Tag Archives: spirit doll

Apoxie Sculpt, clay, fabric, faces, textile bird

Person or bird?

December 23, 2019 Maria G

Person or bird? You have to make up your own mind. 🙂 I have been interested in Apoxie Sculpt for a long time, and finally took the plunge and bought the materials needed for this kind of clay exploration. So I made a face. It looks just like my other clay faces with the exception of hardness. Wow, what a difference! You can sand and drill Apoxie, it’s that strong.

If you want to try Apoxie Sculpt, watch some YouTube videos on the process and wear gloves when mixing the two parts. There is a safety video to watch too. The fumes are not dangerous, but you can develop skin irritation from handling the compounds. I found it hard to sculpt with gloves on! Now I have to find the best gloves to use.

Here’s another face I made, and she became a spirit doll.

spirit doll with Apoxie Sculpt face — Spirit doll

I tried my hand at armature, a first for me. Using aluminum foil I fashioned a bird and added some wire legs. Then I rolled out some Apoxie Sculpt and added thin layers all over the bird. It has 1-3 hours working time, which was tricky. It’s very soft at first, and then it hardens as time passes. I found that the little bird I made on top collapsed because it was too soft. It was hard to work with at first. The whole thing hardens to rock in 24 hours.

I need to work on the timing of sculpting different details. Practicing often is the key. 🙂 I discovered that it takes paint very well. On polymer clay, you can rub off the paint if you try hard, but with Apoxie, it’s solid. That made me very happy since I love to paint my pieces.

It was fun making the soft sculptures with some primitive stitching and poly fill. My sewing machine is cluttering up my kitchen table, but before I put it away, I might make some more sculptures. It’s always good to stretch creatively.

I’m tempted to make another crow sculpture as in my previous post.

I’m a bit intimidated by the work involved. The most fun part was painting, dressing, and adding the accessories. I’m not a good seamstress so sewing the body was a struggle.

Making a crow spirit doll — Crow spirit doll

Anyway, Christmas is almost here, so it’s time to close out this year’s blogging, but I’ll be back next year with more tutorials and fun stuff. 🙂

I had a lot of sales in my etsy shop for the holidays, but there are so many things to browse, and I add more stuff all the time. Take a gander: Earth and Faery.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. I wonder what this new decade will have to offer. I’m sure it’s not going to be boring…

Peace and love, Maria

animal totem, greatness, spirit doll, textile bird

The makings of greatness

December 10, 2019 Maria G

She had the “makings of greatness” as the saying goes but never amounted to anything. What a whopper of judgment and out-and-out lie! If you are breathing and walking, you are a success. The rest is judgment. We are always a work in progress.

We are always in the process of greatness

As I create my art, it creates me too. The struggle and the many minor difficulties are part of living. The clay I mold is how life molds me, and there is adding and taking away, smoothing, and digging, and carving. It does not end until I die and likely goes on from there.

It’s so easy to judge everything and everyone around us, but what a limitation! What do we really know about others and their work? I don’t want to put limitations on my life, but to be fluid in life is to let go in every moment. Go with the flow as they say.

I realize I have so many items in my Etsy shop that I have to branch out. Part of life is discipline, which helps us move along and not get stuck, but sometimes there is too much “making” and not enough “creating.”

The makings of a crow

I found a doll pattern by Susan Barmore of a crow and decided to try my hand at making one. I bathed in frustration for days and blamed my sewing machine for the clumsy sewing. But good comes to those who persevere… Discipline – perseverance – makings of greatness.

The feet were not that hard to make since I have made several for other projects. Sewing never came easy to me, and I can never get one side looking the same as the other even if I follow the pattern exactly. But it’s not about perfectionism.

Gray cotton fabric was great to work with, and the crow could stand on her own two feet.

I used black satin craft paint and it got all over me, the table, and the crow. 🙂 I dry-brushed some purple paint that never showed up when dry, and on top, I added some copper paint.

When I had painted the crow, all the fun commenced. I stained some fabric to make the dress, made a clay bird and talisman for the necklace.

It was hard to get good pictures of the black-painted bird. The black seemed to eat all the light.

