Where did you come from, Esmeralda?

So there I was, completely immersed in my monthly writers' group. We were writing short stories from prompts. Here's your prompt, look at it, now write...you've got 10 minutes. I was tired. I'd already spent a full day of work and had already taxed my brain to produce two stories before this one. I'm not used to writing any more. I have no stamina at all.I spent a mere 2 minutes on the story. Surprisingly... it worked. But that's not what this post is about. It's what happened while I was waiting for the others to finish writing.

I channeled Punker fairy...well endowed Punker fairy. I have no idea where she came from. I mean, if you look at my other fairies, they are whimsical, flowery, and rather...well...soft. But this... Esmeralda...I'm sure that's her name...really surprised me. She's dark, bold, hard edged and well, different. She's so different, she wouldn't even take a name that started with F. What do you think? Should I try a new direction in the looks of my fairies?

Perhaps I will. Just for fun.

Look for Esmeralda soon.

Faryn - The Winter Fairy

It had been months since I'd made a fairy. If you're a creative person, you probably know how the need to create something grows inside you until you just can't ignore it. You kind of feel like you might explode if you don't do something about it. For a long time, lack of time (and energy) dashed any hopes of being able to quell this emerging storm. But suddenly, almost magically, opportunity shone on me and I grabbed it. My dear sister's birthday falls early in February and who better to create for? In fact, creating a fairy for her was entirely my inspiration.

Snow, ice crystals, and solemn, gray skies abound here at this time of winter. Every so often, the sun peeks through and illuminates everything creating a beautiful winter glow. Those days of sun were enough fodder for my imagination to dream up the perfect winter fairy. I nearly skipped through the craft store allowing the accumulated creative energy to serge through me. I grabbed white and silver flecked tulle, pure white petals, silvery yarn for hair, silver trimmed white ribbon and a beautifully soft and full feather boa. And then one last requirement...flesh coloured cotton cloth...I had a new element to try with my fairies.

As I've mentioned in an earlier post, I've long admired the beautiful craftsmanship of the cloth art-doll makers. Not being particularly good with a needle and thread, though, I was a bit reluctant to try my hand at it. However, I wasn't planning on creating the entire fairy out of cloth, only the arms and legs, so this seemed a little less formidable. Besides, I wanted to maintain the same elements of my original fairies while giving them a bit of an upgrade so to speak.

The sewing of the arms and legs, aside from a few minor setbacks, came along much better and more easily than I had anticipated. I even made little slippers for her. I did, however, have to go one step further and make a slender cloth body in order to attach the legs and arms. That worked out fine too although maybe slightly unsophisticated. I suppose I will, in time, come up with a more attractive way to finish this part of the doll. Although it is all hidden by the time I get the flowers and other accessories on her, I would feel better about the finished product if it were well crafted in all parts.

All in all, however, she turned out very well and I was pleased with her. And the best part? My sister was ecstatic to receive her and that made everything worth while.

Fairy Inspiration

I've created another fairy. However I cannot post about her until she is delivered to her new home. (A birthday gift, so shhhh) In the interim, I decided to try my hand at drawing a fairy. I never have before. In fact, I haven't done much drawing in a very long time. I used to enjoy it when I was a child and teenager, but as I grew older, it became lost in amongst all the other creative endevours I got involved in. I have tried, occasionally to get back into it, but I usually get frustrated and quit before anything comes of it. In this instance, however, I became more and more enthusiastic as the fairy appeared on the paper. I completed the line drawing with pencil and then scanned the image into the computer. There, I added the colour. I like the boldness of the colour that I can get on the computer but I don't really have a proper graphic illustration software; just a basic one, so the drawing is not as crisp as it might be. For me, however, that's not a crisis. I will continue playing around with different ways to colour her and see what I can come up with. For now, here she is as she's been completed today.

I'm Famous!

Well...not quite...but I've had a post written about my fairies and for me...that's close to famous! :) Thanks very much to Scott of Midnight Folklore, a very interesting site that covers many aspects of folklore. Go have a look...I have bragging rights now. I think my fairies' smiles have just grown too...

Back to production...

Happy Imbolc...a few days late. Cheers!

Trapped by Time

Snow Fairy by mljohnson, DeviantART

If you were following my blog at all...all 4 posts...you've probably wondered if I'd fallen off the edge of the earth. Well, I am here to tell you that I have not. In fact, I've just been very busy adjusting to working life after being a stay-at-home mom for many years. Finding time for writing and crafting has become quite difficult but, happily, I'm starting to realize, not impossible. I'm attempting to push myself toward creativity again and I'm sure another fairy will come of it. Please stand by. :) I'm grooming my wings.

Saving Face

When I first started making fairies I had no experience with doll making. Actually, I never really considered the fairies as dolls. I still don't think they are. They're more decorative accessories at this point. As I've more recently discovered, doll making is a lot more involved; there are movable parts made of clay or soft dolls with sewn details that would have taken hours, real doll hair, eyelashes, and clothing handmade to fit. All in all, very impressive and a goal worth working toward but I definitely don't have the time or skill at the moment. I'm particularly impressed with and inspired by Art Dolls which I will post about in the near future.

