Liesl Completed

Here is Liesl, the new doll I have been working on - all but finished. She needs a petticoat and maybe some stockings and shoes, although I kind of like her bare feet. And a couple of recently completed Zozie dolls in little red jackets. Don't forget to add a comment to the previous posting if you want to be in the draw to win a little something made by me. I'll be conducting the draw on May 1st.

Cooler weather has arrived - I've just lit the fire in my studio for the first time - rather late this year. The fruits are pomegranates.

Easter Feasting, A New Doll, and a Celebration

Spent a beautiful Easter Sunday feasting with friends - here are a few pics of the day.

I am working on this new doll - here are some progress pictures - she is based on my "Izannah Walker" design, but I have taken a few liberties with the head by giving her a moulded hairstyle and I plan to paint her in a more detailed way.

I have noticed that my blog has achieved a few milestones just recently - I have passed 200 followers and visitors to my blog is now exceeding 10 000. So to celebrate these milestones, I going to have a giveaway. All you have to do is respond to this post by leaving a message and I will draw a winner on May 1st. Not sure what the prize will be yet, but it will be something hand-made by me.........so if you want to be in the running, just leave a message on this post.

Best Of The Tamar Market

Coinciding with the start of the Three Peaks Race, a group called "The Point Of Women Inc" held a market day to highlight the best of art, craft and produce from our beautiful Tamar Valley. Although it was a grey day, the rain stayed away and a huge crowd of people was out and about. I think the organisers were very pleased with the success of the day and they are planning to hold more markets in this great location (Clarence Point Hall) in the future.

Here are some pictures of the market and the start of the boat race. Oh, for those of you who don't know, the "Three Peaks" race is held here every Easter time, for people who think that sailing a boat AND running up and down three mountains while racing from Beauty Point to Hobart is a fun thing to do with the Easter holiday!

More........

Oh, I'm really getting into this painting lark! Here are a couple more I've completed - green apples and some poisonous looking toadstools - and two more elf babies in felted buntings.

Picking Up The Brush

For quite a while I have had a strong desire to do some paintings again........it's been a while!

Here are some small still life paintings that I have done in recent days to brush up on my skills.

These simple studies of fruit and eggs and the interplay of light and shade were great fun to do......I can really lose myself when I paint.

I'm Here!

Oh boy..........It's been over a month since I last posted here! lots of stuff happening in my life has prevented me from always doing what I want to do, but I'm back in harness now, more or less. My dear old cat (I posted about her a while back) passed away a few weeks ago. She was twenty one years old and such a sweet-natured little presence that I miss her badly. Always considerate, she saved us the looming anguish of making a decision about when to take her for the kind needle.

Here is some stuff I've been working on.....firstly the Travelling Doll Project that I have been participating in. This is Colleen's doll, which arrived with no face. I gave her a face and the small baby she is holding and sent her on her way. She looks a bit odd with no hair, but I'm assuming the next person will give her some! Secondly, here is a sculpted bust I have just finished. I called her "Guinevere". And lastly, I've been making Zozie dolls and small wrapped elf babies to sell at "The Best of the Tamar" market to be held in the Sidmouth Hall on Good Friday. This is when the Three Peaks race starts, so there should be zillions of people around. I should also have some small paintings and some sculptural pieces on display.

In A Reflective Mood

I have just received the first of the Travelling Doll Project dolls from my ADO group. The doll comes from Colleen (aka LoopyBoopy) in New Orleans - she is something of a blank canvas (the doll, not Colleen!), and I know I won't be able to resist the urge to give her a face. But I'll also be giving her something that Colleen won't be expecting.........The wonderful journal accompanying Colleen's doll put me in something of a reflective mood. Her journal was inspired by some found (in an estate sale) ephemera in the form of a baby book from the 1920's and she was moved to write about the nature of motherhood.............she's hoping that the others in the team will take that baton and run with it, I think. Well, that got me thinking about where we come from and what we pass on and how we are just a blip in a long line. I remembered that I had done these drawings of my grandparents as young people from photographs that my aunts had, that I saw when I was travelling in Europe some years ago. I thought I would share these: from the top, my English grandparents, Bertram Johnston and Gladys Barnes and my German grandparents, Heinrich Klatt and Rosa Mohr. Gladys only died a year or so ago at the age of 103.