The most important part

I kept a prayerful frame of mind (for the most part), and also added prayers to the actual doll. Crow is one of the smartest birds, and the energy of intelligence, fluidity, curiosity, agility, and courage they embody is inspiring.

You can purchase this healing doll at Earth and Faery, and there are loads of other things in the shop as well.

December is a busy month, but I hope you’ve had some time to make things. I made some items to give to my friends, but so as not to spoil the surprise, I will post pictures in my next blog post.

If you missed my last post, another stuffed bird I made, the Dastardly Owl, you can check it out. I’ve been into birds lately.

To move into greatness, which is some kind of elusive goal we made up, keep going, create, get surprised as the art takes over and becomes much more than we ever intended.

Lots of love this holiday season! Remember to breathe.

affirmation, art journaling, art making, Christmas, clay, crafts, mixed media, mosaic, polymer clay mosaic, process

Busy time in my studio

September 25, 2018 Maria G

Busy time in my studio. This time of year it’s always good to stay busy so that I have lots of inventory for the Christmas season.

It’s not all about selling and producing though.

I’m still doing my art journaling almost every day because I can’t stop! Part of me is critical of the process–always, but another part is really addicted to the evolution of my art.

Whereas my crafts give me great satisfaction, they don’t always delve deeply into the process of creation like art journaling does. I try to keep a balance. They all move me forward on my creative journey.

All of it makes for a happy day. 🙂 No matter how challenging art can be, it makes me happy to create. What more can I ask for?

Busy is good too. The juices are flowing; inspiration is like an overflowing river, and ideas pop up constantly. It’s been a long while since I felt this inspired.

I finished the spirit doll that I started a couple of months ago. (Check out my previous post.) Here are some pictures of recent creations.

I painted the wooden box in various colors, attached paper to the interior back of the box, and then added my doll. She inspires Courage, something we need every day.

Here are some other samples of new things. They are all available in my etsy shop.

I had fun with this watch casing. The portrait is a miniature painting, and I tell you, it was fiddly and tricky to paint.

I started making these four-inch plaques with stamped affirmations at the bottom. So much fun! I like the idea of reminding folks that we are all perfect just the way we are.

You are worthy!

I also made some more clay faces for doll making or to use as an ornament. I wasn’t sure if there would be any interest but I sold some. Now I’m working on creating a cat face mold.

Sculpting in clay is not easy…

New ideas keep me fresh and eager to move forward. I may have to sculpt many cat faces before I’m satisfied, but the main point is to plunge into action. The rest takes care of itself.

If you’re feeling blocked or full of resistance, plunge in anyway. It’s the only way forward. 🙂

What are you working on now?

Please check out my etsy shop, Earth and Faery. It’s full of new items.

Lots of love,

Maria

art, clay, creativity, mixed media, polymer clay mosaic, spirit doll

Spirit doll faces and more

July 11, 2018 Maria G

Spirit doll faces are new to me. I have always wanted to try self-drying clay, but I know it doesn’t work well for my mosaic tiles. I did get inspired by cruising on etsy to try my hand at some free-form sculpted faces.

To finish them, I used the same process I use for painting mosaic tiles. I have a video on YouTube on how to paint tiles. VIDEO

I had so much fun and they are pretty easy to make. I used a purchased face mold and then sculpted the edges as I felt inspired.

I could use all of my favorite colors!

To get the imprints I used rubber stamps mostly. I also added some clay “hair” and the pieces fused well to the clay as it dried.

I’m playing with making a doll in a shadow box, but so far, I’m not very happy with the result. Assembly with lots of materials is tough, but it’s always fun to try something new.

I’m using hand-painted fabrics, but nothing is finite in this picture. Just playing!

The faces are now available in my etsy shop Earth and Faery.

I also made one of my mini shrines so far this week. They are pretty popular but somewhat labor intensive since every part has to be cut out and molded individually.

You are blessed indeed! 🙂

I’m having fun with clay and polymer clay. What are you working on? It’s important to spend part of every day in the studio for art exploration = self exploration.

Let me know in the comments if you like the spirit doll faces. Thanks.

Have a creative rest of the week.