At a Doll Show in Prague last weekend I saw those two living dolls. I was told that the girl on the left is dressed in steampunk style. They tried to explain me the concept of steampunk. Something with Jules Verne and industrial revolution. As far as I know the style of the girl on the  right is gothic lolita. Correct me if I am wrong. I like them both.

Left of them my friend Ankie Daanen is just visible in the crowd.

Welcome! This is going to be my longest post ever.
Today is my turn in the Blog Hop Tour organized around the new book about epoxy clays: Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams by Kerin Gale. Some of my work is included in this book. In case you don’t know my work: I am a doll artist from the Netherlands, NIADA and DABIDA member. I use to add animals and other props to my fantasy pieces. I work mainly in hand sculpted porcelain for my dolls and papier mache for animals. I use epoxy clay to make weak parts of the animals stronger. Here you see a few examples of my work:

The nice thing for the visitors of my blog today is that they can win all the prizes listed below. The only thing you have to do to win a prize is to leave your name and addresses as a comment. Winners will be picked by a drawing. As an extra prize I have added an online class on animal making. This class tells you all my secrets about how to start and build an animal of your choice from papier mache.
To give you an impression I show here how to make an open  beak for a duck:

Bend copper (or other non rusty wire) into a loop, a bit wider than  the width of the duck’s head. (I used a Styrofoam egg as base for the head) Cover this both sides with paper masking tape. Let about an inch of the wire stick out. Make a second piece almost twice as wide as the first one with an extra strip of wire placed in the middle.

Bend the two beak parts to hollow shapes and stick the wire ends in the Styrofoam, the wider part on top. This gives you a great base to cover with papier mache or other sculpting material. This method is easy to adjust to other shapes. I also use it for animal ears and that works great.

This is the complete program of this Blog Hop tour

May 1
Kerin Gale
Remnants of Olde: http://RemnantsOfOlde.com/posts

May 2
Alicia Caudle
Altered Bits: http://alteredbits.wordpress.com/

May 3
Lesley Venable
Flatwoods Folk Art: http://www.flatwoodsfolkart.typepad.com/

May 4
Christine Lehto
Lilly Bug Studio: http://lillybugstudio.com/blog/

May 5
Seth Apter
The Altered Page: http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/

May 6
Nancy Perennec
Little Bit Wired: http://littlebitwired.blogspot.com/

May 7
Jen Cushman
ICE Queen Zine: http://www.iceresin.com/category/inspired-remnants-blog-tour/

May 8
Happy Mother’s Day!

May 9
Beth Robinson
Strange Dolls: http://strangedolls.wordpress.com/

May 10
Brenda Schweder
Brenda Schweder Jewelry: http://www.brendaschweder.com/

May 11
Esther Verschoor
Vanessie Art Dolls: http://vanessies.blogspot.com

May 12
Kecia Deveny
Lemoncholy’s Flight of Fancy: http://www.lemoncholys.blogspot.com/

May 13
Rachel Whetzel
A Year In The Life Of An Art Journal: http://oneyearartjournal.blogspot.com/

May 14
Shannon LeVart
MissFickleMedia.com: http://missficklemediacom.blogspot.com/

May 15
Marlaine Verhelst
Marlaine Verhelst Art Dolls: http://marlaineverhelst.com/blog/

May 16
Lisa Jurist
Mud Hound Studio: http://mudhoundprimitives.blogspot.com/

May 17
Michelle Bernard
Yesterday’s Trash: http://michellereneebernard.blogspot.com/

May 18
Kerin Gale
Remnants of Olde – Alan Rogerson feature: http://RemnantsOfOlde.com/posts

May 19
Facebook Party!
Apoxie Clay & Epoxy Clays Page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_158159677562761

SPECIAL OFFERS DURING THIS TOUR
Book & Online Workshop Bundles – special pricing of $5 off.
All you need to do is put in the name of this blog when you check out through Paypal and you will receive the $5 back.

