Grandfather White Whisker

I woke up this morning to find one lonely white whisker on the floor.



I knew exactly who it belonged to-my little cat Pascal(the oldest of my 4 cats) whom I had nicknamed "Grandfather White Whisker" ever since this white whisker had shown up on him. None of my cats have white whiskers so I was telling my 8 year old Pascal that he was an "Old Daddy Cat" now. I also told him that when the whisker fell out to please leave it in the middle of the hardwood floor in the living room. This morning, that is where I found it. Thank you Pascal!



This is not the first time Pascal has been so thoughtful. When he was losing his baby fangs, I told him to leave them in center of the hardwood floor of my living room of my old house and in next morning, I came across a tiny tooth! I was so happy to have such a special baby fang! The next morning I found his other baby fang! It didn't stop there. Six months later, Pascal got a baby brother-Tobias Greenmoss Lang was found in a pile of moss of a friends garden. Just like Pascal, when I saw that his baby fangs were lose, I told him to leave to leave it in the same place that Pascal did and just like Pascal, Tobias did! He did this with his other baby fang as well.

Tobias loves to sleep in the same bed with my Sleeping Beauty Doll in front of a family portrait!


Glastonbury gives his big brother Tobias a big ole Kiss! Hehe!

Then, little daughter cat Sister Blackberry Bijou showed up and I asked her to do the same even though I was living in another house. She was sweet and left both of her baby fangs for me. Finally, the Baby Cat, Glastonbury Mister, aka "Mister Baby" threw in his two baby fangs. Now I keep all the cat baby teeth in a little beaded box with roses embroided on it. This box belonged to my Great Aunt Fagella who went by "Rose Frances". I love this little box and what is inside it. I put Pascal's white whisker in it. Now I am waiting to see if another one will grow in its place! I will let you know!

Sister Bijou yaps it up with brother Tobias


My gorgeous beaded little box of baby fangs and the White Whisker

Wee Baby Fangs!

Pascal and the Baby Box

All for of my little cats aka "The Littles"! They love to sleep in the "Nap Line-Up"

What's new in my Etsy Shop

I just put 2 new pieces in my little Etsy Shop.
Check out "The Butterfly Faerie". She is done with watercolours, gouache, and metallic ink on archival cotton rag paper and measures 11x15 inches.



I also put my first monotype in the the Shop! Whoo Hoo! "Girl with Iris" measures "15x22" inches. I made her on my printing press with process colour inks. As with all of my pieces, this fanciful lady wears a special costume-a headpiece of ivy, a necklace shaped like a dragonfly and a dress printed with a blue and green pattern. She also has some pretty cool blue tattoos and holds a purple and yellow Iris-my favourite colour of Iris.



Besides these ladies, I spent all weekend working on dolls-waiting for layers of paperclay to dry and putting together new wire armatures. Hopefully, I will have their bodies made and then I can start sanding them, adding layers of gesso and then start painting them. Then comes the wig making, batting, fabric and finally their costumes and wings(or tails if they happen to be a mermaid). This is when things get pretty!

Shiny, Sparkly, New Stuff and Even a Monotype or Two!

"Girl with Iris" monotype






The Ghost Print of "Girl with Iris" which is basically the left over ink on the plate so a much lighter verson of the original monotype.




A monotype of the Goddess Aphroditie


A commissioned monotype I did for woman who wanted a "Girl and her Horse" for her daughter. She turned quite fancy. OOh La La!


Here I am(looking so very glam) with a monotype fresh off the print. Somehow, I make this into the finished piece below. Don't ask. It is another one of my 312 step processes(actually, feel free to aske me about it!).

