Niamh and Cameron - the last faeries of 2012

"Niamh" (pronounced Neev)

For those who know me in the human realm, November and December has become a frenzied time of year. I can feel the water gaining momentum in October just after the Pumpkin Festival. I try to ignore the upcoming eddy as I enjoy the falling leaves and earthy feel of the month. Then WHOOSH! November! Show season mayhem! Over the edge of the rapids I go. This past year, I had a show every single weekend and no time to breathe, sculpt and enjoy my art as much as I set out to do in the start of this whole sculpting adventure. In late december, I reached the bottom of the falls and was a little worse for the wear with a chest inflammation due to stress and a minor injury that actually prevented me from sculpting and working in the studio. Even now, I'm still recovering - which anyone who has come to visit me at the studio only to find a note on the door will attest to. I'm taking that as a lesson to never book myself so tightly again. Sculpting and my health became secondary to the business side of the equation. What a difficult balancing game this is and it's so easy to tip the scales!

Okay - you can put the tiny violins away now. I am quite happy with how 2012 went otherwise. I moved into a new studio and opened it as a shop as well, taught some fun classes, made some awesome new creations and met some genuinely great people I would have never met if not for this magical path. In late October, I even squeaked out some new faeries and mermaids before the waterfall got me. They never got a blog shout out as far as I remember, so here they are! I can't wait to get back to sculpting again!

Niamh, like Mabon, is another wetland faery. Niamh is a bright faery of the edge of the wetlands where the trees meet the water and reeds. Her best friends are the dragonflies and damselflies that taught her how to fly when she was young. Sculptural-wise, she is in my top 3 favorite creations (Finn and Truffles of "When Pigs Fly" come in #1 in case you're wondering. That was such a tough but rewarding armature!) Niamh's armature is only held up by a thick steel wire in her left leg. Her right foot does not touch the clay oak leaf below her. I wanted to give the impression that she was running across falling leaves while flying her her dragonfly friend. I also tried something new with Niamh - her mouth is very small, so it's hard to see, but she actually has teeth!

you may have to enlarge this to see her 2 front teeth in her mouth.

The colors of the oak leaf contrast with her wings, giving her a more vibrant appearance.

"Cameron's Cake" was another faery based around a found object. In this case, a cute little cake cloche. The story goes: Cameron spied as I baked this cake. He stealthily watched as I cut a slice. He crept closer as I put the slice on the stand. But before he could take the cake, I snapped on the cloche! He tried for hours to lift the glass. Looks like poor Cameron has fallen asleep trying! The only thing not hand sculpted is the glass stand and cloche. Even the cake and doily underneath is clay.

"Cameron's Cake"

Poor Cameron has fallen asleep.

Good enough to eat. This cake is about the length of the palm of your hand.

Starfish Lullaby

For the first time, I've made a sculpture without an actual story in mind. I picked up this smooth granite stone off rocky Rye Beach in New Hampshire. I saw a starfish. I saw a mermaid. I brought the rock home to let the story create itself. Well! It worked somewhat; the sculpture came out easily enough from my imagination... but the story still remains at large.

This adorable mermaid is indeed tuckered out. She sleeps snugly under the cozy arm of a starfish. However, why is she doing this? Something tells me there's a friendship story in this little sculpture. Perhaps this is a good contest question.

I'm looking forward to another trip out to the rocky Atlantic coast so I can take pictures of the pair in their 'natural environment'. Nothing beats a natural setting. As I only completed this sculpture today, I had to make due with white paper and a light box.

Her glass bead belt and her sparkling tail are best viewed in person. You should all come to Wilton, NH to see her. :)

The starfish came first. I blended 3 colors and 2 brands of polymer clay to get the right color, shine and strength that I wanted. I used an eye dropper tip to impress all of those little bumps which are common on starfish of the NH coast.

The mermaid was just plain fun. Unlike the 'Captive Mermaid' and 'Shell Maiden' sculptures I created before her, she has wing like fins shooting from her back. Her copious blue hair shimmers with silver specks of light and it unfortunately hides her awesome shoulder fins. But, the beauty of art dolls is that you can move her hair and style her hair to reveal her lovely shoulders. :)

Is it just me or does the Captive Mermaid look... happier? o.O

Ash's Treasure - #1 from my OOAK Faery Collection

"Ash's Treasure"

#1 of The Silver Branch's "OOAK Faery Collection"

Created in January 2011
Not For Sale

Ok, I've seen far better. That self-depreciation out of the way early on, I will go on to say that while not nearly perfect, Ash is my first figure since I started claying again, and I'm rather fond of him. Sitting height: about 4 inches tall.

EVERYTHING was a learning experience! I learned a lot through Ash. First off, it should be noted that I'm not a fan of molds - so no molds here - all the clay is hand sculpted. I created him at the Riverview Mill, a place where free internet access is nothing more than a beautiful dream unless you sit in the parking lot, so I had no tutorials or images to help guide my figure forming. But aside that, the wings, the clothes, the hair - all a learning experience from scratch.

What everyone seems to like about him the most is his wings... probably the easiest part  to make in all honesty. Ah well. I have to admit, when I saw the amazing creations of my fellow artists in cyberspace, I was dazzled and enchanted by their wings too. It's one of those magics, that once you know what they are and how to make them, they significantly lose their luster. I won't jade you here - you want to know more about them? Shoot me an email. But, trust me, it's best to live with magic than without it. I will say that they are made with open flame - how can you not have fun with that? I make faery wing earrings too - check my etsy shop if you're curious.

His clothing taught me something else - ribbons are probably easier to work with instead of full swaths of fabric, and that I am easily frustrated when creating tiny clothes. How do all you art doll, barbie, miniature and figurine seamsters do it?! I loathe the idea of smearing glue all over the figure and sticking cloth to it. Ash's clothing is all painfully and clumsily hand stitched. His pants were the worst to make because of the way I positioned him. Heather from "My Sister's Closet" was a huge help and I eventually managed to create something presentable after a few hours - a few hours! Yikes! Anyone know any good doll clothing makers I could team up with? lol

Oh where, oh where is my hair?

His hair, while rather a fright in the end, was the product of impatience. I should have tried putting hair on a practice head first, but Ash was sitting finished and waiting for his hair for over 2 weeks. I just had to cover him up. I tried llama fiber on a practice head weeks before. It was a mercy that I did too because it didn't work. I needed llama wool straight from the fleece. I needed Tibetan Llama wool. It's tiny ringlets and fibers feels so real to how I imagined a tiny person's hair to feel, that it's well worth the wait for it to ship in from New Zealand. I order from Dollworld. So friendly and fast despite the distance. For some reason, that lovely country of LOTR was the only place selling TIBETAN llama wool. O.o Funny world, ain't it? Well, it's so fine that the special glue I use to attach the layers of hair to his scalp has a habit of leaking through the layers. Hence the girly headband. Now I had pipettes and precision syringes, so I'm hoping that is a flaw of the past.

But there you have it. Ash! And his treasures? That's an old bracelet I beaded for myself (to match one I made for my lovely friend Libby) and is now safely under Ash's guard. I also made for him a tiny leather pouch hanging from his belt. The pouch is adorned with a brass bell and a tiny head feather from my father's parakeet, Fleur. Inside? 4 raw garnets I mined from Wilton, NH. :)