A) Resin Clay Pendants Workshop + Book = $35 + shipping (only $30 for you)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/63483761/inspired-remnants-book-and-resin-clay

B) Vintage Gentleman Workshop + Book = $40 + shipping (only $35 for you)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/27210387/inspired-remnants-book-and-vintage-gent

C) Both Workshops + Book = $70 + shipping (only $65 for you)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72931590/inspired-remnants-book-super-bundle-with

SPONSORED PRIZES FOR THIS SITE
The only thing you have to do to win this prizes is leave your name and addresses in a comment. Please note the physical products will only be mailed to addresses in the US. Access to the online workshop and the digital collage sheets can be sent anywhere in the world.

A)   The book  Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams

B)    One Aves Power Pack (selection of their most popular formulas)  from http://AvesStudio.com

C)    Fluid Chalks Online Workshop by Lesley Venable on her The Art Of Altering site which features many other awesome online workshops  http://theartofaltering.ning.com/group/fluidchalksbackgroundsbeyond

D)  Two Digital Collage Sheets by Alicia Caudle of Altered Bits.  You can see her very unique and cool collection at

http://alteredbits.com/digital-collage-sheets.php

E) Sample pack of Silputty 40 silicone putty mold mix from Silpak.

F) 1 OZ ICE Resin and a mixed metal bezel from http://www.iceresin.com/

G) Online workshop Animal making in papier mache by Marlaine Verhelst

Grand Prizes For Book Reviews*
Any reader that writes a review ~ however short or long~  of Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams on amazon.com before July 31, 2011 and sends an email with the title “Inspired Remnants Review” to remnants.art@gmail.com will be entered in a drawing to win one of these prizes.  Please note that your honest opinion is wanted on this review.

A) The art piece featured on the cover of the book, “Sacred Totem”

B) Power Pack plus extra Fixit Sculpt clay from Aves Studio http://avesstudios.com/

C) Frozen Charlotte Doll with digital tutorial “How To Crackle Charlottes” from Alicia Caudle of http://alteredbits.com

D)  Resin Clay Pendants online workshop by Kerin Gale from http://MixedMediaArt.ning.com

E)  Vintage Gentleman online workshop by Kerin Gale from http://MixedMediaArt.ning.com

F)  Choice of any one workshop being taught by Kerin and Charley at Art Is You retreat in Petaluma, CA.  The registration fee and workshop cost are both waived.  http://www.art-is-you.com/mysitecaddy/site3/generalinformation-westcoast.htm

G)  One copy each of Jen Cushman’s book, Explore, Create, Resinate and Susan Lenart-Kazmer’s book, Making Connections plus ICE Resin and a selection of bezels all from http://www.iceresin.com/

* Please note prizes include shipping to U.S. addresses only.

Good luck with winning a prize and enjoy the rest of the Tour!
Warm regards
Marlaine Verhelst

I was invited to take part in a new book on epoxy clay: Inspired Remnants, Curious Dreams by Kerin Gale.
Personally I use epoxy clay to make the fragile parts of my animals stronger, covering it with papier mache. I am enthusiastic on the material. The books looks very interesting and beautiful and I can’t wait to see it.
Around the publication of this book a Blog Hop Tour is organized with artists involved in the book. I never took part in a blog hop tour before.
May 15 I will be the hosting blog. If you visit my blog that day and leave a message you can win many sponsored prizes and I will add an online animal class to these prizes. So you all should visit my blog on May 15: http://marlaineverhelst.com/blog

Here you can find the complete schedule of this blog hop tour: http://littlebitwired.blogspot.com/2011/04/inspired-remnants-curious-dreams-online.html

My fellow DABIDA member Esther Verschoor is also part of this book AND part of the Tour. Her blog is scheduled for May 11th.

I  had sent in this piece for Beyond Fantasy Magazine’s Faeries & Foe’s Art contest. The piece came in the category Juror’s Pick and will be published in the next issue of  Beyond Fantasy Magazine.

The piece is called :” Taking care of Fishes” hand sculpted in porcelain and air dry clay, placed on a wooden base. The piece is appr. 14 inches high.

It is a fish faerie: he has fishtail wings.

It was not my intention to win this contest but it is just fun to see my piece and some of my colleague doll artists between all these beautiful fantasy artworks. You should really check it out.

Enjoy.

My friend Bohdana from the Czech Doll Club in Prague is organizing the first Doll Show ever there in cooperation with Bernina. The show will be held on April 1 through 3, 2011. They have experience with organizing quilt shows. Bohdana got interested in dolls and traveled with her husband to several international shows especially in Russia. Doll makers from the Czech Republic are encouraged to take part in the show and in the doll competition. There will be a few Russian Doll artists present with their work.

