So Tiny, But So POWERFUL! (OR) " Judge Me By My Size, Do You?"

This morning I finished painting the trio of tiny wizards that I've been working on for a few days. If I may say so, they're pretty funking cute! Here are some close-ups!

Hermione!

Won-won!

HARRY POTTER!

OMG! PETS on BUTTS!

I was bothered by the wasted space on their backsides. What's the point of a piece of 3-D art if it's only cool on one side. Then it hit me: pets. Better still, pets... on butts.

Each of these little guys stands 1 and 1/2 inches tall, and is totally cool in every way. I hope I'm not over-hyping them. :)

As for the pegs, I get mine from an ETSY shop run by a super friendly, prompt and courteous girl named Amy. Here's the link to her shop, My Friend Amy, where she sells pegs, twine and many other neat things. Just this week I picked up a really cool needle keeper (to keep my needles), a set of the slightly more substantial 2" pegs, as well as a handful of the 5" pegs, which I'm REALLY looking forward to painting!

The Cuteness!

In the days AFTER my much talked about recent show (talked about by ME, of course), I finished up an order of custom order of Russian (or) Matryoshka (or) nesting dolls. This is the second set I've done, and I'm going to open them up for online commission soon. People seem to think that they are adorable, and I can attest that at least this particular FAMILY that these were modeled after, is, in fact, adorable. Let me know what you think!

Ubiquitous artsy shot below!

The parents here, Matt and Maria, asked me to paint the two of them, their daughter Zoe, their two cats, Pong and QQ, and a fictional pet monkey, as little Zoe loves monkeys so very much. The set was a gift to Zo for her fifth birthday.

Here's a proper shot for scale. The biggest one is about seven inches, and the little guy is about three-quarters of an inch, all are wood, which I stain to varying degrees to attain a natural looking skin tone.

I asked Zoe, after she had been carrying them around protectively for a few hours, which one she liked best, and she said 'All of them. But could you paint Pong (the black cat) over again, to look less evil?' Hilarious.

The act and the aftermath

Oh, the indescribable feeling of loss, tension and relief that comes and goes and comes again the night of a show. The turn-out was great, and thank you all, deeply, for coming. I'm happy to say I sold three pieces saturday night. Foxy, Hoop the Moon and Bibliodile all left the store with smiling new owners, destined for a reverent spot on a beautiful wall in some caring home. *Sigh* Oh, the joy of sending one's young out into the world! Here are a few shots of the madness, courtesy of Heather, co-owner and proprietor of Green Genes, where the event was graciously hosted.

Here are some close-up shots of the work that I was holding back for the big party. First is 'Oh, Switch Off!', featuring the preeminent droids of the Holy Trilogy, and of that other kids' trilogy that we all paid to watch more than once. Measures about 9" in diameter.

This little guy is 'Stormy Day,' and is self evident. About 7" wide.

My new favorite, and my second Harry Potter inspired piece, 'Owl Post,' showcasing the faithful mail servants of the Rowling-verse. These guys gave me calluses! Look at the feather-work! That all happened the day of the show! ... Sorry, didn't mean to shout. Aren't they funny?

I may have typed too soon, calling 'Owl Post' my new favorite. The owls may be tied with this guy, and his sad but TRUE story, 'Forbidden Love.' Because, dammit, ROBOTS CAN'T EAT CUPCAKES! Thus, begging the question, is life without cupcakes a life worth living?! 8"

Ah, LOVE. If there was a theme to the show, I think it's be this. This one is called 'Blind Love.' After much tinkering, I figured the story best told here is a love based on something beyond looks. They're a couple of cutie-pies, eh?

So, that's that, and it was super fun. All of the pieces featured here are still for sale, except for the moon, so give me a shout if your curious. Other pieces featured in the show can be seen below, including Foxy, Princess Sparkle, Love Birds, Dentalsaurus Rex and School of Stitchcraft.

Come one! Come all! At least one!

Howdy, friends and neighbors! That magical time has come again. It's the time in which I'm at my most productive, and most insane, and the time in which sleep is seen as a treat oft neglected, and taken mostly by accident, at the most inopportune of times! That's right, kids, it's SHOWTIME!
Saturday, April 10, in the year of the kitty, I'll be showing off (and hopefully selling a few) of my latest nerdlepoint pieces. I've titled the show EMBROID-USTRATIONS of a WILD IMAGINATION.


