Новогодний Зайчик для Юли!

Этот Зайчик был рожден как следствие участия в одном из "Сумасбродных Проектов" от "Теффи Эффи"

Честно скажу, это был первый опыт сделать что то такое уж маленькое как новогодняя елочная игрушка.

Я очень старалась, ведь это подарок для Юли Назаренко, талантливой художницы и просто очень хорошего человека, которая является для меня постоянным источником вдохновения.

Lucretia, The Renaissance Doll

I wanted to create something Renaissance themed for a very long time. The Italian Renaissance is one of my favorite time periods for very many reasons. I am sure I am not the only one, who admires this glorious era.






The little Lucretia is my modest tribute to the "Golden" period. Yes, "Golden" is the key word here, because Lucretia is nothing if not "golden". The golden hair and shimmery golden silks are definitely her style.

Since she was nothing but a lump of polymer clay and a pair of glittery green eyes, she completely captivated me and took full charge of herself. She is in such a hurry to be born! So here we are so far!

Polymer of choice is "Fimo Puppen" Face and hands are gently "blushed" with the mix of
 heat set and regular oils,
and delicately touched with
colored pencils and "Fibercastle" permanent markers.
As I said, she took charge…

Shoes are partially cloth and "Sculpy" polymer

Legs and feet are sculpted in "Paperclay"

Lucretia is 23 inches (almost 60 sm.) tall,
she is completely posable, because she is
 mounted on flexible plastic armature.

Right in the middle of the process, I decided to change her hair color from soft blond to golden brown, It changed her character somehow…

 

                                          Here she is, fully assembled. Such a coquette! 

                                            Now I am starting on constructing her costume …

Her hair still needs more work,
but I will leave it alone for now.

Next step: a lot of embroidery and beads! I will show it off next time :)

Summer Time: All Over The Place

Yes, it is wonderful to have more time for my passion for dolls. Summer is the best time for it! Schools are out, which means I have more opportunity to do what I truly love: make more dolls!

This makes me scattered all over the place: I have at least three on-going projects: "Lady Marie" and her "Mysterious Companion" are almost finished, I am just putting last touches on them and will dedicate the whole post to them exclusively, soon.
Here is a little sneak peek:









I am also working on my lovely mobile doll "Sunny" she is completely assembled at last, now working on her dress.

This new project is very exiting! Meet "Lucretia"! She is a "Renaissance Lady" I just started as a challenge for International Art Doll Registry show for July. Hopefully, I will finish her on time to enter!

Meet Dandelion!

My new little girl in progress, This baby I am making for "Artis as Teacher"Competition / Exhibition I  am  entering in February.

Dandelion was inspired by my childhood memories and this beautiful photo by Natalia Zakonova.

The lovely girl on this picture reminded me of my childhood friend Olga. Same green eyes and sweet lovely face.


This started me on this project.  Here is some pics "in progress"

This little girl is not so little!
In fact it is the biggest doll I've ever attempted to make 23" (60cm)

I choose "Cernit" polymer to make her.
Eyes are acrylic "Real Eyes" brand

Gentle color with heat set oils,
my favorite for polymer "blushing"

Here we are so far…

Coviello is complete! Here is the first sneak peek.

Yes, it is true! He is finally done! Here is the first teaser peek of Coviello in his full glory, complete with his beloved mandolin. I have to give credit to my wonderful husband Sergey for a wonderful photo session this afternoon.  Here is the first of many wonderful pics, and more are to follow...

Coviello is Getting Clothes!

Did I ever mention to you that I work full time teaching silly teenagers, who are full of surprises every day? By now they are getting weary of school, and do not want to do anything, it takes extra effort to inspire  and persuade them to work... Then I rush to take care of various errands, then home to cook dinner... clean...  Taking care of my own adorable three men (one husband and two sons) Sounds familiar, ladies?

So, here is my idea of rest: sewing Coviello clothes, in between cooking dinner and going to sleep, I have about two hours of my own favorite time! I need to finish Coviello by October 10th. Here he is, finally skinned and clothed!

OK, when I say "skinned" I don't mean that the skin is removed, of course, quite on contrary!

"Skin" is a layer of usual nylon sock. It does not
have to be expensive thick kind. 

I like to layer clothes,
sewing them on gradually,
 therefore they can't be removed.

The choice of color is not accidental:
he is "Valet of Hearts" 

More on Coviello:

The little guy is assembled at last! I love this stage: it is wonderful to see my idea finally coming to life and materialize into a new creature! Of course there were a few unpleasant bumps and surprises. Fot example, my lovely labrador Daisy, who is usually a good little girl, decided that I ought to pay more attention to her. So she snatched "Coviello"'s head and run away! Chewing on it too! Don't get me wrong: I love her dearly, but at that moment, when she held about five hours of my sculpting work in her sharp fangs I was ready to kill the darn dog! Fortunately she did not chew much on his face, so I was able to fix it.  So here he is!

As you can see, Coviello's head is
in one piece (no thanks to Daisy
the silly dog)

Yes, well, maybe he does not have
what you call "The Classic Beauty"
but he is not lucking in character and charm,
so I think he is still a "ladykiller"

Back to Commedia Dell Arte: Coviello, the clever servant

Conceiving an new personage is always interesting. I started it because Teffy Effy Funny Land(one of my BLOG connections) made a great proposition: she suggested that creative people get together in groups in order to make something inspired by the "Commedia" and make it in the form that corresponds with a deck of cards.

Of course, I could not miss such an opportunity because it it is just what I like! It is also great to work with others. Thanks to the Internet, the people who share the same passion can easily overcome the distance and other inconveniences of living in different parts of the world and connect.