From the US Patti Medaris Culea is invited to take part in the show and to teach workshops. I am looking forward to meeting her. I will be there too! I will teach two workshops, one in air dry clay and one in porcelain and I will bring my dolls. For me it will be my first time in Prague. If you are interested in joining us please look at www.czechdollsclub.com or contact Bohdana:
bohdana.klatilova@gmail.com

This year’s NIADA conference was a wonderful experience. The location, the weather, the people, the dolls, the classes, the food, the black bear, everything was perfect. I just didn’t see much of the programs because I had a very full schedule. But I met a lot of very nice people and had a lot of fun.

One of the highlights was the conference souvenir: The Book. We all waited a long time for this BEAUTIFUL NIADA Art Dolls book. It is made by Shelley Thornton and Chris Chomick, who both did a great job.  It is a big heavy hard cover book full of the best pictures of the works of old and new NIADA artists. I am very happy with the way my pieces are included, and I am proud to be part of this great organization. More info about (ordering) this book on marlaineverhelst.com/bookniada.htm.
It makes a great gift for the Holiday Season.

Time flies and the NIADA conference 2009 is coming up. The conference will be held from September 8 through 13 in Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts near Knoxville, Tennesee. The conference is open for everyone, not only NIADA members, and I heard already from several of my Texas friends and many others that they will be there. Great!

The conference is set up a bit different than other years. September is so much more convenient for me than mid-summer. In summer I always had to choose between my family holiday and NIADA, and choosing for NIADA could lead to a divorce.
The setting is choosen because this will give us plenty of room and occasions to have contact. It will be so much more intimate than staying in a big hotel. During and around the conference there are several interesting workshops set up. You can also take these classes if you do not attend the conference. Also the Gallery Show on Sunday will be open to visit for everyone. Check the Niada website for all details. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you might have any further questions.

I will be there for sure together with Ankie Daanen. We already booked our flights. And we hope to see you there. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet so many wonderful NIADA artists, to see their beautiful work, to learn from them and to have a lot of fun.

I worked very hard the past few weeks to get new pieces ready. Not only on  Sunday April 5th the DABIDA day exhibition will take place (special guests Brian and Wendy Froud, please look at the DABIDA website) but I also have to ship a few pieces to Japan next week for the World Ningyo Exhibition organized by Chieko Ogawa. I met Chieko in the US a few times when she was the editor for a Japanese doll magazine.
For the Japan exhibition I am going to send my piece “Waiting for a prince 3” and the brand new piece “Fly like a bird” that I show here.
Question: the hair of the doll is Tibetan Lamb. How do I keep it in this shape?
My friend and colleague Ankie Daanen will be flying to Japan herself for this exhibition. Lucky her!

The 2009 NIADA Convention will be held in Arrowmont, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, September 8-13 2009. Maybe we will meet there. Detailed information is available on the NIADA website.

I will be teaching a 2 day class ‘Head, Hands and Feet in Direct Sculpted Porcelain’ and together with Ankie Daanen a 2 day class ‘Dutch Touch Theatre’.
Details and registration on www.niada.org/masterclasses.html

Pictures NIADA, Atlanta 2001 (exhibition and workshop)

As a board member of the Dutch and Belgian Institute of Doll Artists DABIDA I am very proud to announce that Brian and Wendy Froud will be our special guests on the 3rd DABIDA Day in Essen (Belgium) on April 5th 2009. Brian and Wendy surely are a source of inspiration for almost everybody who is making fantasy dolls. Years ago I have met Brian and Wendy in Santa Fe, NM at the legendary Santa Fe Doll Art Shows
Brian looks like one of his own characters and also Wendy with her long waving red hair looked like one of her own faery creations. I am looking forward to meeting them again. They will make the 3rd DABIDA Day a very special one.
A couple of years ago we were in the U.K. for our family holidays and there I saw the typical landscape and the weird knotty trees. I could understand where Brian gets his inspiration. It is easy to believe there in faeries and goblins.
Book introducing DABIDA members: http://marlaineverhelst.com/bookdabida.htm