It seems to be becoming a 'thing' with me that the end of the SALA festival signals rising excitement (on my part) about the approach of 'Gothtober' and the unbridled glee (again, on my part) that is Halloween. Yes, I live in the wrong hemisphere for this celebration, yes the seasonal colors are completely reversed (halfway through spring) and yes most people in Australia not only don't celebrate Halloween but see it as yet another Americanism and can be quite hostile to it. A great pity.....personally, I've loved it since I was a child and wanted so badly to be able to go trick-or-treating, bob for apples and dress up in scary costumes. I love the carved pumpkins, the candy corn and the fun of decorating the house and yard with ever more elaborate props. My kids have now grown up with it and the party that we have each year is probably their favorite family event. So, each August I look back through the photos of the previous years Halloween and start planning. The photos above are all things that I made last year....the dollies were ordinary children's dolls found at my local op-shop, which I attacked with paint, scissors and matches (deeply satisfying in a twisted kind of way).....the kitchen props were all made by me and my daughter Taylor.....also, Dr. Death and the corpse in the coffin and the cupcakes (which everyone felt bad about eating because they took such a long time to make). Here in Australia, each year there is more Halloween stuff available in the shops but you really can't beat the props that you make yourself. At this stage I have no idea what I'll come up with this October, but the seeds have been planted....

Till next time.

We are now over half-way through the SALA festival and I have to say that apart from the 2007 festival, when I was lucky enough to meet and become friends with the extraordinary (I could go on and on here, but I won't) Catchlove/Pills, this has been the best SALA I've experienced. This past weekend I have met some truly delightful, interesting and amazingly talented people. I was very unsure how my 'Open Studio' would be received this year, as I had only a handful of completed pieces for sale and lots of 'work in progress', but the response has been enormously positive with a wide cross-section of visitors (which is what I really love to see; kids, grandparents, and especially those people - usually men - who come in begrudgingly with their families and end up poring over every detail and having to be dragged out!). I've had wonderful conversations with people from Perth and New South Wales, a lovely violinist, an eccentrically fabulous woman with faeries in her attic (no, I'm not speaking metaphorically), two beautiful sisters who touched me very deeply (one is now living with "Old Goat"), two young women who fell so deeply in love with the incomplete "Turtle Man" that they would have bought him 'as is' if I had let them and an incredible artist, whose work I'm ashamed to say, I did not know until yesterday. His name is Ron Francis and I think I may have found another favorite Australian painter. I am always quite overwhelmed when people travel, however long or short, to see my work. Seeing this gifted artist's superb paintings only reinforces this feeling as well as simply making me happy that he could also enjoy what I do.

And all of this reminds me why I do what I do. Of course, I'm driven by what's inside of me....a personal vision.....but it's the sharing of this vision and the response of other people that provides the greatest satisfaction. I've always maintained that I would have to make these creatures even if no-one ever saw them, but lately I'm not so sure. That response from another individual is so important to the work.....it gives it meaning. I can derive great personal satisfaction from a well-built armature, nicely sculpted features and a decent paint job, but all of this pales into insignificance when someone looks at a piece with tears in their eyes because, for reasons known only to them, they feel a connection with it. Nothing beats that.

So, I'll keep sculpting and hope that people keep responding. There are some very exciting projects in the works, one of which has to be secret for now, but there will be plenty to blog about. "Turtle Man" is my newest piece, as yet incomplete. The turtle shell is a real one, salvaged by my good friend, Steve. When it came to me it was covered in at least two inches of tube worm casings.....the poor turtle had long since perished, but it took me two weeks of scraping and cleaning to get the shell to it's present condition. "Turtle Man" will be wearing the shell as a kind of armour and if all goes to plan and Steve manages to procure a smaller shell for me, there will be a young'un to go with him.

Again, I really want to thank all those wonderful people I have met over the past week, as well as all my blogging and facebook friends who are so supportive.....special thanks to Nancy for her friendship and wise advice from across the miles.

Till next time.

Just a quick post tonight (it's late and I'm very tired) to let everyone know that my website is now fully functioning with its new 'Shop' page. There will be new items added as new pieces are completed and of course I will keep you updated here on my blog.

Have had an article in the local paper for SALA and another one going in a different paper next week.....good start! Speaking of good starts, I sold 'The Faery Nanny' and 'Spider Girl' earlier this week....they are off to wonderful, loving homes (I still have them with me for the Festival). Photographed the nanny today and am pretty pleased with the pics.....poor thing, I feel the way she looks!

Well, I need a good night's sleep....

Till next time

"Spidergirl"....bondage Queen!

After a total disaster of a day yesterday, I'm so pleased that 'spidergirl' co-operated enough today for me to finish her. I spent six hours yesterday painting tattoo-like patterns all over her torso....but when it was finished I didn't like the effect at all. The idea for her is that she is the ultimate 'bondage' queen, being part spider and all, and I thought that tattoos would work well. Unfortunately, to me they distracted too much from the look I was after, making her look more feral and less sexy.....I'm not saying tattoos are feral, I LOVE tattoos, but they just weren't right on this piece. As soon as I dressed her in leather with the front lacing, I knew it was the right choice. Sometimes it's really hard to let go of something when you've put so much time into it, but I never would have been happy with her if I hadn't gone with my instincts. I'm very pleased with that lovely contrast of the very pale skin against the jet black spider body....you just know she doesn't see a lot of daylight!

