Sunday, January 18, 2015

Sea urchins necklace

When I first started experimenting with oil paints for more than antiquing I made some jewelry to play around with surface treatments. The oil paint has a very different finish than the clay and I love the matte finish it gives. These are scuplted out of white Premo and painted various shades of red and orange in the water based oils and then antiqued in white oil paint.

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Rocket pug ornament

This little rocket powered dog is flying at light speed through space to come to this post today.  He is sculpted out of white Premo and painted with water based oil paints.  He is in the personal collection of Martha Aleo/Ken Baskin

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Spooky skull ornament


This spooky skull had a good dental plan. He's more on my level when it comes to Halloween, spooky mixed with cute. He is sculpted out of white Premo and painted and antiqued with water based oil paints. His teeth are a good example of putting the oil paint on thick versus thin which is why they look like enamel.

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Zombies Zombies Zombies ornament


I'm not a big fan of Zombies to be truthful but I thought I'd try to make something a bit more horror themed rather than cartoonish. This zombie is having a bad day since someone clobbered with with piece of wood. He is sculpted out of white Premo and painted with water based oil paints.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Alien flower accent lamp

 I admit it sometimes the stuff that comes out of my head is as much a surprise to me as it is to everyone else. This lamp certainly qualifies, I rarely plan things ahead of time while sculpting but I had made a small version of this while playing with scrap clay and decided it would make a great lamp. The main part is translucent Premo and the tendrils are gold and fluorescent pink.  I love the way it looks lit up.

Man on the moon accent lamp

  The last man on the moon is the largest and most complex.The man on the moon was sculpted out of translucent and glow in the dark Premo. The base is sculpey He is antiqued with water based oil paints and covered in a glow in the dark varnish to give him even more glow
In order to make the lamp I sculpted the moon over a large glass ornament leaving an opening on the bottom and broke out the glass. 


When lit he glows and since he has glow in the dark clay in him he continues to softly glow even after the light goes out. 

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Good night moon necklace

 You are probably getting tired of moons by now but here is another "Good night moon" was sculpted out of white Premo. He is painted and antiqued with water based oil paints and covered in a glow in the dark varnish to give him even more glow

Smiley Man on moon necklace

 I was obsessed with man on the moon imagery for a bit and I created a series of ornaments and jewelry based on that theme. This is one of them, Smiley was sculpted out of white Premo. He is painted and antiqued with water based oil paints and covered in a glow in the dark varnish to give him even more glow

Thanks for visiting Man on the Moon necklace

 The man on the moon theme continued with this pendant. "Thanks for visiting" was sculpted out of white Premo. He is painted and antiqued with water based oil paints and covered in a glow in the dark varnish to give him even more glow

Who me? Man on the moon ornament

Another man on the moon I created, part of a series of ornaments and jewelry based on that theme. "Who me?" was sculpted out of white Premo. He is painted and antiqued with water based oil paints and covered in a glow in the dark varnish to give him even more glow. 

Ouch my head Man on the Moon ornament

My obsession with man on the moon imagery continues . I created a series of ornaments and jewelry based on that theme. This is one of them, "Ouch my head" was sculpted out of yellow and glow in the dark Premo. He is accented and antiqued with water based oil paints and covered in a glow in the dark varnish to give him even more glow.

Killer smile man on the moon ornament

I was obsessed with man on the moon imagery for a bit and I created a series of ornaments and jewelry based on that theme. This is one of them, "Killer smile" was sculpted out of yellow and glow in the dark Premo. He is accented and antiqued with water based oil paints and covered in a glow in the dark varnish to give him even more glow.

Day of the Dead jewelry suite

This earring and necklace set started out in an interesting way. I purchased a small mold of a Mardi Gras mask because I thought with a little tweaking that it would make a great skull. So I molded it and turned it into the skull that is the base for this set. I then created the elaborate headdresses that cover the skulls. The units are sculpted out of Premo and antiqued with water based oil paints.

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Kensington's girlfriend Roxie

I did this cat sculpture for a demo at Clay Connection, the Connecticut retreat. I had made an example that was a statue of Kensington (which I can't find a photo of at the moment) so I made this as a companion piece for him. She is sculpted out of Premo clay and antiqued using water based oil paints. For the demo I used the photo below to show what was needed to sculpt a cat like this.


Jack Frost ornament

Here is another in the series of christmas ornaments. We have Jack Frost, the north wind and the reason my heat bill is so high every winter. He was sculpted out of white Premo over a glass ornament. I knew I wanted his mouth open so I sculpted it over the opening on the glass ball, I used an ornament that had been painted silver on the inside.  He is painted with blue water based oil paints and a Martha Stewart dimensional glitter paint to make him extra frosty.

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Moon don't care candleholder

I was obsessed with making the man on the moon for a while as you'll see once I start posting them. This sassy candleholder is from that time. Pete nicknamed him the moon don't care. He is sculpted out of translucent and glow in the dark Premo. If you see this Polyform please bring back glow in the dark Premo, I really miss it. He is sculpted over a glass candleholder and antiqued with water based oil paint.

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Pile of bones ornament

 By now you might have figured out I'm a fan of Halloween. Halloween really is my Christmas so I created a series of ornaments on that theme. I always say my style is more nightmare before christmas than nightmare on elm street and this creepy cute ornament I think shows it.  This pile of bones was scuplted out of white Premo over a glass ball and was antiqued with water based oil paints.

