who IS this guy?

I have no idea where I am going with this, but apparently he was dying to get out as it only took about an hour and 45 minutes to get him done this far. I found a fantastic picture of an old man tonight with the coolest hang-dog eyelids and I had to sculpt them straight away. Right on down to his jowls and flat wrinkled cheeks. I gave him the big bulbous nose as our ears and noses never stop growing and he is old! ( He's very top heavy with that schnaz!!) Maybe he is supposed to be with Madeline....maybe he is supposed to be a worried wizard...not really sure yet, I guess we will see where he goes. (you'd be worried too if your creator didn't know who you were also)

                                                                     I need a name!!

Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo- (read with humor in your heart!!)

I've been on a semi-long search (okay short searches with long periods of time in between) to find out the difference between many of our cherished woodland creatures. I was not one that read a whole lot of fairy tales when I was young and I did not grow up in an area where they are flooded with them, like Russia or Ireland or even Scotland. So I had to rely on Google for most of my information, much like as with anything else.

Some of the critters I speak of are listed and basically given a definition below.

Fairies. Awww...we all like a fairy now and then, right?? Beautiful small human looking creatures that can fly about with holey or tattered wings ( and they don't even whistle!) and some even have time to stop in for a mani-pedi or a cool tattoo these days. :) Good to know that the fairies are raking in the cash to be able to afford such a thing. Must be all the sales of their magic fairy dust. Uh-huh...dust. Right. Don't get me wrong..I am just being silly. I love all of these fairies as much as the next fantasy sculptor but I think its a little funny how far we will take these little beings from the lore in which they were born. (Or were they born in lore?? I actually do not think so!) Ohh and important thing to remember here...not all fairies are nice. Keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times.

Pixies. I think all the people in the world like me with a slightly sadistic humorous side have a little thing for pixies too. From what I have read, they are fairies with a puck-like demeanor and they are the woods version of that one co-worker that loves to leave whoopee cushions behind on your chair when you leave your cubicle. BUT...they don't always look like fairies...not the human like facial features...sometimes they tend to look like little green aliens with the huge eyes and sideways football shaped heads. I think someone needs to tell them to pull their socks up too.

Brownies. Now Brownies are the helpers of the world. Much like that of a fairy or a pixie...but don't you dare leave a piece of cake out in offering to them. They will spit on it in disgust and leave, never to look back. They will help as long as it's not spoken of. Maybe they are the nice "black-sheep" of the fairy family and don't like it when people finally come to like them. Not used to being treated kindly. Not sure...but don't thank them if you like what they have done for you. I'm not entirely sure if Brownies have wings or not though. Hmmm

Imps....much like the pixie...in different clothes, I guess. No one speaks of it. Must be a secret. I'll NOT be the one to reveal it here.

Elves- A slightly larger being then a fairy although not always. Sometimes they are sculpted to be about the same size and sometimes they have the name elf despite that they look like a male fairy. Then you have the enormous elf category...the Christmas Elf. Some can be as big as four feet high. Some are merely human children wishing they were an Elf and then we have th Ogre/Elf cross known as Will Ferrell. Seems to me that all woodland elves carry very sharp weapons. In my own opinion...they don't seem to be extremely magical unless they work for Santa or are in a Hollywood Movie. If so...why would they need the weapons in the first place?? Oh and I don't think the majority of elves have wings...just saying.

The only thing I see as a major thing all these aforementioned characters have in common is the pointed ears. There has to be some cross breeding going on there. So does that mean that we have even more designer creatures out there?? Fairves?? Elmps??Pixnies?? Think of the possibilities!! Oh MY!

In all seriousness, I think they are all wonderful creatures and I love to see the imagination that people use on their sculpts. I will even go as far as to say that I do believe in fairies and I think I have been blessed to see a few in my time in our mountains. I'm not so sure that they look like we think they do or how they have been portrayed over the years. But there is some sort of magic afoot in them thar mountains!! That's for sure. You can even feel when you are close to them. That feeling was described to me by a dear friend...and I have felt that magic. I have seen a tree in the middle of nothing but pine trees look like an old wise twisted Oak on one side...something a troll would live in for sure...and turn around to look at it from the back and suddenly not see the tree at all or even be able to pick it out from the rest. And I was not alone in this "sighting". Hopefully this summer I will get to go back to that special spot. I would love to camp quietly up there and just watch the surroundings. Especially if my best friend can go with me.

