Halloween in the studio...

Just some final shots of my Halloween pieces as they are in the studio. "Trick & Treat" were sold over the weekend and I only have two 'eeriefae' left.....not too bad, seeing as Halloween is a bit of a foreign concept over here.

Oh, and the two little pumpkins at the bottom are gourds that I painted last week just for my own amusement.

Till next time.

New Halloween blog.....

What a busy and tiring week this has been!

I've been thinking for some time now that I should have a separate blog for all my Halloween stuff, so I've set that up and you can visit by clicking on the link to the right. I'm hoping to post on there every couple of days between now and Halloween.....I have lots to share!

I've been working on 'The Faery Catcher' this week....the painting is almost complete and I've started to put his costume together. I didn't realize how big I'd made his butt....constructing his pants was a logistical nightmare! All going well, he should be completed next week.

Received a beautiful surprise package today from my friend Cody.....a gorgeous 'dearly departed' piece made by Cody, a lovely ceramic skull bead and two little skellys.....all of which are very at home here in the 'castle of doom'. Once again, I am blessed with a wonderful and generous friend....

I've made more Halloween stuff *sigh*.....but I'll post that on the other blog.

Till next time.

'Trick' & 'Treat'....final Halloween piece!

"This year I’d like

for you to meet

All Hallow’s piskies,

‘Trick’ & ‘Treat’.

Their acrobatic skills

I’m told

are really something

to behold.

With deftness

and dexterity,

come high-jinks

and tomfoolery.

Into the air

they fly and tumble,

never a mis-step

or a stumble.

Their daring feats

will leave you gasping -

to your seat edge

you’ll be clasping!

They’ll leave you breathless,

but still keen

to see it again...

next Halloween!"

ⓒ copyright 2009 Lorell Lehman

I couldn't resist doing one last Halloween themed piece....I have a number of other projects that I should be working on....but the lure of Halloween is just too strong. The problem is, the more I do the more ideas I get and then they rattle around in my brain, tormenting me until I let them out.

Thanks to Pattee for the 'felty-webby' stuff I used on the little box...it was just perfect! xx

Oh, and yay!....I managed to get a 'proper' Halloween pumpkin today....it cost me twenty bucks!! (which I'm sure is shocking to my friends in the US!), but at least I can make a decent Jack-o-lantern now.

Till next time.

Living like the Addams family (click, click)......

This past weekend I managed to get most of the house set up for the Halloween season. Due to being so busy with studio committments, this year I have downsized things a bit (not too much...my kids would never forgive me!). So, we will now live like the Addams family for a couple of weeks, which is great fun and something I feel strangely comfortable doing. It's always interesting if we get unexpected (and unwary) visitors - last year, the night after Halloween, we witnessed someone breaking into our car which was parked in the street outside. The police officer who arrived at our house to take the details must have wondered what on earth was going on as he walked up a spiderweb enclosed staircase (complete with web-wrapped corpse), past the mummy in his coffin and up into "The Lab" with our demented Doctor and his table of dismembered body parts!....oddly, he made no reference to it.....

As I've mentioned before, Halloween decorations are relatively hard to come by here in Australia, although the past couple of years have been better with Toys 'R' Us and some of the 'cheap shops' getting in a reasonable range. Most of our props and decorations have been made by me over the years and this year I've received wonderful goodies from friends in the US, which are proudly displayed. My biggest bugbear is that it is utterly impossible to find candy corn here....let alone the magnificent chocolate/caramel variety that was sent to me last year (dear Keri xx). I did manage to get hold of some bubblegum eyeballs and 'gummi' body parts....but it's the candy corn that sends my kids (and me) into raptures of delight....thankyou Pattee! xx

Of course I'll be adding things as we get closer to the 31st - blacklights, dry ice and such - and I'm hoping to do one or two new 'redead' dollies....I found a large, broken, walking one at the op-shop last week. Fun.

Till next time, Happy Halloweening!

