The Old Wise Woman in Progress ~ Art Dolls

Bit by bit my first doll is coming together.  I am not sure if I will be able to part with her.  She may have to sit on my mantle to motivate me to keep going and practicing.

Her head is complete and just needs to go into the hair studio for a new do.  I am not sure if she likes being bald.  Although with that serene expression you never know.  But she will get a full head of hair.

Her body is almost ready and just waiting for hands and feet.  The feet will be a bit easier as she will be wearing boots.  The hands are another story.  So how to I learn to make great hands.  Practice, practice, practice.

I am quite happy with the body since this is the first time I have every attempted a soft body sculpture doll.  Sorry she looks a bit like a voodoo doll.  Once her head is attached and we have hands I think she will look a bit more human

Stay tuned as we progress with this my first soft-bodied doll with clay hands, head and feet/boots.

©Classon Designs and Lyndell Classon

 

 

Hearts, hearts, hearts

I have been experimenting with some other colours of these hearts inspired by the Swedish paper hearts at Christmas.  The first one I designed is this handpainted green and blue on bronze clay.  The colours of the land and sea as I good friend commented when she saw the pendant.

Here is the process with red and purple clay.  First the clay heart, next the eyepin for the bail.

Mark in the lines.

Colour with pearl ex powder, the add 5 to 6 layers of liquid polymer clay over the powder.

At first I thought about going for purple and pewter but in the end switched the liquid clay over to a bright red.  I am really happy with how they turned out.

Now for sanding and buffing later this week.  Hope to have to experiment with a few more colour combinations before the Christmas markets.

© Classon Designs, Lyndell Classon

 

New Cats for 2016

My favorite part of being an artist is coming up with new designs for the summer markets.  I seem to be fascinated with cats this year.

Here is the process of one new design.

I run my clay through the pasta machine at the thickest setting then lay my template on top.  I run the brayer over the template so I can see the image on the clay.

First lay of clay with template

Next is to place brass wire into the first layer so the neck will be reinforced.

Brass wire embedded

Next is the 2nd layer

Layers waiting for canework

 

Next I lay my canework on top of these 2.

Three layers of clay

The template goes back on and the cat is cut out.

 

Almost done

Now she just needs eyes, cheeks, nose and tail.

Here are 2 all ready for the oven.

All ready to go

Once cured these little pendants will be sanded from 1500-12000 grit to give them a nice glossy finish.

Fortress of Suomenlinna

I arrived at the Harbour in Helsinki and boarded the Water Bus to the Sea Fortress of Suomenlinna. There were a couple of school classes headed over for the day as well.  How great to have so much history in a country and so many great places to explore when you’re a kid or even a kid at heart.

Founded on the islands off the coast of Helsinki in 1748, the Suomenlinna sea fortress is a cultural treasure.  My plan was to head over for an hour or so then come back to Helsinki for the afternoon.  That’s what all the travel sites recommended.  One, two hours tops.  For me they were wrong.    Once I arrived I didn’t want to leave. You can almost get lost over here and forget about time.    I found some great quiet places away from all the visitors.  Stumbled across the Nordic Walk by accident and walked around the perimeter.  I can see why it made such a formidable fortress.  Historically you had a full 360 degree view of enemies coming from any direction.  Today you have a 360 degree view of tourists and school trips so you can run in the other direction.  Just kidding.  Even with it’s military past for me it was peaceful and tranquil.

So if you like to get away from the city and step back in time, I recommend the Fortress of Suomenlinna.

The courtyard and tomb of Augustin Ehrensvärd

View from Cafe Piper

King’s Gate – The emblem of Suomenlinna. It was built as the ceremonial gateway to the fortress.

Waiting for the Water Bus

I know another crazy haired picture. Having fun on a windy cool day at Suomenlinna.

Sand-covered roofs of the gunpowder magazines

View of shoreline from the Nordic Walk

One of the tranquil paths away from the tourists. Ahh-h-h solitude

Swedish Tomtar

The Traveling Tomtar

Heading for shows

Well, too busy to post lately as I am getting everything ready for a show this weekend and another next weekend.  But here is a sneak peak of some of the works going on sale.