Christmas 2010

There was something different about this Christmas. I bought decorations, had lights strung up around the house and even had a tree. The season had not meant anything to me in decades, but this year was different. Two twin boys reminded me of the excitement there was in this time of year.Christmas came and went too fast. Wish I could relive it again and again. I suppose we should stop telling the kids "Santa is watching", but if it keeps on working . . .

Happy New Year Everyone

My Adventure

The last 4 months have brought three new people into my life. My life now is about family, and all the free time is given to two wonderful boys. The same two I have been sharing in my previous blogs. I haven't given up on the dolls, but finding time to create has been difficult.

My energy has been put into developing dolls that I can one day have licensed. Georgia and Star have been transformed from Art Dolls to dolls that can be played with. I will now release them into the arms of two, 6 year old boys who have adored them from afar. They have been waiting with wide eyes watching me make their new playmates.
So I hope to make a few to sell and my hopes are even bigger for the possibilities of a future where thousands of kids will have the chance to create their own adventures with Georgia and Star.

Joy Ride

Spanish Plaza

Mobile, AlabamaIf you want to take your big wheels for a spin in the hot summer heat, head to Spanish Plaza in downtown Mobile.Yep big wheels are amphibious. Who knew?
thanks to Natalie Johnson for the use of her photos

If you would like Star and Georgia to visit some place you've been email me some pics and some info. I can't pay, but I will give you photo credit.

Playing Beneath the Giants

Wasington Square Park, Mobile, Al.In one of Mobile's oldest neighborhoods sits this wonderful square. It is an incredible place to play among some old giant trees.The limbs reach to the ground, inviting us to climb.We all had a great morning playing in one of the prettiest places on earth.

thanks to Natalie Johnson for the use of her photos

If you would like these two to visit some place you've been email me some pics and some info. I can't pay, but I will give you photo credit.

Fountains to Play in

Mobile, Al. USA
Mobile is a mix of French, Spanish, Creole, Catholic, British and African heritages, distinguishing it from all other cities in the state of Alabama. Mobile is the birthplace of Mardi Gras in the United States and has the oldest celebration, dating to the early 1700s. If you love the old Antebellum and Southern architecture, this is the city to visit. Today we met up with our two friends Caleb and Caden. We played in the fountain at Cathedral Square in downtown Mobile.
Summer is hot here, and we all found this to be a great way to cool off our front and back sides. Got to love kids . . .


thanks to Natalie Johnson for the use of her photos

If you would like these two to visit some place you've been email me some pics and some info. I can't pay, but I will give you photo credit.

Wild, Rugged West

New Mexico, USAThere is something different to the way everything looks out west. The sky is different, the terrain is different, the air is different. Never saw a sunset as beautiful as the ones in New Mexico, just outside of Santa Fe.
No, we did not climb the rock, we just sat around and watched the day go by. Very peaceful place and definitely 'The Land of Enchantment'

thanks to Natalie Johnson for the use of her photos

If you would like these two to visit some place you've been email me some pics and some info. I can't pay, but I will give you photo credit.

The Big Easy

New Orleans, Louisiana, USAHere we are in what is referred to as the most unique city in America because of its distinctive French Creole architecture and its multi-lingual culture and traditions.The French Quarter is a great place to walk around. A mixture of businesses and residences. A fascinating glimpse into another time.One thing about The Quarter, no one yells at me to 'get out of the road'.Because New Orleans sits near sea level, the graves are above ground and the cemeteries, with its mausoleums, look much like The Quarter.
They are another version of the city, except these are for the dead.

thanks to Akemi Claridge Bennett and Natalie Johnson for the use of thier photos

If you would like these two to visit some place you've been email me some pics and some info. I can't pay, but I will give you photo credit.