By the way. I know all about cross breeding with elves. I did it. But my boyfriend won't let me post pictures of his ears. *sigh*

Maybe my next blog post will be about pregnant mermaids....but maybe its not a good thing to get me going on that. :)....heehee!

I vow to remain original in my art.

I just started a Facebook group that allows all artist with original ideas and artwork to join the group in the effort to stop others from copyright infringement. If this sounds like something you are interested in, please join the group!! There is a badge to it at the bottom of my blog! Please invite your artist friends as its for all artists!

Rip off art or flattery?

As the quote goes..."Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" that's until you ask an artist with any sort of talent. In the few years I have been in the sculpting world, I have seen many rip offs, knock offs and outright theft of other sculptors work.(actually JUST saw a horrible theft of a few caricature artists on Facebook too) I have seen some very original items too. Sadly it seems not very many people can come up with their own stuff...even right on down to reputable artists ripping off each other. It's pure craziness. I have an original idea or two but wow...even being a no-name for now :) I'm scared to death to put them into an actual working idea. 


And then there comes the debate on doing tutorials. Hmmm...it seems many people seem like to think if an artist puts out a tutorial on a certain sculpture/piece...that means all of their work is up for grabs and anyone can do them. This saddens me. I am one of the lucky ones that learned how to sculpt by going to free forums and watching free tutorials. I couldn't believe the amount of people that were willing to teach others...just to teach. And now look at what's happening to them. They are getting ripped off for all their efforts. It also really makes me not want to do any sort of teaching in the future. 


I suppose no matter where you end up in life, you always will have to deal with one of "them". Such is life. But what to do with these people?? And at what point do we stop if calling them out on their work? There are many people that are influenced by our Art Gods/Idols. And when sculpting...I think a time or two it comes across as copying even though you are just practicing or didn't mean for it to, it was just coincidence. I am influenced by many people...and I am sure there will be a time or two when that might show...but if it's not copying..then...it should be okay, right?? But who's to say that someone else doesn't think that I did copy and blows the whistle on me? So where to draw the line? And is it a good idea to blow the whistle on others?? I'm sure that collectors can spy it too, especially if they are hardcore collectors but everyone is free to buy what they want. And where do we draw the line on what's acceptable to copy and what isn't?? I've seen many sculptures that are Disney characters. Or comic book characters...so on and so forth. Why is that acceptable and not someone copying our art. Is it because you are doing a rendition of your own on something that's been well known for a long time...or because we can fly under the radar of major corporations?? I'm not judging...simply wondering where the thoughts are on this. I hear Disney doesn't mess around when it comes to copyright issues. I don't think I'll go there...thank you. :) Being cautious isn't a bad thing. Being original is a very good thing!!


So in the end, I will try my ideas and hope they sell well and hope I don't have to deal with any of these problems like all the big wigs in the business have to. I can see where it would make anyone jaded, for sure. 

The "bidness" of Business Plans....

Wow...my head is spinning. It's been literally years since I have had to do any kind of "homework" or researching for that matter. Many of you know and still others don't know that I am a disabled artist. I really don't want to capitalize on that term either so I'll not go into the details of why. However, I have been blessed with the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation for those disabled people that really do want to work. Me being one of them. I have been chosen as a recipient of DVR's help to start my studio business but in order to do so I have to put in my amount of work on a business plan which is fair enough. I really don't have a problem with that at all...but wow...scary thing that!! I got so many projected numbers and new definitions like business torts, leasehold agreements, legal structure.... and sales tax and percentages that I can deduct from my expenses all swimming around my head. Its enough to make anyone dizzy! Who honestly thought that a polymer clay business would need to have any kind of liability insurance especially if no one comes to your home based studio?? Really, our only real liability is whether the sculpt breaks on the way to the customer during shipping and then it should be covered by the cost of insurance thru the shipping provider!  Then the questions that beg to be asked like...do I really need a logo and a tagline?? IS that something that is really going to help my business on the internet?? Honestly I can't ever remember seeing another sculptors page have either, other then banners, really. Do I really need to carry an attorney and an accountant?? According to them...yep. I can see having an accountant do my yearly taxes but the rest I can handle on my own with payment vouchers and Quick books. Do I really need to carry an insurance policy for a home based business? Okay I can see this one too in case of fire or a catastrophe where you lose all of your tools, inventory and supplies. So I won't contest that one. Hopefully there is a renters insurance plan out there that will cover that part too.

