Go Figure II Doll Show is Almost Hear

I am happy to announce that 14 doll artists from the Cloth-a-Dollics doll club are having a show at the Coast Collective gallery here in Victoria, BC.  I hope that anyone in the area will visit the gallery and our show as it is sure to put a smile on your face!

On Saturday, October 19th all the artists involved in the show will be in attendance and there will be lots of good food to nibble on while you look at the dolls and paintings.

Pookie

Recently, I had a request to make "Pookie" the white bunny from the 1940's book by Ivy Wallace.  I had never heard of this little bunny so I looked him up on the web.  I found an image of the original book:

Pookie was so misunderstood at home as he was a white rabbit with blue eyes living in a family of brown rabbits with brown eyes.  On top of it all he has little "flimsy" wings that did not even allow him to fly.  So one day little Pookie set out to "find his fortune.  The book is for children aged 4-7 years old and tells of Pookie's adventures.  He learns to accept himself with the help and love of the woodcutter's daughter who takes him in and lets him sleep in her sewing basket.

Pookie was so much fun to design and make, with his blue pantaloons and little red shoes.  Here he is all finished:

Unfortunately, the book is not available except at a very high price.  I do hope someone publishes this children's story again.

Paperwork

Recently I joined the Vic West Art Quest artist group in my neighbourhood.  I am happy to say that I am in my first show with this group of local artists in the Vic West community centre.  The show is titled "Paperwork" and features art work made with all forms of paper.  Opening night is Thursday, September 12 from 7 to 9pm.  To peak your interest I am including a few photos of some of the pieces on display.  This is just a sampling as there are 13 artists in the show.

                            Paper Collage  and paper doll picture made me, Maria Roxborough.

                       Paper collage ("Adorable You" and "Playtime") above made by me, Maria Roxborough

                                 Paper collage Art work above made by Lori Garcia-Meredith

Paper Basket by Virginia Abbott

Alley Cats are Born

I was cruising Pinterest and came across some very haunting cats made by Veronika Lozovaya.  I checked out her web site (Dark Alley) and decided I had to make some cats of my own!  I am unveiling my three amigos, Scraggly, Black-Eyed Suzy, and Serious Sam.  They are alley cats with big personalities.  They are not as haunting as Veronika's cats, but oh so loveable!  Enjoy.

Scraggly loves all things Halloween.

Black-Eyed Suzy loves to terrorize little dogs in the alley.

Serious Sam is the resident poet of the alley, so melancholy!

Meow-Meow Neko

I love Leslie Molen's dolls.  They are so sweet and innocent and remind me of happy childhood days.  I also love cats and had four of them for a while to grace my life.  My Mimi cat passed away when she was 17 followed by her brother Rudolfo at 19 years old.  I am now left with Moretto (age 17) and Riley (age 14).  

So when I saw Leslie Molen's pattern for Meow-Meow Neko I knew I had to make her.  Luckily I found a lovely piece of Japanese cloth for the dress and I used white velour for the body.  Without further ado, here she is with her dolly, of course!

Her wee companion dolly.

Bye for now

Sew Pretty

Earlier in the year I attended the Puyallup sewing show and was happy to see Barbara Willis again.  I purchased her Pincushion Diva pattern.

I was very happy with my finished pincushions.  I was able to use my lace "stash" to embellish the "Sew Pretty" pincushions.  After seeing Romona's finished pincushion, I decided that mine needed a head and arms as well.  

The second pincushion became a wee Kitty Cat and so I naturally call her "Sew Purrfect".  Here they are:

Sew Purrect before her head and arms

Now she is "Sew Purrfect"  I sculpted the head and arms using Sculpy

Back view showing her wee tail.

Sew Pretty and Sew Purrfect Together

Close-up of her face (cloth over a paperclay mask)

Back view of Sew Pretty

Coast Collective Gifts and Wishes

The Coast Collective Gallery is going to have their annual pre-Christmas show titled "Gifts and Wishes" from October 30 - November 10, 2013.  I am going to be in the show for the first time with my teddy bears! I thought you would like to see a few of them.  All of the bears are made of premium German mohair and are fully jointed with glass eyes and hand stitched and often sculpted faces.  The clothes they sport are all hand-made as well.

Meet Miss Augusta, a rather shy young bear who loves attending tea parties.  She is 15" from the top of her garden hap to the tip of her paws, sitting she is only 11"

Close up of her face showing her hand-stitched nose and amber glass eyes

The next bear is wee Fergus, a serious, old-fashioned fellow who loves the cold snaps in the fall and winter seasons.  He is 16" tall and sports his hand-knit tam and scarf:

 Finally, there is the grand-daddy of the bears, Olaf.  He is a West-Coast bear who is 24.5" of luxurious German mohair with striking black glass eyes and hand stitched nose.  He has wool felt paws and inner ears.  He just loves his hand knit vest. He has a brass bell around his neck so all know when he approaches.

Olaf has a double jointed head to give him the "floppy" look.

Well, that is all for now but there will be more bears in this family before the show at the end of October. 

If you are in Victoria, please do go and visit the Coast Collective as the gallery shows change every two weeks while the four gift shops carry a variety of hand-made items from over 100 artists from the Greater Victoria area. The spectacular old house and grounds themselves are worthy of a visit and there is no charge to enter!