So it's now just under five weeks until SALA (South Australian Living Artists) Festival. It feels a bit strange to not be having an exhibition....this is the first year in the past four that I haven't....but I am excited about having an 'Open Studio'. It's always great to meet and chat to people and most people really like to watch artists at work in their studios....I know I do! It's also nice not to have the pressure of having to produce so many pieces.....although I'm probably working harder now because I feel like I have to make up for all that time spent recovering from surgeries earlier in the year. Anyway, should be a great couple of weeks.....hope those of you who can drop in and say 'hi'.....would love to see you!

Till next time.

"The Royal Faery's Nanny"

Well, I wasn't going to do a new blog post until I had a new piece completed but I've had a few concerned e-mails and have realized that its been a while since the last one. These last few weeks have really got away from me.....!

So the piece above is still not quite finished - there is more work to do on the hair and she also needs some wings. These pics were taken at the worktable but I'll be taking some nice finished shots very soon. There is a poem to accompany this piece, which is also not quite finished but it starts off like this:

"The royal faery's nanny has a job that few could bear;

To placate bawling infants without tearing out their hair!"

.....and so it will go on.

I've always been a bit disturbed by The Duchess in Alice in Wonderland and didn't want to make this nanny look at all mean....she is tired and careworn and a little 'over it' but she also has enormous patience and love for her charges. The baby, on the other hand, is a spoilt brat :)

This was lots of fun to do, but I found the costuming difficult to get right. This is the third version and although it's quite understated I think it's right for the character....when you're taking care of babies, clean and functional is probably the most you can hope for!

And speaking of Alice in Wonderland, how amazing do those first pics from Tim Burton's version look? I am SO excited about this....if anyone can do the book justice, he can. I can't remember a time when I've had so many movies to look forward to.....Harry Potter, Coraline, Where The Wild Things Are, Alice, not to mention Del Toro's The Hobbit (ok, I know it's a long way away!) but this is a fantasy film lover's dream come true....very exciting!

On a sad note, I can't end this post without saying how sorry I was this morning to hear of the death of Michael Jackson. His personal life notwithstanding, his music was an enormous part of my life, as a teenager particularly and I'm so very saddened that this is his end after struggling through so much. I spent the morning listening to his music in the studio and it was such a weird feeling of reminiscing about high school years, joy and appreciation at and of his extraordinary talent and great sadness that we'll never know what he might have done next.

Thankfully, the music lives on.

Till next time.

Today I am a very happy girl.....after two long days of painting, "Old Goat" is finally complete. This is the first piece I have finished this year, although I have quite a number already sculpted and ready to go.....it's been difficult to concentrate on just one piece. I'm very happy with how this one has turned out.....I think I've gone some way towards achieving the naturalistic look I was after. I've finally realized that what interests me most in regard to my own work is trying to depict an attitude or emotion in the character. For me, this takes precedence over just about everything else and if the piece doesn't have that quality then I feel that I've failed in some way. "Old Goat" looks like he has quite a bit going on inside that shaggy head.....I like to think that, like all fauns, he had a rather "eventful" youth and rather enjoys these moments of reflection that come with age and experience.....there is still mischief to be made, but it's now a more considered and sophisticated affair.

So, there it is.....one down, finally. I took a couple of shots of the completed sculpt of 'spider girl' while I was photographing today, and will most probably tackle her painting next. Then again, I have another attention demanding piece sitting on my studio computer table (it's a long-suffering Faery nanny complete with squalling infant!) built and ready for painting.....decisions, decisions.....might just wait till I get to the studio tomorrow and see who talks to me the loudest. Stay tuned for the winner.

Till next time.

Awesome day at Mt Lofty gardens!

Well, I think someone must be looking out for me because after a truly awful week I had the most wonderful day on Saturday at the Mt Lofty botanic gardens with our much loved friends Linda, Nick and Lily. After a delicious picnic lunch, we spent our time photographing fungus, watching our kids roll down the steep grassy hill (some things never change, thank goodness!), walking, talking and laughing. My laughter deficit of the entire previous week was more than made up for in just a few hours! Guy was relaxed and happy too and I could just feel all of the tension lifting.....being in such beautiful surroundings with such wonderful company.....heavenly! Of course the time flew by at a ridiculous rate, as it always does, but there never seems to be enough time does there?

Linda set her camera on timer to take the shot of us all (Linda, Nick, me and Guy at the back, Noah, Lily and Grace in front) and she also sneakily shot the pic of me lying on the ground getting up close and personal with a Fly Agaric toadstool. I really dislike having my picture taken but she always manages to sneak a few.....and they're always good.

Fungus has always held an enormous fascination for me....it is so connected to Faery lore and it also has those wonderful 'Alice in Wonderland' connotations. I'm determined to one day sculpt the caterpillar on his mushroom.....another one for the ever growing list!

I hope to be able to post once more this week before I go in to hospital on Friday. I'll be spending the next four days hard at work in the studio so hopefully will have something worth sharing.

Till next time.