Stonehenge

Salisbury, Wiltshire, England

Stonhenge is a very peaceful and melancholy place. A must visit to watch a Soltice sunrise.Built in several phases between 3,000 and 1,600 BC, Stonhenge is an amazing feat of engineering that remains a mystery.I hope the mystery is never solved. I mean if it was proven that a giant alien crane, that was able to reach across hundreds of miles, moved these stones from there to here, then the fascination with Stonehenge would be replaced with one for the FREAKING GIANT ALIEN CRANE . . .

thanks to Elaine Miller for the use of her photos

If you would like these two to visit some place you've been email me some pics and some info. I can't pay, but I will give you photo credit.

World Travelers

So who are these to girls that love to travel and take on adventure?

Georgia and Star are free spirits with tomboy natures. They love to try new things. Nothing seems beyond possibility. They want to challenge themselves in every way. From eating new foods to meeting new people. They live to experience life.They respect and accept all cultures and strive to learn from experiencing the differences each holds. This is the quality that makes them great world travelers. They hope that each place they visit and each person they meet will become part of who they are, ultimately making them true citizens of the great planet earth.Where they travel is unknown even to them. Destinations just pop into their heads and then they are off, after all the World is Waiting . . . for fearless souls . . .

If you would like these two to visit some place you've been email me some pics and info. I can't pay, but I will give you photo credit.

Georgia and Star's World Tour

Malaysia

a tropical paradise of natural beauty,

exotic cultures and friendly people.Georgia and Star are on a tour of everywhere. Hopefully playing chicken in the middle of many roads across this planet and never changing clothes.

thanks to Elaine Miller for use of her photos

If you would like these two to visit some place you've been email me some pics. I can't pay, but I will give you photo credit.

Got Big Dreams

and I have talent and maybe the two meet here. Out of the past my dolls Georgia and Star have inspired me to think about a larger market. The way to get to this market is through licensing my art.My ideas started after I was clipping this doll 'Georgia' out of a photo to place on a background. Started thinking about how appealing she might be on all sorts of products aimed at little girls.

Georgia and Star share the spirit of being tomboys and so they could appeal to all girls. I would love to hear your thoughts. I am just in the beginning stages of this and I am very excited.

For Real Fridays

I do love the complicated journey. My life and my art reflect this fact. To take the easy way out means to lose much experience and knowledge. I've needed all the do overs. I needed to travel the same road many times to learn its lessons.I don't do easy art either. I started with woodcut prints. Painted to escape my death. Sewed and sculpted Art Dolls that take weeks to create. I love a process with many steps before I reach the final piece. There is a deeper connection to be attained between artist and art. I can disappear into a dreamworld and then I can express my soul. Can't imagine not having my art speak to me and teach me. I don't want to be its master. I want forever to stay its student.
Sometimes I felt I was lost in the journey, but now I know that my truth was being found. I feel like it all makes sense. I am even making sense of that trip I took in corporate Amerika . . .

'Trilogy'

my Wandering
Lost soul
hoping to be Found

Inspired by my life's crazy journey. I have wandered all through my days and ultimately I've become very lost,
but somehow I seem to be heading somewhere.'Trilogy' is a OOAK wall hanging. Made of paper mache. The piece measures 18" x 26".
http://www.etsy.com/listing/49718231/trilogy

Written on my Body

Years ago I had the word Freedom permanently inked on my body. Inspired by a Janis Joplin song. The word has been the driving force in my life. Freedom is about my constant struggle with myself. Mostly about being free of my entanglements with a false reality.


I know I am a slave to negative thinking and this is my battle . . . The master does not let go of the slave easily and this is why I rage, why I scream and why I curse.

For Real Fridays

If I am anything it is thrifty. I hardly ever buy anything new. All my furniture belonged to someone else. I use to love shopping for what was considered retro. I suppose my style would be post modern eclectic. Clean lines with minimal bedazzle (dust collects in the dazzle). I have started thinking that it would be nice to buy something brand new, so what I am dreaming about is this bed.I spied this at CSN Stores
It would be the perfect match to my style, and it would stop me from hiding things under my bed . . .

Now something for the rest of you.
A CSN Giveaway for anyone in the U.S. or Canada.
A $40 gift certificate to any of CSN's stores

The rules are: Leave a comment on this post and place my button on your blog. The contest ends July 9th and I will randomly pick the winner.
There may be shipping charges or in the case of Canadian addresses, international fees for certain products.

