The Imaginarium Team on Etsy

Proud to announce: i'm on The Imaginarium Team on Etsy! --And so eager to dig in and get acquainted!! Team Leader Priscilla http://www.readbetweenlines.etsy.com/ very graciously included one of my new reliquary pieces in a new 'all-Imaginarium' team treasury... check it out here!

More updates soon to come; i'm so inspired by the talent on this Team!!

Be It Ever So Humble...

My Etsy shop is still a fledgling thing, and i'm just starting to dip my profile into the more communal aspects of this shopkeepers' social media hybird thing known as Etsy; namely the Teams. I've recently joined three: the EMT EtsyMudTeam, BeautifulDreamers OOAK Art Dolls, and AnthropomorphicOnEtsy. The EtsyMudTeam has launched, thru one of its leaders, a collective where I, as an Etsy shop owner, can mark certain of my items for donation, whereupon all proceeds of that item's sale (minus PayPal fees and shipping costs) go to the Leach Pottery's Japan Relief efforts.

I've personally experienced some comparatively minor flooding in years past, and i know what it is to walk back into a house filled with mud and mold and ruined family heirlooms and start picking up the pieces. But when i watch the ongoing devastation of the poor people of Japan, just as with Katrina's victims, I'm horrified. The loss is so massive, it overwhelms me.

Because I currently live in a warm, dry home for which i'm grateful every day, I'm donating 100% of the sale of all my little birdhouse ornaments to this relief effort; please check them out, and if you've a warm, safe home you're grateful for, consider buying one of these birdhouses, offered individually or in sets, as a reminder of your connection to all those whose homes were swept away by the earthquake/tsunami in Japan earlier this month. And if my little birdhouse ornaments aren't your thing, please check out the EMT's other donated pieces. They're beautiful, every one.

While one purchase, by itself, will not fix everything, i do know firsthand that recovery from devastation of any size is incremental, and every little bit helps. Please pass these links along to your friends and family, colleagues and associates. You can also donate directly to the American Red Cross Japan Relief Fund here. Thank you.

Fellow Anthropomorphiac: Beaumont Studios

Just found the blog of a fellow Anthropomorphic Artist on Etsy, artist Olivia Beaumont, whose work i've been admiring for months now. As i'm still a green blogger, i'm putting her button here in a post, and will figure out the "Links I Love" gadget later...



Her work is a fine blend of intellectual arrows and emotional targets and i'll admit right now that i'm a bit envious of both her mind and her talent. Brava, Ms. Beaumont!

The Year of the Rabbit: ‘Quiet, Positive & Inspiring’

According to the authors of Chinese astrology, today officially inaugurates the Year of the Rabbit, which is, according to an article I just read, “significantly less stormy than the [Tiger year] we just endured. Chinese astrologers are projecting quiet, positive and inspiring things to come.” Sounds good to me: just the recipe for heightened creativity, and I’ve got a lot planned.

Right now I’m working up a whole new group of anthropomorphic busts; everything from mice to March Hares; frogs to birds. Plus, I’m beginning a new direction: exotic creatures from other countries; a Tarsier from the Phillippines, an Aye-Aye from Madagascar, and a Jerboa from Africa, all of which I’m very enthused about….but I digress. More on all of that in upcoming posts.

In honor of today being the first day of the Year of the Rabbit, I’m sharing one of last season’s delightful and unforseen collaborations: meet here my White Rabbit (#4), an uncostumed doll from my Etsy shop’s ‘Destash’ collection purchased by a fellow Estian, talented artist in her own right and a delight to collaborate with. She asked me, immediately upon purchasing the White Rabbit, to come up with some costume sketches, and when she couldn’t decide which one she liked best, kindly commissioned me to make them all (in the midst of another collaboration we were already engaged in!! How lucky am I?) Look for more Rabbits from me in the coming weeks, of all sizes, colors and provenance.

Catch Up!

Well, things got really busy over at my Etsy shop from my last post in September, and stayed busy right up thru a long holiday hiatus with my family. So now it’s time to ramp up the blogging; lots to catch up on, and lots of new projects on the worktable…

“William, Goat of Win” scampered halfway ‘round the world to Australia, taking up residence with a lovely and talented collector/costumier there, and (thru her kindred colleagues) prompted several more goats, and a cat, as well as some interesting spins on custom ordered finishes for a few destash items already in my shop. Over the next several weeks, look for updates with pictures of each of these pieces and some words from their collectors, who’ve collaborated with me from afar, by costuming them with a finesse that’s just astonished and delighted me!! (And if you’re inspired, drop by my Etsy shop, hit that “Request Custom Item” button and start one of your own!!)

For today, meet Rascal: a Boston Terrier pet portrait commissioned by one of my oldest friends for his niece for Christmas. He was a secret right up until the holiday, so he never made it onto my Etsy shop…

Rascal is a beloved pet, apparently the subject of great doting from her; she dresses him up and takes him with her everywhere .

I did him as a puppy-boy, with two costumes: one as a mischievous scamp in a heathered sweater that has a two-pointed hood on the back for his ears, and one as a ‘little Lord Fauntleroy’ type, complete with lace collar and cuffs. I had great fun with this piece, and word from my friend’s Christmas gala was that Rascal was a ‘big hit.’ So I’m pleased to share him here.

For a glimpse at pet portraits from years gone by, during my years in Nashville, see the link to my Flickr page on the right margin of this blog. As we sit cocooned in all our snow up here in NYC, i plot my Spring lineup, replete with rabbits, eggs, and perhaps some more exotic creatures, like tarsiers, jerboas, and aye-ayes... [oh my-my...]

Happy New Year, Everybody.