's story here: http://robinsullins.com/

     You can read more on the creating of these faeries here and here:

Hunting inspiration.....

Today I uncovered wonderful inspiration in nooks and crannies of my studio mess!  Time to clean up, clean out, label, stack, store and start anew.  Ahhhh....it feels so good!

Of course, with the help of Miss Millie....

I had forgotten all about these!  I found these in a cobwebby, messy, wonderful old barn/store/broncante in France several years ago.  Aren't they fabulous!!  They are from hats from the 1800's or early 1900's.    I am so inspired!!

Millie says "Fly"!!

images on wood blocks...papers, wings and wire....

A quiet day in the studio....

Some doors close as others open....

We have had to leave our cottage.......I'm sad.....but I keep telling myself that a new chapter is beginning....one door closes and another opens....I tell myself over and over.  I have been reading a blog "Tongue in Cheek" for years now.  I begin my day reading the thoughts of a woman who lives in France...who loves the brocante (fleamarket) who loves the story of old and battered things discovered there.   This woman sparked a dream....France....a wish...but beyond my realities.  The funny thing about wishes and dreams is that they unknowingly do expand one's reality.  Several years ago I went to France for a art workshop with a friend.  The next year I returned because I met a woman who lived in my home town who had a house there and we did a house trade.  I brought my husband and shared my thrill of crumbling castles and cafe au lait. A year went by and I returned again.....bringing my 3 grown daughters and my oldest granddaughter as her high school graduation present.  The best time of my life!   And I wonder how this happened....it's like a story book dream to me.  The power of a wish...a dream...a vision.

My friend and unknown to her ....my boundary pusher....who writes the blog Tongue in Cheek...whom I have never met or even corresponded with....who had no idea that she had given me a dream..... wrote on her blog that she would invite 8 women to come, one at a time....and bring a friend....and stay with her, in her home, for a week....in the south of France.

It was to be a drawing out of a hat...a chance....I sent in my name.  I've never won anything....I didn't imagine it happening....that was too far beyond my reality.......

In browsing Facebook I noticed she had posted her blog....of course I read it...there it was...she wrote...."and the winners are....."

MOI  !!!

Unbelievable!!   I will fly to France and stay with my faery godmother who birthed a dream.   A door has closed but a new door has opened and it is painted French blue! 

How does it happen?  Sometimes I wish so hard for something to happen.  I do what is needed....and it doesn't happen.  And sometimes a dream is manifested in a moment.  How is that so???....what is the secret?

There is a portal through which my wish traveled and touched another's hand.......OMG.....I keep pinching myself and re-reading her blog...and there I am....I am going to France!

A Little French Bird.....

" A Flight of Fancy"   Create a Wire and paper Bird on a perch.  Oh, so French!

Create a little  Song Bird as an ornament or to hang in your home to encourage your own flights of fancy.

With this method, you can create a bird of any size.  In this class you will make a small bird on a wire perch.  
The class is separated into two sessions and contains more than 100 photos of the step by step process.

Join Niada artist, Marilyn Radzat to create a whimsical  "Flight of Fancy".
2 sessions  $35.  Click here for more information:  http://aforartistic2.homestead.com/fligth-of-fancy.html

 

Two New Online Classes!!

This class is called "A Cup of Gold"   http://www.aforartistic.com/cup-of-gold.html

  This class is on creating a flying faerie...with a fool proof way to have her balance and fly perfectly!     http://www.aforartistic.com/flying-faerie.html