Holiday Pix - part 2

As I said, I didn't want to carry my camera as we walked "The Strip" and visited the beautiful hotels. Vegas was shoulder to shoulder people over the holidays. They estimated 325,000 over Christmas and even more over New Year's!! Trust me, that's a lot of people trying to share a sidewalk.

One place I really wish I had taken the Canon was Bellagio's Atrium. It was GORGEOUS! These don't even come close to doing it justice but I'll post anyway.

On second thought, the camera would've been a waste. So. Many. People. Honestly, I don't know how paparazzi deal with it. Everyone jostling to snap a picture. I think 90% of the crowd was from another country (NOT exaggerating!) and they all had cell phones & selfie sticks. It got annoying after awhile.

Most of the decorations & figures at the Atrium are made from flowers.

I just did some googling. Here's a link with some nice video & statistics. Check it out here!

Holiday Road Trip!

We were blessed to visit family in Nevada for Christmas. Instead of flying, we chose to drive. I want to post a selection from each area we visited (America truly is "The Beautiful"). So here we go with Day 1 & 2.

Even though I have a great camera & lens, I found it easier to use the cell phone for quick snaps through the windows, so bear in mind - the following are not from the Canon.

I thought this would be a boring drive, knowing we were going thru the s/w section of Oklahoma & the Texas Panhandle. But there was beauty to be found, if you just looked for it.

Of course, I love seeing the wind farms and was excited when the first one came into view. Some we passed went on for miles.

We saw a LOT of trains! The neat thing was you could see them forever because of the flat landscape.

I got some video of two trains passing each other in opposite directions. It was almost hypnotizing, really a unique sight.

New Mexico was very scenic with its mesas or plateaus - not sure of the difference.

So many cool photo ops off the highway. I-40 runs alongside Route 66. We saw many things that were probably must-see tourist stops in the 50s-60s but are dead like roadkill today. Even so, they would make great urban-decay kind of photographs.

That would be a different plan for a road trip, though. You would need to be intentional about figuring in time to pull off the highway, backtrack & then get back on the highway. Or just plan a Route 66 trip.

Arizona was gorgeous! I thought it was just totally desert, but I'm told the southern route thru Phoenix is more like that. I-40 was hilly with pine trees & snow on the ground. I went looking for pictures, but it looks like I only shot a couple cell phone videos there. (videos take too long to upload here).

By the time we hit our northern trek towards Las Vegas, the sun was going down.

I remember we were listing to NPR during this time and all we could think of was an old SNL skit with Alec Baldwin, "Schweddy Balls." The radio hosts really do talk like that, all whispering monotone.

Getting closer! First casino in sight was at Boulder, NV. Our route didn't take us past or over Hoover Dam this time, which was disappointing. I saw it once before at night and it's magnificent.

Next up: Las Vegas!

Winter Dolls

Just a quick update from my last post. I had said I had some ideas in mind for the next dolls using DIY mercury glass. I wanted to submit these dolls for a show at a local gallery and the deadline was quickly approaching. So by the time I got them made & to the gallery, the holidays were here!

I was just about to post some pictures from our holiday road trip, but re-read my last post and thought I'd better make good on my promise first.

I called these two ladies "Winter Days" and "Winter Nights." Both have a faux mercury glass base with a peek-a-boo view to a white tree inside, surrounded by glittery snow.

They were fairly simple to make, .... well, put it this way - a third doll would be easy to make. Now that I've chosen, re-configured & combined some patterns for guidance and figured out how to set them in the base. Both dolls were a trial & error project.

The hands were so tiny, I couldn't get the fingers turned. I experimented with making clay hands but the color was so much darker than the face complexion. I thought painting the hands would solve that problem but it was a disaster. This is how designs evolve! Since they are winter dolls, hand muffs were perfect to hide the very imperfect hands!

I've got so many ideas for dolls & other projects this year. So much fabric, so little time! Here's to a Creative 2018!

The Evolution of Inspiration

One day I walked into my local library to pick up a reserved book and saw something wondrous - two display cases full of the most whimsical creations I'd ever seen.

They were called "art dolls" and were made of fabric and all manner of beads, buttons, cloth, clay, and assorted ephemera. I was captivated and knew I'd found a purpose for the beautiful fabric scraps & trims I had left over from my banner-making days.

I found out more about the group of people who made the dolls and went to their next meeting. It was love at first sight! They had a time of show & tell for their recent club "challenge." I think the challenge was to randomly draw a color, then make a doll entirely in that color scheme. The results were amazing.

Since that time, I've been privileged to learn SO much from them and benefit from the fantastic artists the club has brought in to teach workshops. Barbara Schoenoff, Angela Jarecki, Cindee Moyer, Paula McGee, Arley Berryhill, Sherry Goshon, just to name a few. You might not be familiar with these names, but they are very well known in the world of figurative arts. They are members of prestigious art guilds and published in magazines. What great opportunities I've had to learn directly from them!

Even within our club, we have experienced, creative, skilled people who share their techniques at our monthly meetings. Which brings me to my pictures...

In our October meeting, Laura, the club president, did a demonstration on using a product called Rigid Wrap. You can see the demo on our Facebook page; scroll down to Oct 7. For some reason, that spurred a rabbit trail of ideas that, in the end, weren't connected, but caused me to venture out on my own (usually I rely on a pattern or make something once in a workshop and don't do anything else until the next workshop).

I've always thought those Pure Leaf ice tea bottles had an interesting shape that might make a cool doll base. Finally, a reason to test my idea! I cut out a window, sprayed the bottle silver and used the rigid wrap to create an icicle effect. Some fake snow & diamond dust completed the look. (I confess to some fun Game of Thrones flashbacks as I formed the icicles).  A nice touch would be to add those teeny craft lights to the inside. Think I might pick up a few after Christmas.

I needed an actual doll pattern for guidance and this one from Cindee Moyer fit the best. But after 3 frustrating attempts at turning her tiny cloth fingers, I made some clay hands. Another first! I enjoyed that so much, I made 3 more pairs for the next dolls I have in mind. This one was kind of a prototype. There's a few things I'll do differently and spend more time on, but overall I do like this icy blue pouffy princess.

The next doll is part two of the disconnected inspiration I had during Laura's demonstration. I love the look of mercury glass and last year converted several cheap vases into vintage decorations for the mantle. Can you see where I'm going with this? I've already done the bases and hands. I found some gorgeous, wintry fabric on super-sale. As soon as I click "publish" on this blog, I'm going to get started. Stay tuned to see how this idea transpires!

A Taste of Autumn

Want to see some autumn colors from Oklahoma?

There's a nature preserve a few miles from us that, in over 30 years, we've never checked out!

Last Sunday the weather was so perfect. After church, I declared a convertible ride/photo venture afternoon. Hubby obligingly said "sure, where to?"

I didn't have a clue. I felt like I've photographed everything within an hour's ride around here. Then I remembered this Red Bud Valley Nature Preserve I'd heard about over the years.

It's like going to another state, it's so different than the rest of this locale. We weren't dressed for this somewhat rugged hike, so we only did half of it. All I wanted was a few fall-color pix anyway :)

I'm looking forward to going back in the spring.