356 days 'til Hallowe'en

Yesterday we put away the last of the Hallowe'en tombstones... it's over.  I also closed down the Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat, it's over for another year too.  I did, however, take some photos before and during take-down and here's a few worth sharing.  

Here's a scary Willow emerging from our haunted dining room into our spooky hallway!  I used to put up the fence and silhouettes at the Library but now they have a great spot at home.  See the arms coming up out of the grate and the giant spider on the left?

When I was taking down the spiders that were on the balcony I laid them out on the floor to keep them from getting tangled up.  I then put away the ladder down the hall and walked back... to notice this rather creepy scene!!!  Geesh, I'd be running in the other direction!  Willow, on the other hand, decided to stay out on the balcony where it was safe.  

Online Hallowe'en Studio Tour opens!

It's October and our Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat opened!  Take a peak, I got 24 artists to take part and the variety and quality is scream-a-licious if I do say so myself!  We've already had 3 sales, so don't delay if you fall in love with something!  20% goes to the animals, so it's all worthwhile.

http://www.halloweenstudiotour.com/

The good ol' days

So we spent the weekend purging, filling 2 recycle bins with papers and magazines and setting aside about 2 boxes worth of books that will be brought to the Humane Society's annual garage sale.  It felt really great to create some wiggle-room!  I highly recommend it, if you're also the sort of person who has magazines from 2003.  Oops.

  This purging also brought me to go through a 4 inch stack of letters exchanged between 1998 and 2003 between myself and a Teddy Bear artist with whom I was sharing

Rita's traditional bears

an incredibly rich friendship.  I combed through these letters, reducing the pile to 1 inch, keeping only those of depth and that spoke of the Teddy Bear artists' world.  Imagine:  in 1998, my friend did 18 Teddy Bear shows, only one requiring plane travel, all the rest in the eastern United States, mostly New England.  18 Teddy shows, not combined doll shows or craft shows, but dedicated Teddy shows.  And she sold, making a fair living creating and selling her art!!!
Sadly, the world has radically changed (many of these shows no longer exist) and, even for my highly productive and well-known friend, it became impossible to survive only on the 

and her more adventurous creations

bears.  In 2002, she had to take a part time job, my friend noting that more and more crafters were coming on the scene trying to "make a quick buck" and that she was selling fewer and fewer animals, needing to diversify more and more.  How sad.  I wish I had been in a position to enjoy the 1990s boon, but I was only getting started and certainly not in a position to fly down into the States to do all these shows.


  I recently heard that the last long-running Canadian Teddy show, Mark McKay's Teddy Bears on Vacation, is closing its doors for a year to rethink its goals, with the impression that more and more of the attending people, seniors now, are looking to sell their collections, not add to them.  Bear artist Michele Seraphim also talks about this in her blog.  In my area, there are a few annual doll shows or joint doll/Teddy shows but no Teddy shows at all.

We, as a group, we Teddy and doll artists, very much need to rejuvenate our art and take it to a new generation, but how do you get teens and tweens to look up from their iPads and cellphones?  I don't know.  One thing that Michele talks about is the growth of online shows which makes the participating artists' work accessible to many more collectors (although losing the touch-and-feel aspect and the face-to-face contact).  I've been active in that area, of course, with my Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat with this being our 6th year!  Yes, I am looking for new participants so email me if you're interested or want to know more!  Let's keep our dreams alive and kicking!   

Thank you, Rita, you still have the power to inspire!
"To have a good friend is one of the highest delights of life; to be a good friend is one of the noblest and most difficult undertakings." --Anonymous

Hallowe'en trick or treat tour opens!

Happy October 1st! 

The Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat that I host is now officially open!  So click here and trick or treat with us, all to raise funds and awareness for animal charities selected by the artists!

Hallowe'en dreaming...

Only 84 days to Hallowe'en...

There's a subtle change in the air...

 

Something is brewing...






























Do you see what I see?

