available at Cactus Gallery, Eagle Rock Ca

Happy is sold but Momma and Jelly Bean still need a home…

Message me privately if you would like to purchase one of these ornaments except the last one is sold.

This altered Barbie ornament is available at OVM. She is a unique one of a kind piece.

Her title is Aqua Dream because she is dreamy in my favorite color: aqua. Seriously, her surface is beautiful painted with acrylics and copper leafed and sanded and finished with a strong varnish.

Also available at the museum: Snowflake
Painted with acrylics and gold leafed and sanded and textured, she would look lovely on any Christmas tree! or hanging as a decorative work of art from a hook.

Also at the museum: Carnival of colors! this whimsical mixed media figure is paper mached, painted with acrylics and textured. She also has some puffy yarn about her. There is a wire loop at the back for hanging.

Also at the museum is this funny whimsical piece whose hat is an upside down flower (did not get a good photo of her :()

Available at OVA gallery a sweet angel with super pretty pastel yarn for hair :D:

and this little truncated ornament:

A few more ornaments in the works….

More show up on my face every year. Some say one should be proud of wrinkles as it shows a life rich with experiences and history. That is true, but I’d rather not have them :b I started thinking that I wanted to make some figures that have wrinkles and still look beautiful, I’d call it sublime if pulled off. Not sure that I have or not, but this is one of the wrinkles pieces.

Cut down all of the lettuce about seven heads left, all having bolted 🙁 bummer. I retained the core and plan to try and move them to a shady spot. I love going out back and picking dinner. The tomatoes are doing great and are taller than I. I planted a variety, some grape tomatoes, heirlooms, yellow, romas and I can’t remember what else, there are so many different kind.

There is going to be so many that i will have to jar them or give them away.

First gather your supplies: flour, white glue, newspaper, tin foil, masking tape, card board or white tag board, celluclay, piece of heavy wire. Also have a picture of a Norwhal whale ready to reference as needed.

In a small pan, pour some water and put on the stove top burner with a low flame, heat the water and slowy add the amount of flour you guess you will need for the project. for this project I used about a cup of water and about a cup of flour, adding the flour and whisking to be rid of any lumps. When your paste is a smooth and not watery consistency take it off the burner and put into a bowl where you will be dipping your newspaper strips into. save left over paste in a plastic container and put into the fridge for later projects.

Tear your newspaper into strips ( I prefer smaller strips to bigger or wider strips)

Make your small batch of pulp ahead of time and have a spatula or butter knife handy for applying. I use celluclay rather than making pulp from scratch usually because I am lazy that way. Celluclay can be purchased at your local craft store and in comes in both white and grey. I prefer the grey because it seems to be more sticky. Experiment for your own preference.

Determine how big you want your whale and form the simple shape using aluminum foil. Insert a piece of wire (I used coat hanger wire) where the cork screw sword like nose will be, mold the foil around it, put it in deep so you won’t risk it falling off.

Cut out left and right fins and tail fins and tape to your foil form. Cover the entire form with masking tape because the paper strips will adhere easier to the tape than to the foil. It is also the first step in smoothing out the natural bumps and valleys which inherently occur with tin foil.

Dip your newspaper strips into the paste, pull the strips between two fingers to take off excessive amounts and layer the strips across the entire form three times with even applications varying the direction. At this point one could continue on or the piece could be put into the oven to dry at 200 degrees or set outside in the sun until it dries. Or continue on with the application of pulp which is what I did because of the simplicity of the form.

At this point the form still has a lumpy body with dents and crevices from the foil. Now take a knife and smooth in the uneven areas. Take outside till it is completely dry and then begin the second phase for its completion.

After you have covered the entire body with pulp and let dry, use some string or clay wrapped around the wire to create a corkscrew look. I used apoxie sculpt, an air dry clay.

your whale is ready to be lightly sanded, primed and painted.