Happy Solstice

May you find Joy and Peace in each day and share it with all you meet.

{Some years ago I started taking watercolor lessons.  I hope you enjoy this latest effort. Size: 12 x 16 inches}

Christmas Village Close-up: the center of town

Houses, shops, the Town Hall, a church and Nativity make up the center of the town.  I always like to include a river and bridge.

Christmas Village Close-up: School House

This is my favorite part if the village scene.  Usually the Schoolhouse is blue, but I wanted to try painting it in brick.  Making a snowman is one of my favorite childhood memories of winter.  Enjoy!

Christmas Village scene

Occasionally I get to design an entire Christmas village with my miniature houses. Enjoy!

Ballerina: Estelle in progress, part 3 - Complete

To finish off her costume I added an iridescent silk bow and a little bling. She's ready to dance!

Ballerina: Estelle in progress, part 2

 The foundation for the ballet costume is the leotard.  I use bias cut silk satin ribbon stretched over the torso and cut to size and shape.  This is glued to the porcelain with a very thin line of Tacky glue at the edges of the fabric.

To form the under skirt two layers of silk tulle were gathered at the top edge, pinned into soft pleats and steamed to hold their form.  ( I covered a 1/2 inch dowel rod with cotton batting and fabric to make a "shaping pole" )

Ballerina: Estelle in progress, part 1

Estelle's body is porcelain. I sculpt the torso separately from the legs.  After the legs and hips are sculpted they are cut apart for ease in firing the porcelain.

To attach the porcelain parts I first insert a heavy wire armature and glue it in place with epoxy.  This is covered by Milliput, a fine epoxy based sculpting compound available from Mirco-Mark.

The first steps in costuming a ballerina are the silk shoes and the basic wig.  A bun and trimmings will be added to the wig when the costume is complete.
Note her hands are protected by cotton batting.

Witch: Crystal

 Crystal holds a baby pet dragon in one hand and her wand in the other.  The mother pet dragon is at her feet. (The dragons are cast in resin.)

I used salt dyed, striped and sheer silk to create her costume.  The tips of her sleeves and skirt petals are weighted with garnet beads.

Good Sam Show

I'll be at the Good Sam Show in San Jose, CA, October 15 and 16.  This sleeping wolf is one of the new animals I'll have at the show.  I hope to see you there.

Denver Miniature Show: Part 3

 Nicole Marble of Williamson Walton Marble brought some very fine furniture, including caned chairs and a beautiful hanging cradle dressed by Judee Williamson. Their next show will be the Good Sam Show in San Jose, CA, Oct. 15 and 16.

 This amazing miniature stained glass is by Barbara Sabia .

Denver Miniature Show: Part 2

Todd Krueger of TK Designs brought a fascinating selection of fantasy creatures and medieval figures. I particularly liked this green fellow and his lovely companion.

Todd's next show will be the Good Sam Show in San Jose, CA, Oct. 15 and 16.

Denver Miniature Show: Part 1

Last weekend I participated in the Denver Miniature Show, organized by the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys . It was one of the  best run miniature shows I've ever attended as a dealer.  And the people that attended the show were a very friendly and enthusiastic bunch.

There was a good mix of merchandise.  In the next few posts I'll show you some of the lovely things other dealers offered for sale.



This is Edward J.Chol with some of his wonderful  oil paintings.  They are painted after the old masters.  I particularly liked his Vermeers.  The Girl with the Pearl was my favorite.

Witch with Hedgehog: Completed

Here she is dressed and ready to cast a spell.  The Hedgehog was made by felting a little bit of wool fiber, stitching wool through the body and cutting the ends to make the spines.  The feet are embroidery thread.

Witch with Hedgehog: Bad hair day

To complete the wig I made about 20 curls and glued them to the head with Tacky glue.  When the glue was completely dry I styled the wig.  These  two photos show the part being constructed.  The second image is from my book, Coiffures, on wig making and historic hair styles.

Witch with Hedgehog: Draping

I'm having fun making another Witch.   This one will hold a hedgehog.  I used a manikin  to drape the outer skirt layers (top photo). The fabric was pinned in place and sprayed with fabric relaxer, ( rubbing alcohol works also but may make the dyes run or you can steam the fabric).  Once dry and set the fabric is stitched to the doll (bottom photo). The manikin carved from balsa wood and covered with fabric was designed and made by Judee Williamson and Nicole Marble.

Pillow Pet: Beagle

This tiny ceramic Beagle is a pillow pet. Nell Corkin occasionally includes one in her 1:144 scale houses.
To make one I start with a small plaster batt as a platform.  Using a paintbrush I build up the pillow and the animal on top one drop of ceramic slip at a time.  After the bisque fire the figure is painted with under-glaze colors and then glazed.  The fine details are added with china paints.

Witch - Young Witch trying out her powers

This young witch has gone out into the forest to practice turning a mouse into something. The screech owl and the bat are waiting to see what happens.  So is the mouse!
The tree is wire covered with Sculpy and painted with acrylics.  The leaves are real dried leaves from my Chinese Elm bonsai tree. I painted a thin wash of green over the leaves to give them some life.

Puss in Boots

Puss in Boots, the trickster,  with his sack full of rabbits is distracted by a butterfly. Some things are just too much fun not to do. I enjoyed making his bit of landscape as well.  He lives in a little dome on my desk. My inspiration was an order for a dancing cat.  Once I'd figured out how to do that my love of fairy and folk tails took over. Enjoy!

The Flying Cat

Every once in a while someone orders something I never thought to make.  This flying cat is one of those orders.  It took me a little while to figure out how to do it.  When it was done I just couldn't resist setting it up in a scene to see how it would look before shipping it out.  Enjoy!

Ballerina: Princess Aurora in-progress, part 4

Aurora's costume and wig are finished and trimmed in beads and painted metal leaves.  I use acrylic interference paints to create the iridescent finish on the leaves.  Aleene's Jewel-It Embellishing Glue seems to work best for attaching the jewels.

Ballerina: Princess Aurora in-progress, part 3

I used antique black silk lace to cover the cream silk of Aurora's tutu. Usually I sew my doll's clothes but I have had to use Tacky glue to construct this costume.  The pins ( very fine insect pins are being used here) hold the skirt in place while that section of glue dries. I will stitch the back seam of the skirt when the pins are removed.

Ballerina: Princess Aurora in-progress, part 2

Aurora stands in an old coffee mug stuffed with foam.  It keeps her steady while I apply the tule and silk of her tutu.  Her wig is only partly made.  The bun has been formed separately and will be attached with Tacky glue after the costume is complete and before the trim is applied.
    

Ballerina: Princess Aurora in-progress, part 1

Princess Aurora is a solid porcelain figure made in several parts attached to a wire armature.  The white areas at the attachment joints are sculpted over the wire armature using Milliput superfine white two part epoxy putty (available from Micro-Mark). Her hands are wrapped in wool batting to protect the delicate fingers.  The toe shoes are silk and she is being wigged with mohair fiber.

Santa and Friends

This is a group of my miniature (1/12 scale) figures. My dolls are often dressed in peasant costumes. My animals are naturalistic in style.