 

It's the 5th annual Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat!  Care you lend a hand in support?   Do you create Hallowe'en or seasonal art?  Then check out my tour at http://www.halloweenstudiotour.com/ with the guidelines at http://www.halloweenstudiotour.com/for_artists.htm and follow our blog: http://halloweenstudiotour.blogspot.ca/.

 

 

Hallowe'en treat from Teddy Bear and Friends magazine

Incredible news: my review for the 2012 Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat is in the current issue of Teddy Bear and Friends!  And they gave us a full page, all in color!  This is such a lovely surprise, I had thought that (when it didn't appear in the last issue) it wasn't accepted but here it is:  big, beautiful and eye-catching!  I'm especially pleased that Amanda Lollar's quote is included and that so many artists' creations cover the page!  Look at it, gorgeous! 

Thank you Teddy Bear and Friends! 

I have to admit that the tour's future is somewhat in jeopardy, but this is a wonderful moral booster and what a boon for the bats! 

 

My online tour, 4th time around!

This is what my world revolves around right now:  the spreadsheet for the Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat that I host.  The artists have sent in their photos and descriptions and I'm busily putting their "studio" pages together, keeping track of who sent what on my trusty (yes) hand-written sheet.  (I've smudged out the names so those artists who are LATE won't be overly embarrassed.)

  The art is AWESOME!!!  The artists are all so sweet, and creative and happy about the tour, but it is a ton of work and I'm creaking under the pressure a bit...  Organizing, finding and getting artists to join, advertising, and now putting the pages together... it's a constant, ongoing affair and August and September are complete write-offs.  This is the fourth year and I've decided that next year I will take a break.  I had so many plans for my own entrees for the tour and didn't find the time (make the time?) to get any of them finished, which is woefully sad since I knew I would be needing them since November 1st, 2011.  The witch shoe on wheels being pulled by demons, the mini skull magnets, the assortment of bat-head brooches... all still just dream-stuff.  Ah well...   

So 2013 will be mine to catch up with MY art, and rejuvenate for a glorious 2014 tour revival!

Year of the Bat!

2012 is the Year of the Bat! (Actually, officially, it's 2011-2012, but that's kinda weird so we'll just leave it at that.)

Anyway, there are all kinds of batty things going on, like this education program at http://www.batslive.pwnet.org/

"BatsLIVE: A Distance Learning Adventure is an exciting, free education program for children in the 4-8th grades and their educators, that will bring bat conservation to life in your classroom or community."

You can adopt an adorable injured bat at http://www.batworld.org or learn about conservation efforts at http://www.batcon.org They can also tell you what to do if you find a bat in your home or want to build a bat house.

And of course, come October, the Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat will again take place, raising funds for bat conservation!

January highs and lows!

So far, I've been able to keep my resolutions, all 4! Only Willow hasn't had quite the stimulating attention I'd like to give her, although she has enjoyed many long hikes and playing with the neighbour's puppy, Luna. Furthermore, she's a mess with infections, first eye and now bladder... I don't know what's going on inside her, but tomorrow's visit to the vet should get us on track. She certainly doesn't look stressed, does she? Only puts her Mom threw the wringer...

And on what have I spent my time? Purging, mostly books. I'm an addict, a book addict, so I tend to bring home far more material than I ever will read. So then I get depressed about it... so on January 1st I sat down and heavy-handedly removed all the items I realized I would never actually choose to read (with all the options out there) and removed more than 20 books (okay, not so heavy-handed!). I also tossed a lot of magazines, ripping out the articles I want to keep and recycling the rest. (There's is still a pile of "maybes" to weed through.)

Wow! It's nice to have some open space! My books are all now on shelves again! And I actually have created room to organize all the material for the Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat. My goal is to free up a 1 1/2 foot long shelf in my cupboard for the 3 year's worth of paperwork I've amassed. Yes, I'm recruiting for our 4th year, so if you're interested email me!! Five artists have already said YES so don't delay too long, I think the cap has to be around 25 artists. There will be some interesting statistics shortly at the Hallowe'en tour's blog, http://halloweenstudiotour.blogspot.com/.

