June 27, 2008

Mystery number 1- unveiled!






Finally I can post about this piece! This is a piece that I did for the upcoming show to raise money to save the forest outside of Tokyo, Japan that inspired Miyasaki to make the animated film, "My Neighbor Totoro." The theme is "what is your Totoro?" and there are some fantastic artists who contributed artwork for the show, some 200 of them from all over the globe. I am honored to be a part of such a worthy cause- helping to save a forest from urban sprawl as well as being able to express my appreciation for the film. Who doesn't love Totoro?! :) It took me awhile to come up with a design I liked, and then it took me a few weeks to get him all assembled and sewn together and stuffed. I wanted to create a creature that was the guardian and nurturer of all the life in the forest, whether plant, animal, or insect. As a kid growing up in Canada, I was lucky to have forests and lakes and mountains close by, and every time I hiked, or sat down and cooled my feet off in the river, I was (and still am) amazed at the beauty and sheer size of the trees and mountains. I believe that nature is something that feeds our souls and inspires us, and that is the main reason I wanted to help contribute to this show. I will post more show details as they become available.

June 24, 2008

Hooray!


Just a quick post- I'm happy to say that my Tiki piece sold this weekend! Yippee!! I'm STILL not at liberty to share the plush I've done for the other 2 shows yet, much to my dismay. I'll have something new that I CAN post by the end of the week though.

June 20, 2008

Enchanted Tiki Room 45th anniversary...


If you're in the Disneyland neighborhood this sunday, I have a large plush wall hanging (30 inches by 60 inches) in the 45th anniversary show. It starts with an artist signing event in the Disneyana Gallery on sunday at 8:30am (which unfortunately I won't be able to make.) and then will be hanging in the Disney theater lobby on Main Street until it either gets sold or the show is over. Let's hope it sells! :) Some of you might remember this piece from my posts last november- and if you want to see the step by step process, check them out. I depicted a couple of the tikis from the outside "waiting area" for the middle and bottom of the totem, and the top guy is a character taken from the interior of the actual Tiki room. Anyway, it was a month long process to get it done, and I can't believe the day of the show is actually here, some 7 months later.
Amanda Visell is the featured artist for this show, and she has some great works for sale! If I could ever figure out how to add links in my post I would add it here, but since I am computer illiterate I can only say to google: "Tiki Room 45th Anniversary Product Release."

June 15, 2008

A few sketches


While I'm waiting the word to unveil the 2 mystery projects, I've been doing some sketches of love birds for some friends of ours' wedding anniversary. I can't seem to decide which pair of birds will end up being made, which tells me that I probably have some more drawing to do. It's definitely a light bulb moment for me when I finish a sketch, look at it, and it makes me smile and say "that's the one!"

June 11, 2008

Another mystery...


I can't post anything for the OTHER mystery project yet, and I can't show any of the sketches for THIS project yet either, but I have to be able to post SOMETHING! :) I figure this won't really give it away. I couldn't find fabric that would work for this piece, so I decided I would have to make my own. I had to do 3 different color blocks (this is just one of them), which took me some time. (Basically since my last post.) It's a good thing I took that quilting class in february, I learned how to do strip piecing there. (For all you non-quilters out there, I took 1.5" strips of 5 different fabrics, sewed them together lengthwise, then cut them across in 1.5",2", and 1.25" width strips, then sewed them together lengthwise again, alternating the direction of the strips to give it a checkerboard effect. PHEW!) I have to say it wasn't exactly the most fun part of this project, but I'm glad it's done- it accomplished the effect that I wanted, anyway. Who is it that says we need to suffer for our art? Or is it suffer needlessly? :)

June 5, 2008

Thank You coupon


I haven't been slacking off, honestly! I've been working on sketches for plush for another show I'm in- I'll post those in the next few days or so- once I settle on the design I like. In between drawing sessions (while watching "Hudson Hawk"-one of the weirdest movies ever made, I think- but one of my husband's faves) I made this to say thanks to a friend for watching the house while we were away. Thanks Emery! (And Ernesto too of course!)

June 4, 2008

If you're in the neighborhood..

Crammed Organisms - World's Largest Plush Show! Plush, Stuffed Animals, Plushies, Softies
If you happen to be in or near St. Louis this weekend or any weekend in June, head on over to the Crammed Organisms Plush Show at Cranky Yellow. We really wanted to go ourselves but got too busy with other (work) stuff to make it. Bummer! :( If anyone sees the show in person, let me know how it turned out! There are a lot of amazing plush artists who'll have their work on display and for sale. The organizers have also put together a limited edition soft cover book on the show, which looks pretty cool. Click on the picture above for more info.