Unusual Girl Studios

I'm in that stage wherein I can not stop staring at this lady.  She is soo pretty! If she looks a little grey around the gills- its because she's supposed to.  Remember- she's a ghost.  A haunted war bride. She's waiting, trunk packed for her serviceman to arrive.  But sadly he never does.  I thought I'd sew her dress on.  Instead I hot glued it.  Sewing and I don't mix well. I challenged myself to use pieces and parts of some antique ladies dress gloves and believe me- I about went bonkers trying to create a dress.  Everywhere there was a pretty detail or pattern there was a seam as well!   I have an embroidered hanky that will be her veil but I will show you that later.  The next steps will be creating the platform that she's attached to.  What will it look like? I don't have a clue!  I do know that I will paint the dress white (some of these gloves were badly stained) and then wash over it with gr...

Just wanted to share with you......my very first published article! I submitted my Sara, "The Little Princess" for the Art Doll Quarterly challenge and they very kindly asked me to do an article.  Of course, I said yes! (And then I called or texted everyone I knew that would even begin to care and shouted the whole story to them!) I'm having a hard time keeping up on my blog.  I'm back to working full time and teaching part time.  I have another sculpture going and I can't wait to get a minute to put some paint on her- "The Haunted War Bride." She has hair, shoes and a dress.  She needs paint to make her look ghostly.  A black steamer trunk and maybe just a few other details.  The hardest part will be making her look ghostly!  Luckily its Halloween and I should have lots of inspiration! Hope everyone is well and busy being creative~ take care!

Has it really been since August 22 that I last published?  I told you all that I would be away studying for a licensing exam and that I was.  Every last waking moment has been spoken for.  I started up my fall semester of teaching as an adjunct.  I started a new job and got the girls started up in school.  In the moments left between all that (I think those moments were meant for sleeping but what ever...) I studied my proverbial butt off.  Only somehow it didn't get smaller- if anything it got larger.  So much for the exercising I did in the months of May, June, July and August. The exam?  Brutal.  I was told it was like nothing else I had ever done and that was correct.  Two days- one of multiple choice exams that lasted three and a half hours each.  The next day was practicum.  That was two four hour sessions that were so crammed with mind boggling drafting exercises that challenged all my skills and knowledge so much t...

I'm naked and I have man hands. Not really sure how to follow that statement- except with the evidence! This lady is my haunted war bride in progress.  Its for the ADQ Bride challenge and I have until Dec 15???? I think??? to finish her.  Which considering all I have going on would seem impossible.  I'm starting a new job and I am very excited about it.  I'm preparing for the NCIDQ exam and am very apprehensive about it.  (That's certification for interior designers and its a humdinger of a two day exam that a lot of people don't pass on their first go round.) But, I don't want to talk about those things right now.  I am just popping in to show you my naked lady. See, I have to sculpt the body even though it will be covered by a gown to get the gesture correct.  By gesture, I mean the over all positioning of the figure.  What I didn't count on was how therapeutic this work would be.  There's so many things going on that I can't contr...

I'm a little side-tracked right now, folks!  I've got some things going on and they are all good!  Can't wait to share but I need just a little more time to nail the details down.  BE RIGHT BACK!

Well, I don't know what you guys were all worried about! She turned out just fine.  I gave the Matriarch an underskirt and now you can see the Maiden.  There.  Simple, easy, done.    Ok, so really it was me that was in the proverbial quandry, I admit.  Sometimes it gets near to the end of the project and you think you should have been done already but you know things aren't quite right.  And, if you are a busy person this can be a bit frustrating.  After all- I'm on to my new challenge.  Haunted Bride!  Do you know if you research these words on the internet there's really not much out there?  I thought the internet had it all but I was dissaopointed.  I took a bazillion pictures because I'm insane that way.  Plus I wanted to try back lighting behind the fabric which the above shot shows quite clearly.  Not sneaking that one past anyone. and I should have brightened up the picture of the back for you ...

Remember how I said I was painting the girl's room a shade of turquoise that was so pretty I wanted to lick it? Well, this is it.  I don't know if it shows as well in the picture- perhaps you have to be right on top of it to fully enjoy its depth and luminosity.  Maybe you do have to lick it.  Just sayin'. Accessories are the finishing touch so I had to get rid of their old jewelry boxes and came up with something new.  By 'came up with' I mean 'wasted a whole Sunday on them'. Thought I'd share with you- but be kind- I am not the queen of decoupage. A couple of heart shaped paper mache' boxes and some glass drawer pulls and my stash of images and I was set to go.  For Brooke's box I had altered photo's of the queen herself.   For Kayla's I used her drawings- the super cute blue line drawings of fashionable ladies. This way they each had a reflection of the individual girl's personalit...

