FOLK ART DOLL WORKSHOP NOW AVAILABLE!

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Visit the WORKSHOPS page on this blog for more information....

Meet Jax

Jax is a very loving little girl. She wears all of her emotions on her sleeve. She spends most of her time walking in the woods, finding creatures big and small to play with. She prefers animals over humans any day. Humans can be mean sometimes but the animals are always loving.


Jax is sculpted in air dry clay over an armature. She is 6.5 inches tall. Her details were added in acrylics, paper and pastels. her eyes are acrylic and she stands. jax is sculpted without the use of any molds and is a true one of a kind original. She is signed and dated. You can find her in THE ETSY SHOP. OOPS...SHE SOLD!!!

Those of you who tuned in for Open Studio last night saw the beginning process of making her. I will be adding a fast motion video of her making later today. I will also be offering a workshop on how to make her, step by step, in real time. More info on that later.

Hugs,
Moriah

The Mad Hatter

I finished the Mad Hatter this evening! He is the first in a series of 5 Alice in Wonderland character dolls, so stay tuned for the others...

As you saw in the video, I started with a doll body constructed of various wood pieces. I added Paperclay to the base and then let it dry. Next, I used acrylic paints, pastels and pencil to add color. To wig him, I used mohair and applied the hair in rows starting at the nape of his neck and working my way up. The hat is made from MANY layers of card stock and pages from a book, then sealed and painted. I used beads and ribbon to decorate his top hat. From his base to the top of his hat, he measures 5.5 inches tall. He is signed and dated on his base. I'll be adding him to the ETSY SHOP sometime tomorrow.

Back to work......

Moriah

Hatter... in progress...

Remember the video I put up the other day of me sculpting in my studio? Remember the doll I was working on? Well, here he is now, almost done, just needs his hat. (Sorry about the blurry photo, I used my cell phone instead of my camera).





What are you working on today?

Moriah

Beezle Finally Has Limbs

I started this doll way back during the OWOH Blog Event. I gave away a doll I named Clara for the event. The story was, she was stood up for the school dance by Beezle. This is Beezle....

He finally got some arms and legs today! Now on to painting, wigging and costuming.... more later!

Moriah

Playing Around...

Another blog friend of mine told me I should try Portfolio Water Soluble Oil Pastels. She said she loves them.

So, tonight while catching up on some tv that I had recorded the previous week, I sat down with my art journal/sketchbook to play around with them.

I like them and don't like them all at the same time. I want to play around with them a bit more though before I make any kind of definate judgement about them.

Anyway, here's what I did while watching Castle...

I only used the oil pastels, pencil and a bit of ink on this. I really just wanted to get the feel of the pastels. I also realized that I'm really on a clown kick lately!

Moriah

Answers and Chit Chat...2 part video

We Interupt This Program To Bring You The Following News Alert:

Beginning this coming Tuesday, April 20th, MLB Studios is going LIVE!

Every Tuesday evening, starting at 10 pm EST, I will be holding OPEN STUDIO! With the help of Ustream.com, I will be streaming live from my studio as I work on projects. I'll be able to see any of your comments and questions and will be able to answer or respond verbally while I work. Cool, right? I'm very excited about the whole thing!

So, starting this Tuesday, tune into my blog at 10pm EST to join me LIVE in the studio!

See you soon!

Moriah

A Little Video of Me Sculpting Today.....

Her Name is Mica but.....

......they call her Bird Girl..

Mica is sculpted in paperclay with acrylic eyes. I used watercolor pencils, colored pencils and acrylic paints to give her color. Her skirt is made from the pages of a book. Mica stands on her own and measures 8 inches tall. She's in the ETSY SHOP.

Moriah

Do You Ever Wonder.....

..... how I made something or what I used in a piece or what supplies I have in my studio? Have you had a question in your mind that you didn't ask because you thought you shouldn't?

I put a lot of my creations on my blog and every once in a while I'll do a free tutorial video but I never really go into too much detail about how I make anything. The reason I don't is usually because I don't want to take the time to type it all out. It's not because I'm trying to keep secrets. Frankly no one, including myself, invented the techniques we use in our art. People do love to claim ownership of techniques in the art world but I can almost guarantee when they did it for the first time and reported it, 100s of others have done it too and just haven't shared their discovery or felt the need to stick a flag in it and claim it as their own.

So, what I'd like to do is instead of taking the time to list everything I do and/or use for my pieces when i show them here is give you an open invitation to ask me questions that you're curious about. Don't be shy, I don't bite. You can either leave a comment here, on the blog post you have a question about and I'll answer there or you can email me and I'll answer you privately.

So, ask away! Wanna see my studio, no problem. Wanna know what paints I use? no problem. Wanna know how I go about making a doll? no problem.. Just ask.

Couldn't Sleep....

.... so why not work???

I put aside the fairy to work on more tomorrow and then headed off to bed. After staring at the ceiling for an hour, I gave up on sleep and went back to work in the studio.

I started sculpting this little cutie this afternoon. I just finished sculpting her and added her skirt and now I'm getting ready to paint after I get the rest of the clay dry. I think this is where I'm going to stop with her for tonight and try to go back to bed. Tomorrow I'll trim up her skirt and prep her for paint.