There is some degree of parallel here to my on-going collection of paintings, titled Heroes and Villains of a devoted Youth. I just love titling things, and I love the H&V title, but it didn't apply well to the subjects in my more recent work, as I never admired a Unicorn or a little fox. That is to say, I never saw them as 'heroic.' I suppose I do admire them, though.

At the risk of blogger redundancy, Here are larger, unaltered versions of the photos I used on the postcard above. There has been some confusion regarding shape of these pictures. All of the pieces for the show are in their original hoops, and their circular shapes are prettily preserved.


Any title ideas for the Unicorn piece should be transmitted in my direction. It's the only one I'm drawing a blank on! And I LOVE titling things. Amanda said, once, that one particular title was giving the artwork a run for its money.

While I haven't got it QUITE right yet, this one will be close to School of Stitchcraft and Stitchery. Now that I type it, though, it seems repetitive. Sewery? Sounds too much like 'sewer.' That will need some more thought.



Love Birds seems apt, obvious and fitting.

This one is almost right, titled DentalSaurus or something to that regard. I don't want it to reflect in any way, the idea of dental sores... and that's my only hang-up with it, currently. Finalizing the titles is on the top of my list of things to do today.

I think it was my pal Mary who pointed out the beauty and rarity of round wall hangings. So many right angles! These are rectilinear because that's the shape of my camera. Ooh... now I wonder if there is a camera out there that takes circular pictures. That... would be amazing.

Funny pictures and things with depth.

Firstly, primarily and foremost, this is our long un-blogged 'save the date.' We sent them out ages ago, and we've now been married for months, but I had completely forgotten about this picture. While stuffing and addressing envelopes with Martha and Mary, I snapped this photo, after inadvertently dropping a stack of cards on top of a David Sedaris book, completing our faces in an inadvertently hilarious way. Hoo-boy! Now, on with the arts and crafts!

My latest hoop is covering one of my most well-worn subjects, Mr. Harry J Potter (who is awesome) and his little pal Hedwig (who rules... oh, HOO-rules!), standing before the castle Hogwarts (jealous). So cute!

Here's a closer look. With this piece, I ventured away form the regular, even stitch. I used the thread to add feathery details on the wings, and used a thicker, orange embroidery floss to sew in the owl's feet. Also, if you can see, the border stitches are both longer and tied closer to one another.

Next was the latest puppet for The Felt Show. This one isn't a made up character like most of the others, but made in the likeness of Paul Santos, my good friend, and the founder/leader of the troop. Hey Paul!

Prooofiiiile!

And finally, a little more Potter goodness! I received my order of wooden pegs in the mail today (exciting stuff, no?), and hustled over to my desk, threw desk-things on the floor, and busted out the acrylics. I think my plan is going to work... I feel like some geeky peg people might sell kind of well!

Just in case you were wondering, that's supposed to be the Marauder's Map in his right hand. So cute!

One for my Homey

My buddy Amber is going through some trying times, recovering from what has been a pretty serious illness. Needless to say, she's racked up some pretty heavy bills. It's fundraiser time, people! Here's the flyer I made for Amber's upcoming event. If you have a big huge heart and at least a medium sized wallet, check out the flyer and contact Cami to do your part!

Stitches and potential threads

The potential threads first. This is the piece I entered in the cafe press LOST contest. I love LOST, and have long intended to make the doodles in my sketchbooks into finished pieces. This opportunity came to me through my lovely friend Amber. I know the odds are against me, but I couldn't resist staying up super late and turning in an entree to nab two tickets and four nights in beautiful Hawaii! Link to my tee shirt here, and a higher res glance if my piece below!


Next up, a valentine for my sweet, darling wifey. Finished on the day itself, mere hours before she came home from a hard day at the flower shop!


Here are the latest 'public' felties, my projects from the last few weeks! First, the LaCollegiate! I think there's a pun in there...



This one remains temporarily without title. Foxy? Red Scare? I don't know.



And finally, the newest and most elaborate so far. Also stuck on a title. Drink Break? Unihorn? Again, stumped!