Tight Squeeze

I've finished my bottle doll, Tight Squeeze.  Next I'm going to send it in, in response to the challenge.  Keep your fingers crossed that he is chosen for publication......  Here is just a sneak peek..

Art Doll - Tight Squeeze

I have a new work in process.  I'm taking part in a Doll Challenge; creating a doll from a bottle.  I found a great bottle at a church thrift shop....not your usual bottle either.  It is pewter and looks to me to be an anointing oil bottle of some sort.  Anyway, it was screaming to become the home of one angry Genie, squeezing himself out.


Now the funny part of this is that I started thinking I would create a wire armature for this guy.  Shame on me because I had never done that before using clay and after the first coat of clay it was absolutely the ugliest, most laughable creation EVER!  I threw it away but wish I had taken a photo first!


Starting fresh, I used a fabric body to support the clay overcoat instead.  This is what I have so far.  

Phoenix Haboob July 5, 2011

When I was a kid, here in Scottsdale Arizona, we had what we called Dust Storms almost every evening during the Monsoon (July and August mostly).  It would be so hot during the day that the storms would build up over the desert then plow in when the temps dropped a bit.  I remember sitting in our front room, looking out the window, and the dust was so thick I couldn't see the house across the street.  Since then, though, the valley has sprawled and replaced desert with concrete, so our summer storms are generally more mild.  Until last night, that is.  It was a good old fashioned dust storm, although they're calling it a Haboob.

"A haboob (Arabic هبوب) is a type of intense sandstorm commonly observed in arid regions throughout the world.   When this downdraft, or "downburst", reaches the ground, dry, loose sand from the desert settings is essentially blown up, creating a wall of sediment preceding the storm cloud. This wall of sand can be up to 100 km (60 miles) wide and several kilometers in elevation. At their strongest, haboob winds can travel at 35-50 km/h (20-30 mph), and they may approach with little to no warning."

It looks much scarier than it was, however, once the dirt blew in, it stopped and hung around for hours and hours laying a brown yucky blanket over everything!

This is a great link to an awesome video that captures the "Haboob" rolling in. 
http://www.scottwoodphotography.com/Weather/2011StormChasing/15913598_nN77g#1370278891_RDCLM67-A-LB

Art Doll - Penelope P. Pumpkinhead

There is something about the name "Pumpkinhead" that appeals to me (obviously).  So I was wondering the other day why I haven't created a Pumpkinhead doll.  Why not?  So I set to work and out came Penelope.  Sorry, that would be Penelope P. Pumpkinhead.  


As a little girl, Penelope likes to dress up in all the pretty dresses that her mommy makes for her but only if she can wear her favorite sneakers too.  She is hand-sculpted with layers of paper clay and painted with acrylics.  Her eyes are glass.  Her pretty little dress is repurposed velvet that I "stained" with a bit of bleach.  Her stockings are stitched from repurposed jersey.  Her arms are hand-sculpted from polymer clay, as are her sneakers.  Her sneakers are laced up with silk ribbon.  She is free standing and about 8 inches tall.


Penelope will be available in my Etsy shop soon.  www.etsy.com/shop/pumpkinheadstudio

Update:  SOLD

Thank you, Joan