Inspired by Jenna

I have a lot of brothers--and I have a lot of sons--I must attract guys, I don't know....but in addition to my awesome full-blooded sister (as we have quite the mixed fam), my brother Randy went out and found me an awesome sister in law as well! Actually, my brother Jared found me another great one, too!). But this blog entry is for JENNA. She's so fun, and she reminds me to be. She's a great blogger and you can take a peek at her blog here.

She's encouraged me to blog more, and I decided, yeah, I should branch out more than just sculpting and art. I write a newsletter as well, so I feel like I'm pretty yakky as it is--but it's nice to just blog for the heck of it. Nothing important, not life-changing--just fun.

So my big news today is that I found the song I love from Enya on iTunes, and was downloading it while I wrote this. I don't know how to add music yet, so you'll have to check it out yourself at iTunes. It's called "Only Time" and it comes up number one in popularity when you do a search for Enya--so apparently I'm not the only one who loves it!And I'm going to package up my first little jointed baby doll tomorrow and send her off to her new mommy. I'm kind of sad--I'm not usually sad about my fairies. I love them too, but, I don't know--there's something about holding and cuddling with these little baby dolls. She has the most gorgeous eyes! You can see more pics here.
I will miss her!

More body parts...

The Camera--my Favorite Sculpting Tool

This is the first of the life-size baby faces I've done--this was an earlier state--she ended up way cute. But you can see here how valuable my camera picture was--I was sculpting "to the light" as Jack Johnston likes to say. This happens when you have improper lighting on your sculpt--more on one side--and it causes the face to be asymmetrical--even though to you, it LOOKS even. I was really glad for this tip from Jack--just turn and be in differently lighting every few minutes. I also take pictures because the camera will be brutally honest about symmetry. Luckily, I saved this little lady. I try to by mindful of symmetry, but not fanatical--hardly any faces are truly symmetrical. It isn't realistic! =)

Spare body parts?

It's starting to look funny around the art room, as I've been trying various body sizes. Sometimes I make legs to go with a certain head, but by the time I put them together--the sizes are off. So these parts will become future dolls. I've gone through the learning process enough, and I'm learning to make babies for the sheer enjoyment, so I'm handling these little "set-backs" well--with just a chuckle. =)

Below are some legs and some flesh eyes for a sleepy baby. They still need the shape of eyeballs, even with the eyes closed. The pan is part of a roaster I do all my baking in (usually on a bed of fluff). I like it because it has a lid, to keep all of the fumes and chemicals off my oven. One day, I will have a convection oven dedicated solely to my sculpting, and not worry about it. =)

And let's not forget the fairies. This is my latest: Athena.

And little Emily, a poseable baby doll

I love here chubby little legs. She's only about 4 inches long--very tiny.

Meet little Ella

Ella is the third of my Newborn Faes:

I love how her wings turned out!

and of course, her little toes and bottom:

Baby Riley

My first posable boy:

Here's little Anya, all finished

My new baby logo

In addition to fairies and fantasy creatures, I've been drawn to sculpting little life-like babies--and have even made a few posable baby dolls. Here's my new logo for the babies--isn't that face the cutest?

Another baby in the works...

She's at a very rough stage right now, but she has a darling face (can't tell so well from this picture). I thought I'd try a baby laying on its back.

Toddler Fae is finished!

I love how she turned out. The wings are made of Fimo Gel and Transparency Film. Her little necklace is a star-shaped hematite bead. Pretty cool, eh?

And lastly, how I store my WIPS

Okay, it's an old hanger (I grabbed whatever I had on hand at the time). The plastic is the liner of a metal can I got at Wal-mart--for under a dollar. It's perfect--light, so I can hang it right with my dolls. If I'm going to leave them for longer than a day or two, I put Glad wrap over them as well (plastic wrap), because dust can still find its way up there.

You've got to see the desk!

See, I stick the WIPS on the very top shelf, so they don't get in an accident and get squished. I've finally got lots of working space--which is good, because I use it all. Love the OTT lite that is making a glare at the moment.

Lady Fae 2

That's a different face, isn't it? I keep playing around with different styles. I think Elise is still my favorite. I think I'll tone down this one's lips--they are looking a bit over the top in this picture. Hey, that's my cool tiger's eye bracelet in the background!

What I'm up to lately--lady fae

This is lady fae one--she's taking the back burner because I decided to do a face with more developed eyes. I finally rearranged my art room so I have space for a bunch of sculpts in the works--and believe me, I'm using it.

What I'm up to lately--toddler fae

Well, she is in serious need of some hands, but I think she'll turn out cute. Baking, paint, and hair always make the biggest difference!

Aack! Her bottom is missing!

Let's try that again with a smaller picture:

My first Baby Fae

I have done many older babies, but never a newborn. I know, I know--she's pressing it a little with those locks of hair--but it does happen from time to time. She turned out so cute--I love her. She was amazingly tricky to sculpt front and back--too much Cernit, I think--the clay was squishy. Though, now that she's sculpted, that's good for her, because, ironically, Cernit is an exceptionally strong clay when baked. Here she is:

The Self-Hug

This lady is all mine, my own creation and I think she turned out nice. Drawing is really helping my sculpting symmetry.