Spring in My Garden

Spring always excites me when things pop out of the ground or as on the clematis vine above sprout from what looks like totally dead twigs.  The arbor has a six foot bench and another clematis at the other end.

 

We totally dug up and replanted my side yard bed which means all bulb type plants think it is their first year and probably won't bloom, save this one lily of the valley.

 

In the largest bed I have this trellis with what I call my star gazer clematis because it reminds me of a Star Gazer lily. Don't you just love my little elf boy statue?

 

White bleeding hearts are nestled into a corner by an arbor over the brick path in the side garden.

 

For the first time this white clematis is blooming behind our big pond. I startled some ducks taking this picture. Last year ducks laid eggs in our garden so maybe it's the same ducks and we'll see ducklings this time. I should have taken the ducks pics.  If I'm lucky they'll be back to the pond soon.

Tulips

 

It's Spring time in the garden at Skeelhaven and I thought I'd share a view of one of the beds full of tulips. 

 

These are double tulips and the blooms are comparable to peonies!

Meet Fetch

 

         Meet Fetch, my new studio assistant. At Artistic Figures in Cloth and Clay I took a two day workshop with Dawn Schiller of Odd Fae and created this whimsical piece.

 

 
         Fetch is sculpted from polymer clay and has a cloth body and limbs. Hands and feet are also polymer.

           The sculpting tool in his hands is his way of helping in the studio - handing me tools.  I still need to add a button as a brooche on his shoulder and a little button on the side of his thigh but other than that he is complete.

          This little Ghostly Goth Girl was made in a class with Michelle Lynch.  Way out of my box, though she still turned out to have a pretty face, she has gears, a clock and a working compass to make her a little steampunk. The propeller on her head spins! She is sculpted in Apoxie Sculpt.
The whole event was loads of fun but the classes were superb!

New Simple dolls

I created four new dolls to take to Artistic Figures in Cloth and Clay as samples for my Bits and Bibs demo. I'll be creating blooms to embellish, etc. The doll above has a bicolored checille yarn for her hair and wears two matching folded roses from the same fabric as her blouse.

Doll two wears a wig made by my friend Jody Miller. She also wears two bicolored cabbage roses.

Doll three has a bloom made by running severeal circles of fabric through a flame to singe and curl or melt and them. he circles are stacked and a center is added.

 

Doll four wears crinkled silk and white ribbon "carnations."

Class Discount

I've just made arrangments that if you sign up for Bits and Bobs before it begins on

Doll Street March 14th you can save $5!

See you on the Street!

Bits and Bobs

Do you ever wish you had just the right embellishment on hand in just the right color and size?  Do you ever wish you could get just one or two of some little do-dad instead of buying a pack of eight in the stores?  Join instructor Judy Skeel and learn to make an assortment of paper, fiber, ribbon and mixed media embellishments at home from your basic stash of supplies to compliment your art projects and save you some pennies in the process.

 

Any style can be incorporated, from country to Victorian, modern to Steampunk, or even Gothic.  Whatever the project there is always a way to create an embellishment to dress it up just a little bit more!

We’ll toss in some beads and sparkles, and a little clay, but most of all ingenuity. Student’s brains will be buzzing to come up with even more spectacular creations of their own in this workshop!  The projects taught in this workshop could all easily be used in a broad variety of art ventures such as paper and fabric journals, creative quilting, needlework, mixed media pieces and dollmaking, just to name a few.

 

Bits and Bobs begins March 14th at Doll Street.

This class for artists of all skill levels will teach the basics of portrait painting from an outline, as well as how to draw your own figure, so students not comfortable with free hand drawing Lady Z can simply trace her and those students that are paint brush challenged may choose to simply “color her in.”

Students will learn layering techniques on canvas board incorporating pen and ink, colored pencil, Golden Fluid Acrylics and textured papers. Embellishment fine details include Swarovski crystals in her neck wear and gold leafing on her collar as well as flowers both two and three dimensional to create her serene garden.

Even if you’ve never painted before you can do this workshop as all techniques will be described and photographed step by step. If you’ve never created a layered collage background with texture before, come and play! If you already know the joys of mixed media join us to incorporate doodles and create a dimensional garden. 

Join this workshop on line at Joggles.