-- One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. -- A.A. Milne

Clearly Mr. Milne had his eye on my studio--no, my house!--far in the future. One of the great joys of a creative life is sifting--sifting here being a synonym for the frantic pawing that ensues when you're looking for inspiration or, more likely, something you know you have but can't find--through piles of random materials and bits of festive debris and abandoned stuff and finding a wee little door into art. Throughout human  history, individuals have encountered these portals. People with any sense cover them back up and never think about them again. The rest of us shrink, contort, or otherwise alter ourselves by any means possible in order to squeeze through to the other side, to the beyond wherein lies who knows what, But that's the draw, isn't it? Art--any art-- should always be an adventure--an excursion into the unknown or a rediscovery of the forgotten. Celebrate untidiness! Create!

EJ Taylor workshop

I just spent an incredible week at a class in San Antonio with master doll artist EJ Taylor. I can't even begin to process the subtle (and not so subtle!) differences in the way that I see and sculpt following that experience, but from this point on the work will be changed! Our host for the week, the amazing artist Rosie Rojas, has posted some photos of the class, if you're interested http://www.rosierojas.com/ej_taylor_workshop/ej_taylor_workshop.html. And if you don't already know EJ Taylor's incredible work, go to ejtaylor.com and https://themastercraftchronicles.com/. I feel so unbelievably lucky to have had this opportunity. I hope to be posting more regularly as projects develop and pieces are completed. Happy summer! 

Doll Collector magazine

This is a very cool day for me as an artist because the July issue of Doll Collector magazine has a three-page spread on my work. My next goal--a cover!

Cute as a Button

The idea for these original button-face dolls came to me in a dream. I was walking past the sale bin at a local fabric store when some big, sculptural, sassy German buttons in gorgeous colors started flirting with me. "Sorry, I'm in a committed relationship with a couple thousand other buttons already at my house," I thought. As I turned to go, the last words I heard as the store door closed behind me were a whispery "final clearance." I didn't look back. I woke up the next morning, though, haunted by a dream of those buttons with little polymer clay faces on them. I'd been completely hijacked. I went back to get a couple of the buttons to see if they'd stand up to firing the polymer, like I didn't already know it was fate. And then I went back and bought all the rest of those final clearance buttons, just in case everybody on the planet was going to want their very own button-face doll. I designed the prototype, and as I was working out the kinks in the pattern, the stories started coming into my head. Buttons and stories. Dreams and feathery boas. Beautiful fabric and satin slippers. Art, life, joy.

Walk Across

The long faces of the mountains are
blue with Sunday stubble,
some old neck’s
twin below in the
rocks, skin sagging
over brushy hollows,
melting along the arroyos and
tendons. Never mind.
Youth is death’s
flimsiest disguise.
On the lake the sun has laid down
silver so thick
you could
walk across to the other side.

Art, art, and more art

If the weather is a little gray where you are or you're feeling unspired, spend a few minutes checking out the Bridgeman Art archive, http://www.bridgemanart.com/. This is a broad, deep, and completely amazing collection of images of all kinds of art, available for viewing just by registering. It's searchable and easy to use, and it's guaranteed to take you someplace you've never been before. I've used it to research figure types, period costumes, or individual artists-- or just to browse--many times. Prepare to have your socks knocked off by this incredible resource!

Col. Filbert's Time Machine