Mr. Moonlight Puttin' on the Ritz

Well, he's finished! Just need to do a few minor tweaks, but he's basically done. I put a lot of work and thought into this fellow, but I am not as happy with him as I was with the little Halloween Clown. I think I should have photographed him against a white background.

Mr. Moonlight is dressed up for a night on the town. He's wearing a ruffled pearescent orange dress shirt under his tux jacket. If you gaze at the moon, you will notice craters here and there on the surface. Please, no remarks about his complexion ;-)!

I wanted his trousers to resemble the ones worn by Johnny D in Alice in Wonderland-short and wide legged. His top hat is also a little reminescent of the Madd Hatter's. His skinny legs are painted a deep blue, and his slippers are black. Almost can't tell the difference. He wears a cumberbund, and his jacket has tails.

I designed his neck so that it would turn. So, you can turn his head to face right, left or straight ahead, like the photo above. The other side of his face is the dark side of the moon, and he's asleep. Well, his eye is closed, so I guess he's asleep, maybe he's just winking?

His base is decorated with orange stars to complement his shirt, and the area where he is standing looks a little like a full moon.

He is made from paper mache clay, and paper strips and paste. His shirt and jacket are made from paper that was cut to the shape, glued on and painted. His lower legs have dowels in them, for strength. He is mounted on his base with very small dowels glued into holes in the bottom of his feet. Also, the bottom of his feet are glued directly to the surface of the base.

Did you think that was all? I put a little extra into Mr. Moonlight. When he goes out on the town he likes to dance to his favorite tune, "Puttin' On The Ritz". The old-fashioned music box movement that I built into the base sounds so cool! All you have to do is wind the little key on the back to hear it (no, he won't really dance, some things you just have to imagine):

Well, there he is, Oh, I almost forgot to mention his cane. It's just there for effect, as he is quite stable.
What do you think?

See you later,
Maggie

Hallowe'en Clown

I hope you are having a beautiful Easter Sunday. It rained here, not too good for Easter egg hunts.

I finished a little piece that I started last year. Originally, he was going to be riding on a fish that was twice his size, holding a fishing pole in the outstretched hand. I made his body and head last year before I started my affair with paper mache clay. He was constructed from cloth, stuffing, paper clay, acrylic paints and sealer. After painting his face, I decided that he would be much cuter as a little Hallowe'en clown.

I wanted polka dots, but didn't have the exact colors that I wanted, so I painted the dots onto solid white and solid orange fabric. Then I stained the fabric with very thin brown paint here and there, Do you like his mis-matched buttons?

He is holding a ghost on a stick. Did you ever make these as a kid? I remember making them out of kleenex, but this one is made from coffee filter paper, then painted and stained. His Jack-o-Lantern is made from my favorite medium, paper mache.

The lighting may be better in this one. This little fellow decided to mix his clown suit with his big brother's bat wings. I kind of like his costume, don't you? And, we need to see his wings better, so here's a view of him from behind. They are very thin wood, painted black, sanded and stained. I drilled four holes into them, and just threaded the string through the holes.

I'm glad that I finally decided to finish him. I really love his cute expression, and his "barely there hair". He looks so much cuter in person. I'm still thinking that I need a better camera.

I'm still working on "Mr. Moonlight". Today was kind of a drying day for parts of him, so that's why I decided to finish this guy.

I hope you like him. I need to give him a name, any suggestions?

See you later,

Maggie

Artist Spotlight on BWBA!!!

Wow, Laura from Cobblestone Creations just sent me an email to tell me I'm in the Spotlight!! I new it was going to happen, but I didn't think it would be today! She did such a neat job putting the page together, I am thrilled. Please go check it out!

http://becausewebelieve-art.blogspot.com/

This is such a neat group of really great holiday artists. I joined it on eBay groups, you should come join, too. They do a spotlight each week, I think.

Later,
Maggie

Another Day, Another Santa

As you probably have guessed by now, I love making Santas. So much so, that I think I might have to start selling them on eBay or Etsy, to make room for more. Do you think it's too early in the year to sell Santas? Or Halloween art?

I created this friendly Santa six weeks ago, but wasn't happy with the greeting that he was holding in his hands, the letters were too small. So, I reworked it. He is holding a rayon cord with letters and gold metallic beads. I think he's going to hang it up somewhere. Maybe on his door, or in the reindeer stables?

He's made from paper mache, with a small amount of paper clay on his face and beard to make it smoother. Painted in acrylic paints, antiqued and then sealed with polyacrylic.

Thank you for dropping by, hope to see you again.

Maggie

Cat on a Pumpkin, Pumpkin on a Cat

It's raining, it's pouring... again! I wish the sun would come back.

It's been a while since I blogged about my art, I guess I've just been having too much fun with paper mache. I thought you might enjoy seeing some of my newest creations.
 
 

 
I mixed two of my favorite mediums for these. They are a combination of paper mache, and stuffed fabric. Both dolls are somewhat poseable as you can see from their photos.

My Pumpkin head doll has a paper mache head that has been painted and sealed. Her body, arms, and legs are stuffed orange cotton fabric. I selected the fabrics for her dress from my quilting fabric stash, and she selected the halloween rick-rack for her bow.

She is riding on the back of her black cat. He is made entirely of paper mache, painted in acrylic and sealed. He has a scrap of fabric tied in a bow around his neck, with a rusty bell hanging from it.

Black Kitty also has a paper mache head. Her body, arms, and upper legs are stuffed cotton fabric. She has paper mache for her front paws and lower legs. She wears an orange and black polka dot shabby dress, with a full black net slip under. A lovely orange satin bow at her neck and another in the back completes her party outfit.

She is sitting on the biggest pumpkin she could find in the pumpkin patch. Oh, I almost forgot to mention her dress has a slit in the back for her tail.

These are currently available in my Etsy shop.

I plan to blog about one of my Santas on Sunday. Hope to see you then.

Later,
Maggie

HALLOWEEN JACK-O-LANTERN PUMPKIN STACK

I think if I pause making Santas for a while, it might start to get warmer outside... Just a theory, it hasn't been tested yet.

I thought you might be interested in looking at my first paper mache clay project. I wanted to make something fairly simple, since I hadn't used this medium before. I made this little guy last September. He stands all of 5" tall, and is approximately 3-1/2" wide at the base.

He is a sweet Jack-O-Lantern, made in the style of a snowman. He sports a scarf of corn husk, real twigs for arms, and sits in a bed of lichens and moss with a tiny pinecone.

I enjoyed making him so much, that I switched from cloth based OOAK art dolls to paper mache.

If you are interested in owning him, or any of the items on my blog, he can be purchased directly from me.

Thank you for stopping by, and your comments are always appreciated.

Have a great day,
Maggie