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Kensington the cat ornament

This big mouth ornament is inspired by our cat Kensington. We named him that because Kensington is the neighborhood in Philly that he was found in. He is a sweet and very friendly cat, almost a mix of cat and dog.  He's sculpted out of white Premo over a glass ornament that was broken away to give him his big smile. He's painted and antiqued with water based oil paints.

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Here is Kensington in real life from our Christmas card. My husband Pete is holding our other cat Killer.  Kensington is being a bit shy in the picture. We did the portrait as a parody of all the Christmas cards we get where people dress up the whole family and pose in stuffy ways.  You can tell from Kensingtons reaction that he's not used to being dressed up.

Monday, January 12, 2015

Personal cheering squad bracelet

I came across these bracelet blanks on a recent craft store trip. At the time I had just completed a bunch of inchies for a clay retreat I was attending. The scale of the bracelet inspired me as did some red scrap clay on my messy desk. I love making faces and I thought the perfect idea to fill the bracelet would be a bunch of really happy faces. I thought it could be your own personal cheering squad for those days when you just feel blah. These insanely chipper guys are colored Premo clay.

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Day of the Dead ornaments s

This series of ornaments celebrates one of my favorite styles of folk art. The Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead.


I tried to stay true to the color used inmexican folk art. They are sculpted in colored Premo and antiqued in water based oil paints



They are all sculpted over a heart shaped glass ornament. These all represent the sacred heart and are of popular characters in Day of the Dead and like most of my work are one of a kind.


Sunday, January 11, 2015

Mini mask swap - Animal masks

I participated in a mini mask swap that Sara Jane Helms organized. I concept was that you made groups of 10 miniature masks and exchanged them with artists from around the world. I signed up for three groups. Here is the third group I sculpted, These animal mask are hollow back and have tiny eyeholes.They are all sculpted out of white Premo and painted and antiqued with water based oil paints. Like most of my work they are one of a kind.

Mini mask swap - Tiki masks

I participated in a mini mask swap that Sara Jane Helms organized. I concept was that you made groups of 10 miniature masks and  exchanged them with artists from around the world. I signed up for three groups. Here is the second group I sculpted, They are all Tiki masks. I have a special love of all things tiki and even have a tiki room in our house. I'm working on a series of large scale tiki masks right now. They are all sculpted out of Premo and like most of my work they are one of a kind. These average 2 inches tall.

Mini mask swap, golden portraits

I participated in a mini mask swap that Sara Jane Helms organized. The concept was that you made groups of 10 miniature masks and exchanged them with artists from around the world. I signed up for three groups. Here is the first group I sculpted, I call them sketches in clay because I tried to let the character that was in the lump of clay reveal itself to me with no preconceived ideas. They are all sculpted out of gold Premo and have black glass bead eyes. Like most of my work they are one of a kind.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Santa bulb ornament

This ornament is sculpted on an old light bulb, a pointy chandelier bulb to be precise. I was trying to capture a more vintage feel. Old St. Nick is sculpted out of colored Premo clay and antiqued with burnt umber water based oil paint. He's a popular guy and seems to be the most pinned image on my Pinterest pages.

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Work in progress - Baby Ganesh tile

This tile is a work in progress,  I had seen a stuffed baby elephant toy and some how the image of the Hindu god Ganesh popped into my head. The next day I sculpted this guy in relief on a 6 inch tile. He was sculpted in white Premo and antiqued in raw umber water based oil paint. My goal is to paint him completely in color.

Friday, January 9, 2015

Witch Hazel ornament

Here we have the lovely Witch Hazel, green and single and ready to mingle. She is another in the series of big mouth ornaments. She was sculpted out of white Premo over a glass ornament. Like Steampunk Sam who I posted about earlier her deep mouth was made by breaking out the glass and backfilling. She is painted with water based oil paints.

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Tiggles the puppy ornament

Here is another in the series of big mouth ornaments. His name is Tiggles, he's based on a friends puppy. I wanted to capture that moment when you come home and your dog reacts like you've been gone forever and he was sure you weren't coming back. He was sculpted out of white Premo over a glass ornament. Like Steampunk Sam who I posted about earlier his deep mouth was made by breaking out the glass and backfilling. He is painted with water based oil paints.

Steampunk Sam ornament

I've been working on a series of ornaments for the past couple years. This dapper fellow is named Steampunk Sam. He was formed over a glass ornament and because I wanted a deep mouth without the added weight I left an opening on the top of his head and where his mouth would eventually be and broke the glass out and then backfilled in his mouth which allows the depth you see here. I then fitted him with a toupee and snazzy bowler hat. He was sculpted in white Premo clay and then painted with water based oil paints. He is one of a kind and was purchased by Maureen Peck Carlson.


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Thursday, January 8, 2015

Welcome to my new blog. Here you'll find the artwork that pops into my head and comes out of my hands. I never know what's in there until it comes to life in front of me. I hope you enjoy the creations that you see here and comment on them to give me feedback. I'll start by putting up some of my older work and then some current pieces as well.  I hope to eventually include some step by step photos and tutorials.  Enjoy and check back often.