This is a painting I did in honour of my Russian Great Aunt Fagella. She had very dark hair, eyes and skin, but she is so special to me and I feel I act so much like her and that she taught me so much about everything. Plus, she really, really "got" me which is huge. Most folks think I am kind of odd or difficult. Auntie Fagella would say of me, "She is an artist. She likes weird stuff. If she wants to dust it all well OK. I don't want to dust it, but that's just me. Meh.". Hee Hee! So true! And, Heathe of Audrey Eclectic and I go back several years with our love of painting skaters! http://reverieart.blogspot.com/

These skates were painted after a pair that belonged to my Mom in the 1950s. They had a wood botton and were super soft leather. She skated in them up until she was a teenager and then later she gave them to me and I wore them to skate on our creek which froze in the winter. They are so worn and so beautiful. I love them so much

A painted portrait of one my dear friends who goes back to my freshman year in college. She was a big senior and I really looked up to her(well down as she is super tiny). She went on to study fashion at Parsons in NYC and every holiday or break that I could, I would visit her and go to her classes-what a dream! She really taught me to be myself and do my own magical art thing. And, she is quite a beauty too!

A painting of a Faerie who looks to be wearing some embellishments Ivy of
http://edera-faerie.blogspot.com/ would make!

A painting I did of my only little girl cat Sister Blackberry Bijou. Of course, I painted her in a little crown and a fancy necklace. Of all my cats, she is the one who will not dress up. Her brothers like to look "fancy". She says "NO!". She is also the Boss of the house.

Tobias Greenmoss is very funny boy!

All my little black cats and the fur I have to deal with! It is so worth it though.


More gifts made and wrapped and woefully late!

A Birthday Gift successfully made and wrapped and on time!

German Glass Glitter Goodness!

My latest headpieces which can also be worn as choker necklaces. I sure am having a hard time photographing them for my Etsy shop as I don't want to be the model! Everyone is busy! This weekend someone is wearing these on their head for photos whether they like it our not!


A commissioned doll I had forgotten about. She now lives in NYC with a jewelry maker who is of Native American descent and has long red hair that she wears in braids.

Well, So I have had this blog look up for just a wee bit and I am ready for a change. I will have to see what happens. After Lorianne of Plumevine http://www.plumevine.com/ started talking about getting her ears done into elf ears, I can't stop looking at my ear on this photo! Time for a change! Ha! I also tried to try something different than my usually aqua/turquoise and I just can't do it. That colour is just some kind of siren song to me and I can't get enough of it!

So, I have been taking photos of new work. Here are some new paintings, and a new monotype-finally! My printing press was getting really sad! I also took some photos of my fabulous German Glass Glitter. Oh my, it is so magical! I can't wait to do some pixie/faerie art things with it. I don't know why it just makes me so excited. I am also still fighting the good fight against black cat fur which really is a losing battle but, I try. I am thinking of charging extra for it as it does get into everything I do and the more I try to get it out or off of something the worse I make it. I am just glad I don't have a dark room here. There is something to be said for digital photograhy and the dust/cat hair/weird stuff not getting in your photographs. Very cool!

My Photos and New Art Supplies!

So, It has been raining and I have been wanting to take photos outside. Though I have other art projects to work on, when you want to one thing you kind of can't give it up. So, I have been working on photos that I took a little while ago. Here they are. I need to practice all this digital stuff. I have a very scary look so some folks may need to look away.

And, all of a sudden and all at once, I received new art supplies in the mail! New bricks of Paperclay will help me get back going on dolls I am working on. I also received many new colours of German Glass Glitter which is so sparkley and perfect for all faerie projects. I also got a a bag of some great new yarn at my friend's yarn shop in the village which will soon become hair for my dolls. My little cats are just crazy for the yarn though. I found 2 of them fighting over the bag and had to hide it away. So, I need to get myself going. Go self go-go!

The Mermaid's Bath

The Gorgeous, Talented and Amazing Woman behind the "Mermaid's Bath" who happens to be one of my oldest friends. She is one of the hardest workers I know and she plays as hard as she works. She doesn't have any sisters so I am lucky to fill that role when I can. We can be silly, do "girly" things and even make clothes for dolls and have tea parties-all the things she wanted to do as a little girl and dreamed that sisters did(if only she knew that my sisters and I were just smacking each other around-ok, not true, well, kind of-just a little....). She is moving away so we must say "Good Bye" to the Mermaid's Bath. I am going to miss her, her creativity, understanding and fearlessness!

