The Bewitching Hour is Upon Us...

This past week I finished Maltilda the Classy Witch, a collector art doll who stands just 8" tall (well, excluding her fancy hat).  What fun she was to make... and she turned out just the way I saw her in my mind... a lovely, weathered face full of wrinkles and crevices and a hook nose that only a witch could love!  Her spell book has many pages filled with all sorts of witchy delights.  If you look closely at her chin, you will see a glittering "diamond" embeded in her chin "dimple".  Look at her hat...and you will see a bat that actually moves when you touch it... all that is missing is the spooky music... Halloween is just around the corner.

If you live in the Victoria area and are attending the Sidney Fine Art show this weekend, I will be doing an art doll sculpting demo on Saturday between 5 and 7.  Drop by and you will be able to see Maltilda in person along with two other collector art dolls, Jock, the Scots Curler and Monsieur Pierre, the French waiter.  People are surprised when they actually see these little people... first at the size they are (much smaller than they imagined) and the difference in depth perception seeing them "in person".  They are pretty darn sweet if I do say so myself...GRIN

Hope to see you there,

Sharon

My Little "Guys" Make it to the "Big Time"..

I had some wonderful, exciting news the other day ... two of the roomboxes (although I call my boxes, bookshelf boxes as they are meant to sit in a bookshelf among books... rather like a surprise when you discover them...) made it into one of the premier juried art shows, the Sidney Fine Arts Show, here on Vancouver Island in mid October.

Out of over 1000 pieces that were adjudicated for the show, they took 400... 2 of which are mine.  I have never seen any miniatures/small stuff that have made it into the show before (other than one other of mine that made it in last year but it wasn't a bookshelf box) so I am over the moon!

Once the show begins, I will post more photos (the show organizers don't like it when you spoil the surprises awaiting folks who come to the show).  I have to admit that the photos don't really do the boxes justice...they are a lot smaller than they look in a photo. 

The other day a friend who had dropped by for a visit began "studying" them.  She had seen some of the preliminary photos I took along the way and said, "Boy, you are right. You just don't notice all of the tiny details in a photo (the devil is in the details and it is the details that absolutely make the pieces come to life) and photos just can't show the size and depth of the 3D effect!".  I totally agree. However, I think you can certainly get an overall impression of them nonetheless.  That being said, here are a couple of photos to give you a sense of what I sculpted and created...and yes, it was a lot of work, took a lot of time but was so much fun watching it all come to life...

This first photo is Dr. McPherson, the English Professor who is a visiting Oxford Don... he has traveled the world and now loves to just sit around and share his vast knowledge of literature and the world with his students... in the bookshelf box, he is surrounded by over 60 miniature books and of course his suitcase and satchel...

You recognize this guy below, don't you?  Who could miss him with his wild hair?  I am an Einstein fan... if you ever want an Einstein quote, let me know, I have hundreds of them. This bookbox was made to commemorate the Centennial of the publication of Einstein's theory on relativity (1915-2015).  The bookbox is an artfully rendered version of Einsteins office at Princeton.  Einstein had a delightful sense of humour and some of his quotes are quite insightful... especially the one about the constant state of mess on his desk:  "If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what then is an empty desk a sign?"  Yes, indeed!  I will leave my desk in a mess from here on in...GRIN

The Sidney Fine Arts show runs from Oct. 16-18 at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney, B.C. (Elizabeth May country...*) so if you are in the area, drop by to take a look at some wonderful art from Vancouver Island artisans.

Stay tuned... photos will be forthcoming...

Cheers,
Sharon

* P.S.  Who is Elizabeth May you ask?  Well she is one effervescent, fiery, and very smart female politician who is the leader of her party (the Greens) currently running for office in her district, Sidney/Gulf Islands, in our on-going, long drawn out, (and for me) totally boring Canadian election.  She lives in Sidney and is one cool lady!!