A Little Stained........

Something I'm working on.........

A Bird In The Hand

....and a "Sorrydoll" in greys and mauves. I'm enjoying playing with the tension created by the dichotomy between the rather jaunty outfits these dolls are wearing and the very sombre expressions on their faces.

A New Little Cutie

Just finished this new little doll. A small (14") "Sorrydoll". Cloth over clay head, painted cloth body and limbs and silk clothes. The painting is all done with artist's acrylics. The hat is painted, stiffened felt formed into a cone. Tiny fingers (managed to wire them so they can be posed)

Awww! They like each other!

"What's that I hear?"

Back to work in 2014

As summer reaches its height and starts to wind down, visitors have left and it is time to get back into the studio. I'm working on a few more small sculptures in the "Sorrowful Songs" series  as well as a painting which is comprised of twenty small canvases which all fit together.........since I'm stretching the Belgian linen canvas myself, that's an awful lot of stretching! I had to work out a way of stretching the canvases so there is none of the usual bulk where the corners are folded, because I want them to all fit together neatly and snugly......so far , so good. 

Here's what's happening in my studio this week.......

And of course, Mr Button, the studio cat sleeps through it all.......or should I say IN it all!

Summer Days.........

It's the height of summer here - gloriously sunny days and the garden producing copiously. I've just had an intensive week of string music playing at our annual summer string camp by the sea at Ulverstone...........a very busy week - takes a few days to recover properly! But what a blast! I found I'd been placed in the "top" orchestra, which I was a bit apprehensive about, but luckily, I found most of the music quite manageable..........I think they eased back a little on the difficulty compared to last year. Learned heaps.
I did manage to get a bit of my own work done while I was there: I finished this small doll, complete with a little horn (appropriately) 

I also got this new head sculpted - it now needs drying off so that I can do the refining work, before I make a few decisions about how to complete it.

And finally, I made a Sukeshi doll for my violin teacher - it's her birthday tomorrow. Happy birthday, Margaret!

So, it's into the studio for me tomorrow and nose back to the grindstone!

Blue and Bronze

Step-by-step pictures of my latest doll - a Sorrydoll in blue and bronze - a colour combination I particularly like.
I decided to make a few more of these dolls, since there was quite a lot of interest in the ones I made for the "Images" exhibition last month - which were all sold during the exhibition. This is the first, or number six in the series.

Little Alabama baby