Then there is the target marketing for the audience. How do you explain that for a new business?? That one really has me stumped. I mean there are collectors of dolls, sculpts, fantasy art etc. They are all the target market. Me thinks I am going to have to pull the ol' thesaurus out to embellish that to be a long enough definition for the business plan. LOL.

I guess in the end more then anything most of it depends on your writing and "wowing" skills. Let's hope I can wow the heck out of them!!

The Inner Demon Contest.

Well, for a long time I have wanted to get into sculpting the uglies of the bunch. I feel I am better suited for that then for the pretty fairies and such. They just don't usually fit my style unless they are more natural looking in appearance. Like they live on the forest floor. :)

Then I started getting into a bunch of stuff in my personal life and was just searching my soul for many answers to many questions I've had along the way. I think we all do this from time to time. I was struggling with quite a few things for awhile and suddenly it hit me. I needed to use my know-how to rid myself of my inner demons. I was seeing a therapist at the time who thought that was a horrible idea. I see it as it's not going to hurt anything more then talk therapy might already do. but...with not feeling well and a surgery I went through (not to mention all the pain I had to live with before the surgery)...the idea just kind of stalled.

UNTILLLLLL....ODA put up their inner demon contest of which I almost didn't make...thank goodness that they changed the enter date so I, as well as a few others could still join. AHA!! Yes, that was the answer I was looking for. I knew that it would get me going on that project and kick me into high gear with it. Sure...there are some freaking AWESOME prizes a person could win and that would be great and all....but now I am so into it, that's not what I am even thinking about. It's interesting to see what my inner demon looks like. Well, one of them anyhow out of about 2500. (Kidding) Of course I had an idea of what she looked like while I was sketching her out...but wow...she is emerging with such emotion now.  This one is my main demon. It wakes me up in the morning...or afternoon, depending on how I feel. It's what drives me...it gets me out of bed, well most days. It's the only thing that I feel actually "protects" me from becoming a victim again. So while this demon is not pretty (as some would be...like a seductress...etc)....and she is so sad and misunderstood and her aches and pains and complaints fall on deaf ears....I think I will keep her around for awhile. I might be purging some of her bad sides but I need to keep her around for her good ones until I learn how to deal with things better on my own. She is that nasty toned voice or that strong arm that occasionally emerges when someone says or does something to me that I don't feel is a correct way to handle such a situation. She is the one that makes me re-coil when I feel danger is near. She's also the one that has the nicotine habit...and the caffeine habit...and the one that collects all the precious little odds and ends for my studio that I may never use...and lets it pile high on my table and desk. LOL.

There is a kicker to all of this and I am hoping that I will be able to work it all out. There is another sculpt that goes with this one. It's a two parter. For me, its very emotional and I hope to express that to the audience. I hope to be able to invoke the same pain that I feel with all of this, yet not project it on to anyone else. I can't give anymore details then that...sorry. Otherwise I would be giving it all away. But I am sincerely grateful to Eneida and Tenderspirit for the opportunity of this contest. And for everything Tenderspirit has done for me. Thanks Ladies. :)

what FUN!

Somehow I completely screwed up my entire blog just by changing the layout. Must have accidentally hit new template, lost all the stuff I had on my background...had to go to the help forum and get help to get me back where I am now. Yeesh. Now I am missing all my gadgets as I had to delete them. I am just not so cool on all this blog stuff. Hopefully I am learning. So if you are someone that follows my blogs...you kick-ass! But if you don't see yourself on my gadgets...it's because I am still working on them. Thanks for your patience. It means the world to me.

I gotta hit the hay.

Oh, and Dee (Dawn) Schiller made my year. She also kicks ass and on top of that...she IS all that and a can of Pringles. Just sayin'.