Gardening Halflings and Gnomes

It all started with a gift for my friend's birthday.  I made her a sculpture of a dwarf standing in front of his lighted mushroom house.  It was so much fun to create, I decided to make another version.  The mushroom house itself is really cool.  I wrapped clay around a glass votive holder for the stem and living area of the mushroom and cut out the door and windows so the light could shine through.  Inside is an electric tea light.


Pretty flowers grow up the stem of the mushroom and around the base of the house.  I decorated the cap of the mushroom with glow in the dark leaves and stars.
 
Then of course there are the main characters of this piece, Gnor the Gnome and Henry the Halfling.  As I was sculpting these two I remembered our neighbor and Grampa exchanging fresh garden vegetables during the summer.  They were good friends and always willing to share whatever they had grown that season.  I still remember Mr. Wednt bringing Gramma bouquets of dill- LOL!  In this sculpture Henry is bringing over a basket of tomatoes, corn, lettuce, and carrots.  The more I look at Henry, the more I see Mr. Wednt in him- he even used to wear a straw gardening hat.  This all came through subconsciously, and I didn't even see the connection until after the piece was finished.  The Gnome and Halfling were inspired by Boris and Dinko Tilov.  I've been doing a lot of the projects in their Sculpting Mythical Creatures in Polymer Clay, and having a great deal of fun with them.  Their characters are always fun and whimsical, and full of personality.  I'm currently working on another project from that book, and should be listing that one in the next week or so (all depending on how complex I make it).
Thanks for stopping by and sharing the creativity!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Been smooshing some clay

Lately I've been doing a lot of sculpting and have been inspired by Boris and Dinko Tilov.  I've created several fun pieces, and have really been in a good creative groove.  The Dragons I sculpted for Mother for Christmas were made with guidance from the Tilov's book Sculpting Mythical Creatures in Polymer Clay.  The projects in this book are so much fun, and the possibilities for variations are limitless.

My Griffin sculpture was created as an entry in the Polymer Clay Smooshers guild Mythology Challenge.  This was another whimsical project from the same book.  He was also the first griffin I've sculpted, but certainly not the  last!  I like the way he came out.  I think he's got a lot of character!

My best friend's birthday is coming up, so I sculpted a lighted Mushroom Gnome house for her.  I included a funny gnome based on Tilov's gnomes.  I've sculpted several lighted houses, but this was the first lighted mushroom house in my repertoire.  Right now I'm putting the finishing touches on another lighted mushroom house.  The first turned out so well, I just had to make another.  This one will have a gnome and a halfling sharing his garden vegetables.  That would represent my longing to get back out in the garden- LOL!  My next sculpture will be another project from Tilov's book.  I'm sure I'll create several versions of just about all of the projects in this book.  They're so much fun to create, and while I'm sculpting the story of the piece plays itself out in my mind.
So that's what I've been up to lately. ;)
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

A walk in the Park

Today I thought I'd share some pictures from one of my recent walks in the Metroparks.  I've been enjoying the park since I was little, and still feel that sense of peace every time I hear the sound of that river (Rocky River).  I have a great affinity for water and natural settings.  I don't mind slogging through muddy spots, or blazing my own trail through the woods.  I never outgrew that childlike joy of observing nature.  Every time I walk along that river I think of my brothers, Jeff especially.  He was the oldest, so he was in charge on our little adventures.  I spent many happy hours with both my brothers playing in those woods and on that river.  And now that I have a digital camera (something I could have put to good use as a kid!), I can take as many pictures as I want, and share them with all my friends.

This is a swampy area where I often see ducks, and the occasional heron.  Right now there are lots of dragonflies cruising over the still water looking for prey.


 
This is a view of the river, which was up pretty high from the recent rain storm.
 
A shot of a plane passing over just above the treetops.  Part of the park is under the flight path of the nearby airport, and the planes fly so low you can practically touch them- LOL!  
  
Three different types of mushrooms I spotted while wandering through the woods.  I've always found mushrooms very interesting, and just a bit magical.
 
This spider made a web on one of the small bridges and was kind enough to pose for a picture (that zoom feature comes in real handy- LOL).  Although I still have a bit of a fear of spiders, I find them very interesting.
 
The river is pretty shallow here, and the horse path crosses it and disappears into the woods on the other side.  Two riders passed me while I was checking the area out.  I really like following the bridle path, since it tends to be the path less traveled.  So that's my latest trip to the park.  Although it's surrounded by city and suburbs, there's still some magic left here, if you know where to look. ;-)
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

OOAK lighted glow in the dark pixie oak tree house sculpture

Entry for the Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild Tree Challenge

My Polymer Clay Smooshers Guild on ArtFire has inspired me to create yet another challenging sculpture.  The theme for this particular challenge was "Trees",  which meshed quite nicely with previous ideas I'd had for a lighted tree house.  I've created a few lighted miniature houses, which are available  in my studio, and all of them are quite detailed.  These are the kind of sculptures I can really get lost in as I'm creating them.  These lighted houses are also a good way to recycle glass jars and bottles.  For the Oak tree, I wrapped clay around a glass bottle to make the trunk of the tree, then cut out windows with my oak leaf shaped clay cutter.  I used a battery powered pumpkin light, which looks very pretty shining through the windows.  The oak leaves are various shades of green, and they took a long time to cut and place.  I just love the effect of all those individual leaves though.  About halfway through the sculpting process I came up with the idea of adding the pixies, and sculpting them from glow in the dark clay.  This tree is their home, and they like to frolick in the branches, and take care of the mushrooms and flowers around their home.  The entire sculpture is 9 inches tall and 5 inches wide, with the tiny pixies measuring a petite 1 1/2 inches tall.  This one of a kind fantasy sculpture was a lot of fun to create, and I thank the Smooshers for sparking my creativity yet again.



This is what it looks like in the dark, with the light in the tree turned on.  The pixies glow quite brightly, and add a truly magical touch.  Thanks for checking out my creative adventures in polymer clay!
-Michelle of CreativeCritters

Alice in Wonderland sculpture- the 300th item listed at CreativeCritters!

Alice Meets Mr. Caterpillar- my 300th item listed!

My 300th item was listed at CreativeCritters on ArtFire.com yesterday!  This one of a kind handcrafted polymer clay sculpture was inspired by Alice in Wonderland.  This delightful sculpture depicts Alice meeting Mr. Caterpillar, with my own touches added, of course.  I added glow in the dark spots on the mushrooms, sculpted the flowers and Mr. Caterpillar's belly from glow in the dark clay, as well as painting the stripes on the small blue mushrooms with glow in the dark paint.  The effect in the dark is pretty impressive- the picture hardly does it justice. It does give you an idea of what this piece looks like in the dark though. This sculpture measures 5 1/2 inches tall (to the top of the caterpillar) and 5 inches at the widest point of the base, with Alice measuring 3 inches tall.  You can click on any of the pictures to go directly to the listing.  And if you'd like to see any of my other 299 items, please feel free to browse my studio.  Thanks so much for stopping by!



-Michelle of CreativeCritters