I got a red "valet". It could be any servant from the Commedia rich tradition

So here is my personage of the Commedia: His name is Coviello, he is a servant but unlike Arlecchinno, he is smart and sassy. Coviello loves to sing and dance. His mask is long nosed and brown. Coviello almost never parts with his mandolin. He is  ready for a good joke and a lewd street song!  Coviello is very practical and sly, "street-smart".

So, my fiends allow me to introduce to you...

Dancing and playing, that how I see this joyful character

My interpretation of Coviello:

Here are rough sketches of his costume and some
 attributes of the character

I've decided on the appearance and size and
made a wire armature

 a little "meat" on the bones  added by "Sculpey"

I decided that Coviello should have a big nose.
Why not?
His mask is certainly big nosed.

Ahh... shoes and hands! Also made in "Sculpey" 'Living Doll"
and "Cernit"polymer clay

Little Miss Mouse gets Famous!

It was a wonderful surprise, when I took my happy son to a play date to his friend Travis, when, Travis' mom showed me the article from St. Louis Post Dispatch about the "Inspiration Event" at Chesterfield Arts with Ms. Mouse's full portrait! I was honored to see Ms. Mouse (and her creator) specifically mentioned here.

Apparently she looked a little scary. I can't say I anticipated that, I was hoping she would rather be pleasant and well behaved, oh, well....

Hopefully, she will still be able to find a good home. Did I mention that everything featured in the show is for sale? And  proceedings will go to support the "Kaleidoscope"program to benefit art students with special needs.
Here is more information about Chesterfield Arts. I am honored to be a member of this wonderful organization.

Anyway, it is late and I am tired with all the excitement of the day. Good night now, and may all your Artistic Dreams come true!

Little Ms.Mouse is Ready to Leave the House

Yes, it is time for little Ms. Mouse to shine! She is completely assembled, beautified, and ready for her big opening day. Tomorrow she is going to be dropped off for the "Inspiration show" at "Chesterfield Arts"gallery. I sincerely hope that she will get some admirers there, pretty as she is. She may even find a new home. Little Ms. Mouse is a part of charity auction, the proceedings will go for "Kaleidoscope" program that provides Art Exploration classes for special needs children. One of them painted the art work that inspired Ms. Mouse creation. Wish her luck!

This is the painting that started it all...

This is the same piece of cake in
my artistic interpretation

This is Little Ms. Mouse in all her full blinding beauty

Would you care for a cup of tea?

The little Ms. Mouse sure is having fun today: she is having a garden tea party, enjoying a warm and sunny evening.

Ms. Mouse is getting ready for her moment of glory, participating in the "Inspiration" exhibition next week. I still need to put a few finishing touches and arrange some things around, to let her truly shine.

In the meantime, my husband Sergey, who is also a wonderful photographer, snapped a few pictures of Ms. Mouse

Here are more images of her with the  strawberry cake

A Mouse in the House! Or Working with Polymer Clay, Part Two

So, as I've worked on the piece of cake, I was thinking: "Yes, it is nice and all, but a little bit... let's say boring?"I felt like there has to be someone very special, who is able truly and fully appreciate a piece of  cake.  So I tought about a little likable mouse. So, here are the steps of working on this sweet adorable creature:

I decided to use "Original Sculpy", I just got the stuff on sale couple of weeks ago. Before that I only used "Sculpy, The Living Doll" and was quite surprised that "Original" is more like "Model Magic", fluffy and light. These are nice qualities, but on the down side, it was much harder to smooth and blend.
Again, I used some "Carve Foam" and Gesso as the base. It really helps to save the polymer clay, which is not cheap even on sale, and make the sculpture lighter.

At this point my son told me that this doesn't look
like a mouse, it rather looks like a "donkey face".

I use "ready made" acrylic eyes that I found in one pretty neat internet store:
http://www.suntekstore.com/goods-15004666-8_pcs_half_round_hollow_acrylic_doll_dollfie_eyes_eyeballs_16mm.html

You are welcome ;)

They are cheap and look good, although may deform slightly when backed.
Then I stained the sweet little face with water based oil paints


I made hands, feet and body separately and backed them first before connected them together. In case you are wondering, there are many great tutorials on how to make  hands. My personal favorite is
http://www.renatajansen.co.uk/gallery/tutorials/hand_tutorial.asp by  Renata Jansen.
She is absolutely wonderful and has been a great inspiration.

Even before I stain  the body,
I layer a little pink 'Living Doll"
  Sculpy in the strategic places, such as
tummy, palms, nails, and feet.

At this point I start to add and bake
together the separate parts of my mouse.

Loose cotton (from cotton balls) and some loose yarn
 works very well for adding fur and fluff for the Mouse

Here is the Mouse, she seems to be very enthusiastic for the cake... All I have left to do is to combine the two together. Stay tuned.

The "Inspiration" Challenge, continued

It is a "piece of cake" to make a piece of cake! Here is the recipie:

Take two triangles of regular brown cardboard,
some "MagicModel" (natural colors)
spread and layer it around the cardboard base

And don't forget a nice ripe strawberry made of "Sculpey"
and painted with water based oils Yamm!

 Well, with this done, I feel that this work of art needs something more... It is truly lacking someone who is able fully appreciate it. Naturally, I think: "It is a Mouse in the House!"

I can't really say that I love mice very much, not when they are lurking in my garage. However, I feel that they can be quite cute sometimes. When I was 16 years old, I had a pet rat "Henry" he was pretty neat. So this timeless Work of Art I dedicate to him.