The Pixie and the Bee

Sorrel the Pixie always loves moving the acorns the squirrels bury every autumn!

 Autumn has begun to command a presence in southern NH. Apple picking is phenomenal right now (thank goodness I never tire of apple crisp!) and the sugar maples are just starting to turn red in the wetlands - a harbinger of the changing foliage for all the rest of the forest. It's been slightly chillier, and I started thinking about a faery to represent Halloween for The Silver Branch. Last year was Ti'ree and her Venus Flytrap antics. Before that was Ebony the Witch and her frog prince in the cauldron. This year? I wanted to go steampunk but I'm not completely inspired on a story for one yet. So, I went for honey bee.

Mellifera the Queen Bee

Meet Mellifera. I feel a little egotistical having a faery so close to my own name, but when I looked up the scientific name for the Western Honeybee (the honey bee that is found throughout the USA and Europe) I discovered it was Apis mellifera. It's out of my hands! :)

This was before I painted the base black.

Mellifera's dress is almost entirely sculpted of polymer clay (need I say - no molds were used on her or her dress or staff or crown? That should be a given by now). I added a bit of gold tulle underneath her honeycomb underskirt and a little antique black lace to the sides of her dress to give her a little more bustle action.

My other creation, almost done on the same day, was Sorrel the Pixie. I came across his facial style while I was making Goblin King Pocket watches (yes, they tell horrible time, but no one seems to mind). The one thing I love about sculpting goblin faces is that there are no rules. You can play and color outside the lines, so it gives me lots of leeway to try out new faces and techniques with my old tools. You might notice which goblin inspired my little Sorrel. I'm probably going to make a whole line on Pixies now. They're too cute to sculpt just one.

One of my Goblin King Pocket Watches - the one that inspired me to try one of the faces on Sorrel.

Sorrel in the garden.

Sorrel in the forest

The Masquerade Faery

Brand new as of 10 minutes ago! Meet my newest one of a kind creation. And like all my creations, the name usually doesn't happen for at least 24 to 48 hours after I'm done with the sculpture. Until that time, let's just call her the Masquerade Faery. She's all set for any goblin king hosted ball!

Like most of my faeries and mermaids, she was created around an idea from a found object. In this case, a clearance priced bunch of feathers from the craft store. I flipped them upside down and immediately thought up this dress! Despite the grand garb, I took special pains to sculpt her figure. I timed myself. With the distraction of occasional snacking, she took 9 and a half hours to sculpt. That was just her figure. It took me about 7 hours to get her costume, hair, coloring, mask and wings done today. That was record timing for me.

I'm hoping to figure out a way to put her up on etsy, but like all my faeries, I'm terrified of shipping her.She's pretty strong, but the thought of her tumbling about in a box across country or the ocean, no matter how tightly packed, scares the jitterbugs outta me! I wonder how other art doll creators do it....