UPDATE: Yup, bladder infection! So Willow's on antibiotics and is sleeping like the poor, exhausted, molested baby she is!

On top of the world!

So the Hallowe'en studio tour is up and running! The opening of the creaking gate went smoothly on Friday night, right around midnight and that marked the end of a long and hard climb... I didn't get to finish everything I'd planned on, but I'm very happy with the result. Furthermore, the artists all seem to be happy with the tour, as well as all the trick or treaters who have emailed... Here's to the bats!
I didn't finish my demon, he's still just an unfinished head... But there's still lots of time to create some of the Hallowe'en decorations I planned on making LAST year!!!

The thing about postage...

...is that it's ridiculously expensive, especially on small packets. Note to self: when having a sale and offering free postage, make sure to limit it to adoptions above $100, otherwise it simply doesn't make business sense. Example: to ship a $30 item from here within the US, it costs $7.46. Ouch!

In other news, I'm hunting for inspiration. The Hallowe'en tour blog has been opened up so that all the artists are authors and they're going to share their Hallowe'en works-in-progress, ideas, etc... with you all, but I have no idea what I want to make for the tour! I need inspiration, and yet I find it difficult to get into a creative mood. What to do????

Coverage in Teddy Bear Review and Dolls magazines!

Thanks to Teddy Bear Review's editor Joyce Greenholdt, the Online Halloween Artists' Studio Trick or Treat that I host will get a news report in Teddy Bear Review and Dolls! This is just wonderful and will certainly mean a lot in regards to how many people will visit the site come October 1st! WoW!!

This could be the turning point for the show, making our 3rd year the best yet and establishing it in the Teddy Bear and Doll communities! Of course, the tour isn't just Teddies and dolls, it will always be all sorts of art, but the Teddy world is where I'm coming from so obviously that's where my biggest connections are.
Interested in taking part? Talk to me! It's all about art, Hallowe'en and saving bats! If these three things get you excited, email me at woosel[at]wildmail.com and I can send you the requirements.

Out in the garden--back soon

I have two completely finished rat legs and 2 partially finished... not as far along as I'd hoped but... it's Spring! We were in the garden! It was so hot on Sunday we had ice cream outside! It was wonderful! And I had to take care of my roses, which still need to be sprayed with lime-sulpher to kill blackspot. This preventative seems to help, and it's environmentally friendly, although stinky!



I have finally finished moving the FaerieCon part of my website to a new space, thereby freeing up ad-free space for the Online Hallowe'en Tour. If you never have, check out our FaerieCon experience of November 2009 in Baltimore, MD. It was really magically, I hope some time soon to go again.



And finally a little Easter to get you in the mood. What, Easter? Yes, I do celebrate the other seasons as well, and the Easter eggs ARE black, made that way using chalkboard paint! (PS Hallowe'en is less than 200 days away!!!)

Mad March

I suppose blogging to me is like journal-ing, unfortunately very sporadic!

Thursday already... we did get the show table all set up and everyone arranged the way we like, and so now there are tags to make and paperwork... I have printed and cut 250 Hallowe'en Studio Tour bookmarks to hand out, and Bat Conservation International sent me 100 of their nifty circular bat stickers!

Also the rats' incisors look impressive and while at first I feared they were too big, they seem to be just about right. A very different look for my rats, they will be more rodent-like, less whimsical. I hope to work on the heads this weekend.

I have taken some time to read, a rare and much enjoyed treat! This gloomy faerie is from the back cover of Book One: Kin of "The Good Neighbors" graphic novel series (by Holly Black and illustrated by Ted Naifeh). She very much captures the dark mood of the past weeks, with Japan's nuclear disaster looming over everything...

Straw into gold

Where did the weekend go? It was full of ups and a huge, painful upset... that's life, I guess. Suffice it to say, Sarah Forrest will not be attending the Philly show. Anyway, them poor rats are now behind schedule...
Here are the fabrics I picked out today for their tails, ears, inner mouths and paws, upper and lower.