I'll get busy on painting her and working more on the fairy tomorrow afternoon, so stay tuned.....

Goodnight!

moriah

Moving Right Along..

Remember this???




I started working on her again yesterday. I thought (and so did others) than her boobs were just a bit too big so the first thing I did was give her a breast reduction. Wow! Did you hear the gasps and groans of the male readers?? my goodness!

Anyway, after her breast reduction I gave her some paint, a bit of decoration on her dress and face and finally i gave her hair. I'm not done yet, I still have to make and add her wings, arms and some bits and bobs here and there but I thought I'd give you a peek at where I'm at with her now.





I think I'll wait until tomorrow to start on the wings, or maybe not. I'll stare at her for a bit and decide. What's on your work table??

Moriah

A Monster Under My Bed.....

You may remember several months ago I signed up for a doll swap over at Zan Asha's blog, Wild at Heart Art. She hosted a swap called Monster in the Closet. Well...... I got paired up with the wonderful Kimberly Turner of Soggy Dog Studios and was excited to get started. I showed WIP pics of the monster I was working on and Kim was all excited to receive him, AND THEN......
the monster got knocked off of my work table and broke in 2 places... :( ... sigh....

So, rather than try to fix it and send her a doll that may or may not be structurally sound, I opted to make another monster doll for her. I felt so bad but what could I do, ya know? Anyway....

I was going to throw out the other monster but my husband begged me to repair it and finish it because he would like to have it. I argued that it might not be repairable, blah blah but he wore me down and I agreed. I agreed to have it finished for him by Christmas of 2009! I was a little late... I just finished him yesterday....sigh..... Thank goodness my husband loves me and has patience!

Before I show you the finished doll, I wanted to share with you the story behind him.

When I was little I really did think there was a monster under my bed. Every night I would line my stuffed animals all around the edge of the bed and I'd kiss each one and apologize for putting them there. My strategy was that if the monster reached up to grab me, he'd grab a stuffed animal instead. HORRIBLE of me, right?? I know, I know! Luckily, not a single stuffed animal went missing!

So, this monster is MY monster under my bed, eating my stuffed animals!






Another unfinished project off of my work table and TODO list! Whoo hoo!

Back to work....

Moriah

You're Invited... Will I See You There?

Inspiration Avenue is hosting a fabulous Blog celebration. You won't want to miss this one! Just click on the badge below to head over to the blog and get all of the information and I'll see you at the party!

Late night painting.....

I have, probably, 10 or so of these little canvases sitting in my studio that I picked up at Michaels in the kids crafts section for a buck or two each.....

Each one of these has a little design on them for kids to paint like coloring in a coloring book.
I just gesso over the design and use them as I wish.

Well..... today I watched a video on Youtube by Sarah Brighton of gypsysoulcreations and was inspired to make a bird of my own. I have been making little whimsical birds for quite awhile now, but wanted to do one inspired by her bird doodles. Check out her video below:

And here is what I came up with:

I gessoed the canvas and then added a strip of vintage sheet music. then I penciled in the drawing of the bird. I added watercolor to the sheet music and background and then painted the bird itself in acrylics. For a final little bit of decoration, I added some shiny bits to the bird's plumes.

I had fun with this. It was nice to just play around with a doodle and not take it so seriously.

Hugs,

Moriah

Circus Repost with Added video.....

.... She's finally finished!

YEP, IT'S A BOOK!!!!!

Whoo hoo!

One more WIP (work in progress) off of my to do list and finished! Now on to the 3000 other ones.... sigh... :)

Hugs,

Moriah

Coming Together, Bit By Bit

Back to Work...

The Circus Comes to Town

I have a project that has been sitting around for months and months. Tonight, when I was supposed to be organizing my studio, I was inspired to work on it. Here is what I've been doing..... I have more pieces than this finished but I don't want to give it away yet. So, stay tuned. Hopefully I'll actually finish it sometime tomorrow and can show you the finished piece.

Happy Easter!

I hope you and your friends and family have a wonderful day doing whatever it is that you do to celebrate this time of year!

Changes..

Now that Blogger has added Pages as a feature for the blogs, I have changed the blog template to a really clean, no fuss design and added pages at the top. You'll be able to get more information by clicking on the tabs in the menu bar at the top of my blog. I'm still working on everything and adding content but I'm so happy they added this ability!

For those of you that follow my blog via RSS feed, please go to the actual blog page occassionally to see new content added.

Okay, back to work...

Moriah

A Magnet Swap...

Debbie over at ontherefrigeratordoor.blogspot.com hosted a magnet swap and I couldn't resist signing up.

I was paired up with Gina over at unpinklife.blogspot.com.

Today I received the magnets that Gina picked out for me from a seller on Etsy. They are so pretty and so colorful. They look amazing on my boring white refrigerator! They are really small, like the size of a scrabble tile and yet they are so pretty and lively! Apparently, they are prints of the seller's silk designs and I love them. Thanks so much, Gina!






I sent Gina 3 of my handpainted and collaged house magnets....I kept the blue one...

Thanks for a fun swap ladies!

Moriah