She is my favourite model for photographs. She can morph into whomever I need her to be and she does it so wonderfully!

She famoulsy "poised" for this photograph of one of the Pre-Raphealite "Ophelia" paintings for me(well, she almost died of hypothermia but would not get out of the freezing water! She is as stubborn as me!).

Glass bottom boat fun!

A Woodcut a friend of our's did for her Wedding Invitation that she framed and put on this little shelf she painted.

A photo I put in a frame I painted to match the walls

Fish Ornanments "swim" by amongst the grape vines. When you take a bath in here with the lights off and all the candles lit, you really feel that you at the bottom of the sea! Fantastic!

Another one of my photos in a hand painted frame plus, we collected tons of vintage bottles in aquas, purples and clear and she would arrange them shells and stones

A shelf that we found in Santa Fe, NM and nearly killed each other fighting over! We agreed it was for the greater good that it should go in the Mermaid's bathroom. We were right.

A statue that a friend of our's was not happy with and was going to throw out! We said "NO!" and saved her. We love her. Artists can be so weird about their work. Ha!

More sand and shells and a gorgeous wood sculpture from my friend's travels.

I sent her my "Madonna of New Orlean's" in an antique Nicho that we got in Alburquere, NM. I am thinking that we probably fought over this too(we are like sisters in this way) but I was fighting for it to make something for her so I prevailed!

She made a little bench over the dresser in the bathroom which is so pretty. We have had a 15 year love affair with all beaded and embroidered pillows and send them back and forth. The last one she sent me was for Christmas last year and it is brown with bronze and teal beads-yippee!

There is also another woodcut of a crab that our friend made.

More of the bench. Now I am just getting sadder. She has used that Body Shop Body Butter for 20 years! I would also send or bring her a jar of it. When I first met her, I asked her if she had some lotion and she let me borrow this. OK, I can still send it to her. I just loved this little area. We loved moving stuff around in it. I am still sad! I will miss her!

The whole bench!

More Mermaids swimming!

The window has a gorgeous view of Mountains. It is just insane! And she made a gorgeous little silk curtain out of fabric she got from living in India-also insanely gorgeous.

More Treasure!

So, I am sad. One of my best friends is moving out of the States to a very far away country. She has an amazing house of her own that was once an barn. She has worked so hard over the years to turn it into an amazing house of magic and fairy tales. I am lucky as I got to help. Each room has a theme-by colour or country or story. The design inside is so fun too. She is a great lover of plants and has a green house attached to her house with vines climbing up the walls inside her house. She even has a pond out back with a glass bottom boat. Also outside she has everykind of garden you can imagine. It is a paradise of some kind, but after all these years she is tired of keeping it up-a lot of hard work and I understand. But, I had to post some photos. Each photo reminds that when she got the barn house it was completely white inside with nothing but a hardwood floor. Slowly, over many years, she would add one thing after another and when I came for visits I got to be a part of this. Magic does exisit. Sometimes it grows slowly when you aren't watching.

This bathroom was like that. First it was just a pale aqua colour. Then we did one wash then another and another on top of that. Then I came to visit again and she had added all the grape vines-fabulous! Next, whenever I was out and if i found something "Mermaid" I would send it to her and she would find a place for it. Then, for holidays and Birthdays, I would make her art that had a Mermaid feel and that would get added too. One trip we went to great swimming hole and took underwater photos that she had blown up and framed in blue and green beaded frames and then added them to the room. Trips to the coast would mean more shells and sand in the bathroom. Trips all over the world would mean amazing wooden Mermaids and other sculptures. It all grew so slowly but wow-there it is! I am wishing her all the best on this next phase of her life and I will always remember this magical house. And yes, there are many other rooms which are equally as awesome...