On the Table(s) and Higher Places

First step is designing. Then sewing, turning, stuffing. Then base painting. That's the stage these are at, getting ready to be stained (step 4). I like to play with all the little bits and pieces at this stage, arranging them all tidy-like. There's something very satisfying about orderly objects. Speaking of which, have you ever seen the site Things Organized Neatly? It's chock full of tidiness of the silliest (and kinda OCD) variety.

I have an extra table full of stuff this month. My brother and his wife, Yellena, and traveling around Europe right now so we're managing their Etsy shop for a little bit. We've got a bunch of their beautiful prints arranged all tidy-like on another table, waiting to be shipped off around the world as they sell. They're really pretty! We have several of Yellena's prints hanging around the house. One of these days I'll do an  featured-artist thing about her.

Not everything in the studio is quite so orderly. 

There are a couple of bats that are resisting being packed in their shipping boxes.

They were harder to round up than you might think.

Bats, apparently, are not afraid of heights.

Tuesday's Artist: APAK

In order to keep my creative tank chugging along I like to fill it with all sorts of visual fuel. This "Tuesday's Artist" thing is my way of sharing some of the artists that inspire and delight me. I asked them to do a little finish-this-sentence sort of mini-interview so we might get to know them a little better.

 This week's spotlight is shining on APAK. Husband and wife, Aaron Piland and Ayumi Kajikawa Piland make up APAK. And you know I love a  husband-and-wife art team! Working here in Portland, they create rich and colorful paintings featuring the Utopian lives and adventures of curious little beings living in fantastic environments. Tiny creatures, imagined forest-scapes, camping. . .what's not to love?

Ayumi says:

If I wasn't an artist maybe I'd be. . .

a sea turtle. 

Today, I'm listening to the sound of my baby snoozing.

I'm really good at relaxing in the bath.

I'd like to be better at walking and riding a bike.

When I was a kid I was smarter...

I hate it when I open a bad avocado.

My workspace is comfortably messy.

Right now, I'm really into making my 5-month-old son laugh.

I hope that our art makes you smile :)

You can see more of APAK's charming art on their website or in their Etsy shop.

Something-New Sunday

Lots of new stuff fresh off The Cart on this unusually hot September day. . .

Finally used those skulls I sculpted weeks ago to make a couple of one-of-a-kind skellies, Catrina and Charles. I especially love how Catrina's flowery crown turned out. I used a couple of different flower punches for the petals and just cut little leaf shapes randomly, then folded, glued, and painted them all up.

Lil Top is another one-of-a-kind, 

a black cat who I'm not afraid of despite his somewhat clownish outfit. 

Everybody but Ol' Scratch insisted on green eyes this week.

He's apparently too full of fire and brimstone. 

 

Except for his green eyes, Cirque Kitty is all in black, white, and gray.

My latest punkinheads posed nicely for a family portrait. There's Papa Portland, Mama Willamette, and little Salem. (All Oregon names, in case you didn't notice.)

And Barkley got a girlfriend too. He was all smiles meeting Bonita. It was love at first sight.

....................................................................

The skeletons are out tonight!

They march about the street

With bony bodies, bony heads

Bony hands and feet.

Bony bony bony bones,

With nothing in between,

Up and down and all around

They march on Hallowe'en.