I'm baaaaaaaack- with news of an upcoming art show. :D

Told you I was trying to be better at this! :D This week's post is all about the upcoming "Common Threads" fiber art show at the FOE Gallery in Northampton, MA which opens this Friday, November 14th! I was really excited to get asked to participate in this show by the ever-amazing Lana Crooks, who curated the show along with the Gallery.

For this show I wanted to try something that I hadn't done too much before, which was create with a bunch of faux fur, layering the two colors of fur to create my own textile for the effect that I wanted. I braved the dreaded "fluff-lung" that comes with cutting/sewing faux fur to create this guy, my first Faun.

Friedrich Faun teaches math by day at the prestigious Woodland Academy; but by night he rocks out with his punk band, Verdant.

I used a variety of fabrics to create Friedrich, including faux-suede for his face, hands and ears, as well as faux-leathers for his horns and hooves. His facial features are made from wool felt, with a hand embroidered mouth.

 His tail coat is made from plaid flannel, with houndstooth flannel lapels and cuffs. His shirt is a funky patterned quilting cotton, and the patches on his jacket elbow are wool felt. 

 I felt that if I made Friedrich's hair out of the same color fur as his legs, that it would get overwhelming, so I chose to use the dark brown fur for his hair, but add in the caramel colored fur for his goatee and for a highlight in his bangs. (Thus the punk-rocking, maths teaching Faun was born. :D)
The reverse applied for the dark brown patches on his legs- I wanted to make sure that the fur on his head was integrated into the design and looked natural.

If you are in the Northampton area, check out all the amazing work that has been created for this terrific show- you won't be disappointed!

PlushYou! show opens tonight!

It's that time of year again! Hooray for the annual plush art show curated and hosted by the awesome Kristen of Schmancy Toys in Seattle.

Here are the pieces that I created for the show- inspired by the beautiful flower gardens in the neighborhood were I walk the dog every day. These two girls are Flower Sprites- those beings responsible for making your garden blossom and bloom into something wonderful.

Bloom and Blossom

 Bloom is more excitable than her sister, Blossom. She really gets into her job turning the small blossoms into full-fledged and beautiful flowers.

I wanted the forms and clothing to evoke the organic shapes of flowers and buds. Blossom is made from fleece, with felt facial features and flower in her hair. Her clothing is made from patterned cottons, and she has felt leaves growing from her arms and legs.

 Bloom's skirt is not only removable, it's reversible, too. :D

Blossom is definitely more "zen" than her sister, and her color palette was chosen to reflect that difference.

Blossom is also made from fleece, felt, and cottons. Flowers are blossoming on her, and she also has leaves sprouting on her arms and legs.

I will be at the opening of the show tonight (5-9pm at Schmancy Toys) and I will take tons of photos of all the amazing work created for the show, promise. :D

WIPS: Coming soon...

A couple of work-in-progress shots of a few new plush. I hope to have them finished up today and then do a blog post sometime next week. Here is just a sneak peek:

A couple are for the Plush Team's July/August Challenge, and a couple are for my own etsy shop. They should be in each shop by the end of next week, if not earlier. :)