Paper Clay Easter Bunnies

I just love all the wonderful, whimsical characters associated with Easter, especially the Bunnies. So sweet! These sweeties were made with air drying paper clay. The clay covers styrofoam shapes (heads and bodies and stands) and wooden skewers (legs). Each bunnie was handpainted with metallic paints and inks. I used rhinestones for the eyes and to decorate their outfits. The purple crest was made by pushing paper clay into a mold. The backgrounds for the photos were made using a photo of a tulip from our garden. Happy Easter everyone.!

Teton Pony

At the Soroptimists' annual Crab Feed in St. Helena in 2008, we were the lucky winners of an auction item...a house in Ennis, Montana for one week for 4 couples. As it turned out, only 4 of us could make the trip: Beth & Jon and Loyal and myself. The entire adventure was spectacular! We had never been to that part of the world and found it to be extraordinary in every way. On the way home, we loved seeing Yellowstone National Park (yes, the scars from the fires are still visible) and Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. I was happy to have my digital camera along and must have taken 900+ photos along the way. The photo of the pony shown above was taken at the Tetons. Since that time I have attempted to sketch some of the subjects of those photos; and then, being so pleased with myself that the pony sketch turned out as nice as it did, I then scanned it into Photoshop CS3 and created the digital layout.

SheShes Are Here!

Oh, have I been having fun! The SheShes have arrived! I started making these little cuties a few weeks ago and now they number 20. They are made of clothespins which I painted and then dressed in colorful outfits. I used textured papers, ribbons and trims for the clothes and accessorized with glitter, rhinestones and the like. Of course, the name is a take off on ChiChis. I do hope this addiction is not an indication of early senility, since I’ve gone back to playing with dolls! HA! Aren’t they fun?

A Few Friends of Mine

Aw, gee, I know my sketching isn't the greatest... but I just have to keep trying. One has to improve with practice! I took some art classes way back when in Junior College, but never really kept up with the drawing part of it. The lovely ladies above are my first attempts in a long, long time. I decided to make them into "friends" so that I will have some company the next time I delve into that realm again. They will be my muses! LOL!

Hippity Hoppity

In the latter part of the last century, I created some Easter eggs made from natural materials and blown eggs. Recently when I got into the box where the eggs were stored, I was surprised to find they were badly deteriorated and very sad! So I decided to revamp the eggs by collaging over the outer papier mache shell and the smaller eggs inside with arty papers. Then the eggs were ready for all the glitz and glamour! Ta Da!