New Work in Progress

Not exactly sure what this will be titled, but it represents three layers of me.

I made a batik for the background and again the forms are made of paper mache pulp. The faces were all pulled from the same mold, but because they have been shaded differently they all have their own persona.

I am trying to add more color to my work and well you know how much I love orange, so this is where I start. I am making lots of bluish clay flowers to add to the piece.

Be honest, Is my work too dark?

Yellow is Brave

For the past week I have been involved with the e-course "Flying Lessons" with Kelly Rae Roberts along with many others interesting and creative people. A bit spiritual as well as technical lessons. First day or so we explored our fears. We wrote them down and we all seemed to have many or the same fears. What struck me, is that fear is based on untruths. Assumptions we make about the future. Next time fear starts to open its mouth and spill some lies, I'm gonna tell it to shut up . . . I am hoping to replace this betrayer with with an undaunted confidante. Fear is a liar
Words are whispered
To keep me from flyingIn Bravery there is truth
The words are loud
And tell me to soar

-nat

'Yellow is Brave'
paper mache, fabric, batik fabric, clay and wire on wood
11" x 19"

For Real Fridays

'For Real Fridays' is a new way for me to show all of you who I am. Some Fridays could be pretty, some could be ugly . . . Today it is all about messy.

I live in an apartment above the garage. Just myself and my dog Moo. I suppose the whole place is my studio, but I keep the messes in 4 distinct places . . . Sometimes there is a trail that runs between.

This little space is for working in clay, paper mache and some painting. I have a complete understanding of how to work in this mess. Mostly what I don't use is on the floor. But everything on the table, I need . . . until I push it off the table . . .

The trail leads to my dyes and fabric stiffener. It is not a big space, but they all get along here . . . The floors suffer the most in my world. Between the dyes and my dog's toe nails, they will have to be redone, therefore I figure I can't make it any worse. I am sure my 'landlord' will one day say something . . . but my dad has a hard time walking up stairs, so I'm not stressing about it . . . am I a bad daughter? If I had to be careful and clean, my art would suffer . . .

One large step away is the drying table, along with my ever increasing collection of plaster moulds . . . I'm gonna build a wall one day out of all the moulds.

I live in the trees, amongst the squirrels and birds. Sometimes the sunrise can be blinding since the windows face East, but most of the day I have great natural lighting and a killer view.

This is the largest of the studio spaces and actually it is not so messy. I think it is because the mess is spread out more, so it looks organized. It was a screened porch that we finished into a room. I do all the sewing of the dolls in this room. It is where everything comes together and yes the floor is a mess in here too . . . I may be trying to be open and honest with this post, but I am too embarrassed to show the floors.

The mess does not consume the house. For the most part I am very neat . . . Now Moo is another story. He leaves a trail of fur to follow.

Can you guess what my favorite color is?

Am I the only person who lives with orange walls?

Relief in Progress

I've been making these new 'Relief Dolls' for a few months now. Paper mache is a very messy but wonderful medium to use. I get to reuse newsprint and telephone books, so I suppose that makes these pieces partly green. I begin with a clay model. The clay I use is 'Sculpey'. I never bake it, so I can keep using the same clay over and over. Once finished, a plaster mold is made.
My molds have been coming out beautifully. I then use vaseline as my release, although I would love to hear any other suggestions as to what I could switch to. Vaseline tends to leave a stain, but so far I like the imperfection of the stains.The mold is filled with the paper mache pulp. I usually apply three layers, allowing each layer to dry. After about 4 to 5 days I can pull the piece.The piece is rough and imperfect and I have to fill in some holes and do lots of sanding, but again, this is what I love and I am finding virtue in the flaw.Once sanded, I accentuate the features with a black water color pencil. I know this is totally different from the cloth Art Dolls I make, but my style is still present and lives on. I hope you all are liking these. They are allowing me far more ways to express my own deep emotional state.