The Faery Catcher

Well, this has been a really busy and excitement-filled week for me. I managed to start a new piece, which came about from a little doodly drawing that I did at the start of the week and by late that afternoon I had most of the face completed. The addition of horns was another couple of days work, but I'm very pleased with the result....also the hands, which I think are improving with each pair I make. I've since completed both hands and the feet (sorry, I forgot to snap them) and am at the body construction stage as of today. He will be big and fat with no neck to speak of....your basic thug really. I'm going to re-visit the "faery catcher" theme with this piece. I made a couple of 'ogreish' creatures with poor, trapped faeries some years ago and feel it's time for another go at a theme that (I'm embarrassed to admit) fulfills a perverse need in me to see pretty little faeries punished and in peril.

It's been very busy at the studio with it being school holidays....there are quite a lot of people out and about, especially when we get a bit of sun and blue sky. On Tuesday, a package from my lovely friend Pat arrived at the studio, filled with the most wonderful Halloween goodies....the best of them a gorgeous little Witch made by Pat. As my children can attest, I was in a state of almost giddy excitement while opening this magical box.....Halloween is not really celebrated here and the stuff that is available is generally pretty crappy.....so to receive this amazingly generous treat was truly delightful. Thankyou Pattee!!

Last week I also spent a wonderful afternoon with a high school friend I hadn't seen in over twenty years! It was weird and fantastic at the same time....she is just the same (not really, but you know what I mean....no huge personality morph) and I'm so looking forward to catching up again soon.

Other very exciting news is the launch of my friend Linda's website. Linda's work is, quite frankly awe-inspiring. Her botanical illustration is the best I have ever seen....she infuses her work with a joyfulness that is so rarely seen these days.....and her little "naturalist" faeries are just superb. If you are lucky enough to know Linda, you will know just how much her beautiful work is an extension of herself....her love of nature and in particular the tiny, intricate details of it, is inspirational. I can't wait for her exhibition!

Yesterday afternoon was spent at Joanne's exhibition launch, "Beyond the Boundaries" at the Stationmaster's Gallery. Joanne's textiles and drawings are also beautifully realized and sensitively executed, a real pleasure to view. The last two photos above were snapped yesterday, but the room was too full for me to get properly decent shots.....I particularly love the triptych of "Spring flowers" and the lovely "Flower Brooches" pinned to the cotton dress. You can see Joanne's work (in a much better light) on her blog.

Well, I'm off to the studio to put the faery catcher together. By the way, there are only four "eeriefae" left.......

Till next time.

"eeriefae"

Continuing the Halloween theme....have spent the past week making these little darlings. There are only 10 available and the plan is to have an edition of 10 available each year for Halloween. Of course, they will be different "eeriefae" each year, so should make a nice little collectible set. They've been wonderful fun to work on and you can check out their shop page here.

I'm still listening to the 'Harry Potter' audiobooks every day in the studio. I'm about halfway through 'Order of the Phoenix' and can honestly say that I'm getting more enjoyment from hearing them read by the great Stephen Fry than I did reading them myself years ago. I had quite forgotten how much they've left out of the movies or changed around....all the small details that make the books so compelling. If you love the movies, I thoroughly recommend experiencing the books this way.....just listening to Mr Fry do the voices is a real treat in itself!

The beautiful Spring weather we've been having the past couple of weeks came to a crashing halt today with a return to wintry cold, rain and wind. A bit of a rude shock really.....as someone who is always freezing during the cooler months, sunshine and blue sky does wonders for my energy levels and my mood. I hope the return to Winter doesn't last too long.

Before I sign off, my good friend and fellow 'Strathalbynite' Joanne Blackeby has finally got her blog up and running. Joanne is a very talented textile artist who creates beautiful, sensitive pieces that reflect her love of nature and the countryside that surrounds her. Being a very private person she was quite nervous about blogging, but I think she's done a lovely job. You can check out Joanne's blog here.

Till next time.