Dionysus...the Green Man

I love stories about the green man...found in so many myths legends and other beliefs...here he is as Dionysus the god of wine and grapes...

...he is the dying and returning god...of fertility, sensuous abandon and the freeing of the mind through ecstacy....part of the eternal cycle of life death and rebirth....

" ...I am born in the dark...

...I shine with the sun...

....I burn with desire...

...I have paid for your pleasure"

( william anderson 'the green man')

October AIM Magazine

The October Artisans in Miniature magazine is available here:

http://www.artisansinminiature.com/

I have an article about one of my recent figures...Old Mother Shipton on pages 104-107

the magazine is free as always...please pass on the link to anyone you know who enjoys miniatures :0)

Reflection

I feel the need to do some drawing again...

Found this to finish off from 2004...

I've been doing some reflecting recently so it fits!

Gold and rose,

the colour of the dream I had,

not too long ago,

misty blue and lilac too,

never to grow old.

...you smiled...and stole my heart away.

( jimi hendrix)

Who will Buy my Sweet Red Roses...

A little more done today...

Now all she needs are all those fiddly touches!! :0)

Victorian figure

Started a new figure ...finally back to doing something after the school holidays. This is a lady roughly 1895, not too wealthy perhaps...still not set in stone at this stage :0)

Aside from this I've been planning lots of new things, so been doing a lot of thinking, but have little to show for it yet! I've been drawing and collecting images for several new directions, so we'll see what comes out of it. I have a fancy for doing some larger 2D things again.

The latest issue of the Artisans in Miniature magazine is available online! The theme we have this month is 'Childhood Nostalgia' and I'm delighted to have an article in it about my own childhood dollhouse!

Click on the link...it's free as usual :0)http://www.artisansinminiature.com/

Closer details

I've been asked for some closer views!

Lobster Quadrille

See how eagerly the lobsters

and the turtles all advance...

They are waiting on the shingle...

...Will you come and join the dance.

Will you, won't you...

Will you, won't you...

Will you won't you join the dance?

Lobster Quadrille...a bit more!

I can see how she will look now...

...although haven't done a lot more this week...and I'm really liking her facial expression! Her claws are very heavy despite being hollow, so I may have to weight her dress a bit at the bottom/back to stop her toppling over....I'm quite excited now as I think I'm going to really enjoy making this costume! :0)

The Lobster Quadrille

"You may not have lived much under the sea- and perhaps you were never introduced to a lobster, so you can have no idea what a delightful thing a Lobster Quadrille is!" ...said the Mock Turtle.

Started a new fantasy creature :0)

Old Mother Shipton

Old Mother Shipton was a famous English Soothsayer....born Ursula Sontheil...many myths and legends have grown up about her in the 500 years since she actually lived. She was said to be hideously ugly with the hooked nose and chin we think of as being witch-like today. She was famous for her prophesies in her own lifetime.

Witch/Seer/Crone

I've been working on this seated lady today...

I've assembled her roughly to show how she is going so far...

She might be Old Mother Shipton...with a bit of artistic license...

She's a bit fantasy so has quite dramatic features :0)

3 New Figures

I have made a start on 3 new figures with these new heads. I'm so excited about the man especially as I think he might be handsome enough ( at long last!) for me to make my Heathcliffe and Cathy!!
I made 2 more yesterday, and today some hands for one of them and some more to their bodies...quite pleased with one who is an older woman, possibly will be a witch or an old lady likely to have been accused of being one probably...determined to get darker.....
...she's more fantasy, less realistic...warts and all...

Miniature Painting

I have started a few new figures this week...but have had a little diversion into miniature painting today..... and have found I enjoyed it very much...so you may see another now and then! As you probably know I trained as a painter so it's not too much of a departure...except you could fit 315 of these into one of my old landscapes hanging at the top of our stairs :0)

Now on Etsy!

I've finally worked out how to open a shop on Etsy. This is what to look for and here's the link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/EileenSedgwick

At the moment there's not much in it but it's a start!!

BlackAdder

Lord BlackAdder from series 2

( my favourite!)

There are a few bits still to finish...his sword etc, but he's more or less done, so here are the three of them together at last. I might still do some of the others from the cast, but maybe later as I'm thinking of other things next...

April AIM Magazine

The new AIM magazine is out again...
... completely free as usual!

Read it here online:

www.artisansinminiature.com/issue10.html

Nomad

A wandering Brownie...a little person, about life sized at 14 cm...which is why the feathers are big...he has found bits of skins, string , fibres and scraps of fabric and has dressed himself for a cold journey

Baldrick

Just finished off this old figure...I did Queenie a while ago, and have Nursie and BlackAdder the second on the go as well, but have lost his hands...it will be good to get them all together as a group.

Lady in Red

Completed the costume for the older lady
seated at a dressing table.
She has very big hair!
She's perhaps going out for the evening...
...or maybe not...
...is she remembering former glory...
...perhaps she's a bit crazy...
I like the uncertainty.

New heads and other WIPs

I have been working on a number of new figures recently including 4 new heads finished this morning. The portly gentleman was originally meant to be seated at a table making toys, but I've been having other thoughts perhaps for him now. The lady in the huge knickers is wearing the Victorian boots I will feature in a 'how to make boots' post soon. I like to have a few things on the go at any one time. :0)

Lady at a dressing table

An older lady, who will be wearing a corset, at her dressing table.
She is a seated figure, and I've been trying to really get her to sit with some 'weight' on her chair. She is either applying powder or lipstick so has pursed up her lips.

Cinders and Prince Charming

Cinderella and Prince Charming arriving at the Grand Ball... these traditional pantomime characters are wearing cream silk costumes styled roughly mid 1700s and have white elaborate wigs

Thank you Julie from http://jakdawsattic.blogspot.com/

who is herself a wonderfully creative person XXX

The rules of the award are:

1 Thank the person who gave it to you

2 Copy the logo to your blog

3 Link to the person who nominated you

4 Name 7 things about yourself that nobody knows

5 Nominate 7 Kreative bloggers

6 Post Links to the 7 blogs you nominate

7 Leave a comment on each of those blogs letting them know you've nominated them.

Well here are my 7 things you might not know about me.....

1 I am related to Sir Ian Botham (rofl)

2 I love Warthogs

3 I have a scar on my forehead but not quite as good as Harry's.

4 I used to do a lot of ballroom dancing BEFORE it was trendy!

5 I was once a member of MENSA

6 I am a Coeliac :0(

7 I love making compost

and here are my 7 nominated lovely blogs:

1 http://a-faerietale-of-inspiration.blogspot.com/

2 http://mollamari.blogspot.com/

3 http://artisansinminiature.blogspot.com/

4 http://willowshimmer.blogspot.com/

5 http://allthingsdoll.blogspot.com/

6 http://wwwmarilynradzat.blogspot.com/

7 http://5preciousthings.blogspot.com/

Spring is coming

5 Figures dancing with a garland

Some older figures which have been sitting looking at me for long enough. I have tidied them into a little vignette and they look quite merry...maybe I've been inspired watching Lark Rise, or perhaps it's the birds singing and the frogs returning to the pond, but spring seems finally to be in the air after a long cold winter.