And I did find renewed inspiration! I will try real rat incisors (instead of my usual fangs) because of an incredible piece I purchased from B.C. artists Michael and Dianne of Moon Raven Designs. This is a bronze rat skull made from a mold of a real skull! Just magical! Look at those teeth! I've invited these talented arts to take part in my Online Hallowe'en Trick or Treat, I hope they say yes!!

And also inspirational was a horoscope shared by a colleague at work:

"Aquarius (Jan.20-Feb18) Horoscope for week of March 10, 2011

In the old fairy tale, the character known as Rumpelstiltskin had the power to spin straw into gold. That skill has a metaphorical resemblance to the wizardry you could pull off in the coming weeks: transforming seemingly ordinary or worthless stuff into a valuable asset. Although your work might seem a bit miraculous and make some people wonder if you've used hocus-pocus, the fact is that it may at times feel tedious or extremely demanding to you. Be gutsy in your mastery of the intricate details, Aquarius. I'll be thinking of you as the Gritty Magician."

Miraculous? Maybe not, but otherwise I thought it was pretty dead on, seeing the plans I have before me! On to the rats, who have taken names: Cere and Bella (from cerebella, "little brains")!

Well, the weekend was spent on lots of necessary activities that rounded out the end of (gulp!) February! Mom was able to spot the mistake I'd made in my business taxes FINALLY, so that's squared away! THANK YOU, MOM!!!


Tammi Beaulieu invited us to Cambridge on Sunday to feed the chickadees, a very tasty lunch out and a shopping trip through a favorite, Len's Mill! The chickadees actually landed in our hands to pick up sunflower seeds, it was magical on a gray, warmish-wet day. And Len's Mill had Hallowe'en stuff, left-overs I guess but new to me! What a treat! Thank you, Tammi!



Today I cleaned house and then updated the Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat's poster and bookmarks! 2011 here we come! Only 244 days to Hallowe'en, after all! Also I'm fiddling with Google translator, which I think will be very helpful on the site as we're trying to get a more international audience (and artists). It translates funny, as we can read the German and the French, but not too bad.

The Un-fun stuff

I'm so happy that Midsummer was born still in February, as that gives me time to do some un-fun but necessary things, like my accounting, and the (ugh) annual taxes. (Sigh.) I'm guessing the business taxes will take a day, but it's really just meticulous and detailed, not difficult.

And then there's some mending that needs to be done, and some other maintenance things. Ah well... The ratties are itching to be worked on, but so far they haven't been too impatient!

Also, I have to nail down the necessary paperwork to go to the Philly show! I have not been able to find anyone knowledgeable about this, who can say "here are the steps you need to take". Nor anything concrete online. I have a few contacts I need to pursue... Does anyone know the exact legal steps to take to go from Canada into the US to sell art and then return with the unsold items? Anyone?


Yes, being an artist involves lots of un-artsy stuff!!!! I wish it was all fun and creativity...


In the meantime, I have spent some late hours on the computer finding new animated gifs for the Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat! Yes, only 249 days to go to Hallowe'en, time's a flying!!!

And what's this? A new follower?? Is that you, KIM!!! Have the faeries once again returned you to our realm!? The email I have for you must be junk, so please do send me word that you're still alive! Yippy!

"Great Expectations" indeed!

The April 2011 "Teddy Bear Review" magazine includes Seian in their article "Great Expectations", about Teddy trends for the new year! Wow! She's surrounded by lots of diverse critters, take a peak!

Sarah Medina and Amber Rose Lawrence are also represented, both ladies took part in my Online Hallowe'en Artists' Studio Trick or Treat last year. And fellow Canadian Melanie Clark, showing off her multi-colored bunny, may be joining the tour! Perhaps we can entice her to share a Hallowe'en critter picture with us?

My little brother sent me this cartoon. Thank you, Eric!