For the time being, I discovered a few much needed improvements I do have the ability to make - mainly on the fairy faces. I hadn't really given a lot of thought or effort to the painting of the faces, in fact, I was more intrigued with the construction of the entire piece. The faces, I would say, were rather rudimentary and the more fairies I made, the less satisfied I became with the lack of expression. I have been, however, pleased with my ability to mold the heads and the features out of clay so at least I have a good base to work with.

While perusing the remarkable works of the art doll makers I noticed one thing in common to all of their dolls. The eyes were very big and very bright while the nose and mouth were small and subtle. The mouths are almost like little cherries which allows the eyes to be the focal point. I think this is something that draws in people. When we talk to others we look in their eyes (assuming we're not shy or socially awkward), when we see the face of a beautiful person, we tend to notice their eyes first and their eyes are usually large. I also read somewhere that people find symmetry very appealing in a face. This is a key factor, apparently, that model agencies look for when selecting candidates.

So, with these things in mind, about a month ago, I modeled a new head out of clay and left it to dry. It wasn't by choice that I left it so long, but when I finally found the time to work on it, I was happy to have it waiting for me. I had, back then, made sure that the eye cavities were larger than the ones I had made previously and I also made the face a little more heart-shaped with a small chin. Several nights ago, I got to work with a new set of colours...watercolour brush pens made by Bienfang. I quickly, discovered, however, that they weren't the best medium for drawing faces. Although I could get a fairly fine point with the brushes, it wasn't quite fine enough. The mouth became much larger than I had wanted and the eyes just looked weird and flat.

I almost threw it out, that head, but then I thought I've already screwed it up so I might as well play with  it. I pulled out a bunch of different items to apply colour, one of them being simple crayons. I started by adding a light pink crayon to her cheeks and was delighted by the result. Then I started adding more definition and colours to the eyes, eyebrows and lips. I also got a simple black in ballpoint pen and outlined the iris and lips. Finally, every fairy needs some sparkle and glitter glue is a lot of fun and adds so much to the eyes.

Autumn Fairy with her Orange Eyes

Well, isn't it amazing when you just let yourself go and not worry about getting everything perfect? I was absolutely thrilled with the final result. Although I still find the lips too big, I think the eyes help to detract attention from them. Clearly, I have a long way to go before I would consider myself on par with the other talented ladies out there making dolls, but I am pleased that I have made this much progress. I also want to try some other ways to apply colour and if, by some chance, a veteran doll maker is reading this post and has some words of wisdom to offer, I would be so appreciative.

Okay. I'm off to make more heads for the future...hopefully the not too distant future.

You Gotta Have Faith

Blind folk see the fairies.
Oh better far than we.
Who miss the shining of their wings
Because our eyes are filled with things
We do not wish to see. ~ Rose Fyleman

I have to admit, I didn't like Faith. I had created her shortly after making Flora, my first faery, and had intended to give her to my sister, Sarah, for her birthday. Faith sat down in the bottom of my cupboard for more than a month – long after the birthday had come and gone. Every once in a while I would take her out and think, guiltily, that I should put her in a box and send her off by post. I never did.

One day I was invited to visit my friend, Louise, whom I hadn't seen in a long while. I knew that Louise enjoyed many things magical and whimsical. I wanted to bring her a faery but our arrangements had been rather spontaneous and I didn't have the time to create properly. I had started, rather mechanically, putting a faery together but I knew I wouldn't get far with it. So, absentmindedly, I went over to the cupboard and took out Faith.

I'm not sure whether I was looking for inspiration but I just held her and looked at her for a long time. As I did so, my daughter asked me what I was going to do with Faith. I replied that I really didn't know. I didn't really like Faith. My daughter was shocked. “Why, Mommy? She's so pretty!” Is she? I asked. “Yes!” Suddenly a solution dawned on me. I asked my daughter if she thought Louise would like Faith. Again came a resounding, Yes!

At that moment Faith looked different. Faith came to light. Faith did look pretty. All that time, since conception, Faith had been designated for the wrong person. Certainly Sarah deserves a faery but Faith was not the right one. Faith belonged to Louise. I immediately became giddy with anticipation. I couldn't wait to introduce the two of them, Louise and Faith!

 This is the way it is with art. I had forgotten because it's been so long since I created something. You cannot force creativity and you cannot force a created object into the wrong hands and before the wrong eyes. Well, you can, but it feels completely unsuitable. Friends and family are kind enough to be polite and accept a creation even if they don't really like it but that's never the goal of an artist. At least, not this artist. Perhaps because each of my faeries seems to have a “character” of sorts, she needs to be in the right hands, with someone of compatible character.

Louise would not rest until she had found the proper place for Faith. I knew then, that I had made a good choice...or my daughter had. When last I saw her, Faith was hanging in a corner by the patio door – light, breezy, and an area decorated by other whimsical objects such as a hand blown glass Friendship Ball, and a string of engraved copper bells. Faith had definitely found a home and I felt very good about it. I had just experienced how having faith in your own abilities and your own intuition always pays off. :)