Yes, I do believe that.  And to help you along I am going to give you instructions.  First off- you must have photshop and be able to open it.  You must already be able to open a file in photoshop.  Laugh if you want, but I had to take a class to even do that.   Start with an image that speaks to you.  I thought this one would give some interesting contrast because of the light on the face.  Open it as a new file. Then start messing around with those filter options.  I like to pull down the filter gallery.  In my humble opinion filters are the very best part of this program- SOOO FUN!  Now, I'd like to tell you how I made the image look like this.....but I don't remember.  Actually it went something like this....hmmm, yeah...this is ok...but let's try another option....Oh...COOOOL!  Uh, crap!  How'd that happen?  (Yeah, its that kind of tutorial- did you expect anything else from me???) ...

My girl doesn't like it when I take pictures of her when she's sleeping.  "Don't Sleep." Says woman who gave birth to her.  This time, two years later, its morning time that I caught the light on her face.  This is rare- me up before her...I'm a night owl and she, like her father is up with the birds.  Today it must be the dream of butterflies keeping her in this slumber. Ok, so really I'm trying to learn photoshop.  Before you are too impressed this took me two hours and I haven't showered yet.  On the to do list- everything!  I just got the newest edition of ADQ- Art Doll Quarterly and the challenge is BRIDES.  Why so excited?  Because the idea of doing a haunted or forgotten bride has been hanging around the edges of my creative mind for months!  So haunted- forgotten- perhaps war time bride it is!!!!! Then there's those paintings in process...can't sell them if they never leave the basement.... But first....have to rem...

Remember this?  I sold it.  And then commissioned one.  Yes, a man was so saddened when he had learned that he missed his chance to buy this that his darling (and she was a sweetheart) wife contracted me to create another one. You know what's hard?  Commissioned art.  At least with a personality like mine.  Will they like it as much as the one they saw?  Its not the same.  Not exactly the same.  Will she like it as much as he did? OMG, what if she hates it?  What if it doesn't go with their furniture and then she hates him for it?  And every time she looks at it all she can think is 'God, how I hate that!'  What IF??????  Really, I like it when people just buy the one in front of them.  Sure, it sounds fancy to say "I've been commissioned...." But is it worth the stress? Well, farts and feathers, folks- I sweated this one.  I even drove over to the new home of the first painting and held them side by side....

You haven't seen this one in awhile! I deviated away from my general course and just came back round to her.  I think her name is The Matriarch.     I looked on my blogger profile and it said I hadn't posted since June 14th!  Well, all I can say is that things are not normal around here.  I am not used to being home and do not know how to structure my time.  I'm like this at the 'all you can eat' buffet.  I take a little bit of everything that looks good, in no particular order and in the end I have way too much to eat- can't get to it all.  That's my life right now.  The plate is still overly full- just with different stuff. I thought I could organize myself to share this little bit with you.  Sometimes I am happy with her progress, sometimes not.  Its my first creature and as I really didn't follow a predetermined design concept- well, its been a wandering path to say the least.  I did not know she would be so c...

Helloooooo!  I feel like I have been away.  Away in the basement anyways.  The last couple of weeks of school are crazy- I think everyone knows this.  Field trips, field day, class parties, locker cleanout....and officially this is the first week I have been a full time parent.  The girls are still alive but yesterday....it was touch and go on that!  I was so mad that when we went to the gym (still HATE any kind of exercise because it takes to long and is yucky and boring- who likes to sweat, really?) I made them walk around the outdoor track twice and told them if they complained or fell behind we'd do it three times.  I think they know when I'm at the end of my rope- there was no complaining. So back to the basement- this is the next mixed media piece I thought I'd try.  Its not finished but I wanted to share with you.  I've taken to driving around staring into the ditches for certain grasses and weeds.  FYI- the grasses are talle...

Well, its the end of the school year.  Time to thank the two ladies that influenced my children in a great direction!  I didn't want to donate to the gift card.  Why?  Because I'm not a joiner?  Because I want to stand out rather than share the spotlight?  Because I want a personalized gift that they can keep and always remember?  Because I want to impress upon them that I can't participate as a classroom volunteer because (loud children scare me) I've been so busy working and being creative?  Because I want to do both gifts for very little money but not look cheap?  Bingo. I saw an ornament made from a puzzle piece in a magazine and it stuck with me.  'I should do something like that' I always think.  Then the idea came to me and unfortunately would not leave me- like ringworm.  I would make a mobile. I found the very largest puzzle I could find at my local store.  Turns out the fewer the pieces- the large...

This is a bit of a departure from my usual work.  The project came about because I had a departure from work. Last week was my official first week of being laid off from my job of seven years.  Now, this is where I have to break into song- in particular- "Don't cry for me, Argentina~~~" This is a good thing, this lay off.  At least in terms of making a break and taking a different direction.  I will have to tighten the purse strings a bit- thank goodness I have tons of art supplies in my cupboards already!!!  The coffee shop called to see if I was ok.   Hobby Lobby and Michaels were concerned that I needed only a basket rather than my usual cart.    A relative asked if I had found any leads yet to which I answered with a resounding "NO."  Crimeny, its been like two minutes! Oh, the artwork.....Well, that's what I have been busy (obsessed) with!  I have some things in a consignment shop, including the ...