Alice, Unicorns and the Midnight Hour

I am 10 days into my summer challenge already!  All in all I would have to say I am happy with my progress.  I managed to complete one sculpted Alice in Wonderland, a custom art doll and seven charms.  The one truly helpful factor is the sun being up so long.  I can easily deceive myself into feeling like it is 4pm instead of 9pm, at least for a little while.  It also helps to be motivated by what I am making.

Here is this week's group shot.

This is the first time I have done a little unicorn elf charm.  More of these are on the way largely because I committed to appearing at Wizard Fest again this year.  The show is tons of of fun and very child oriented so the charms are perfect for that show.  It is also a fun one for my daughters to attend with me.  If you are in the Seattle area come by Country Village on the 12th and say hello!

 

The challenges this week were scheduling.  Five doctor appointments, a plumbing mishap, relatives coming for a short stay and a day camp to juggle.  It was an eventful week but it was also a fun one.  It does help to know I am reporting in here every week to keep me plugging along into the wee hours and I am still curious to see what I can accomplish each week! For now, I will leave you with a photo of Alice and get on to planning the next few projects!

 

A Bride and Books

A few months ago I made Delphine, the first of my jointed dolls.  Little did I know she would start a whole line of jointed dolls.  I have become a bit addicted to making these recently.  There is a certain attraction to the movement and fabrics.  Today I finished my first bride and really took a trip down memory lane.  Years ago I was a bridal designer.  Working on this doll took me back to the few hundred fittings I was party to and all of those amazing brides.  My favorite day when working with each bride was the day they came in to pick up their gown and try it on one last time before their big day.  There was always so much emotion that day, each face a kaleidoscope as they turned this way and that looking at the dress they would walk down the aisle in.  Always favorite memories of mine.

Today my client was smaller but just as adorable.  She has been dubbed "Morrin" and I would like to share a few photos of her progress with you today.  Here she is with a freshly painted face, ready for hair.  I have many different colors of hair here but red seemed to fit her best.  This is also my favorite part of their transformation - bald to flowing locks...

I love wild hair so I may have left her a little unruly but even the most casual bride I ever worked with had a constructed "windblown" look, so I slightly tamed her locks under a jeweled tiara.

The Griffinwyse world is all magical creatures and folklore from every culture so I try to incorporate some unique elf folktales whenever I can.  In this case I started thinking of all of the luck and superstitions involved in weddings.  There are so many little things brides try to do to ensure their good fortune - some who feverently believe in their power and consequences and some who are simply nodding to their cultures.  Whatever the reason, I love traditions.  For my little elf bride I imagined it to be good luck to pin a photo of your loved one to the bride's gown.  Since elves of all kinds have such long lives, they must not jump into marriage quickly and their weddings would be few but marvelous events.  I printed photos of past elves I have made to pin to her gown, plus a few photos for her book.

I have always written a few details about each elf on my site but as their numbers grow they and the world they live in becomes more clear in my mind, there seems to be more to tell.  I believe any piece of art speaks to its owner and my elves all develop their own personality as I sculpt.  A tilt of the head or twinkle in an eye all offer hints on what they might be or do.  To give a little more insight into each doll, they are now coming with their own Griffinwyse scrapbook.  Each book is also handmade and I write a few more paragraphs about each elf and include photos and handwritten notes by each character.  My intention is that these will help bring them to life for each new companion who takes them home.

Morrin's gown came together easily.  One of the things I really loved about bridal gowns were the lace choices.  They were so beautiful and I never got tired of hand-sewing them onto the gowns.  There is something magical about a wedding gown that you simply do not get in any other garment.  The sentiment, the fact that it is made just for you, the detail and time that is no longer put into making garments for the majority of women.  Applying lace is like the icing on a cake, so beautiful you cannot help but enjoy yourself.  Here is the front of her gown with the photos attached.

Of course no bride can be complete without her engagement ring so I made sure Morrin had a lovely crystal ring.

Once the details were in place, her book finished and signed, it was time for photos.

I will be finishing commissions over the next week and my girls will be out of school until after the new year so time in my studio will be a bit harder to come by but new elves will be arriving!  I am anxious to get some festive Polar Elves out before Christmas.  I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and I will be back to my blog after the new year!

2012 Ornament Design

After many weeks of debate I finally have a complete ornament design for this year!  I debated the concept and design quite a bit.  It was a multi-stage process and I thought you might enjoy seeing how it all came about.  

 

The theme word was they easy part - "Peace".

Easy enough - now how to best set it off?  Originally, I thought I might stick with the general design I had in last year's "Dream" ornaments but change it up and add my favorite harlequin pattern.  So here was Option 1.

 Nice.  I love the pattern but it felt like I had been there and done that.  So I went in a completely different direction.  I had this cute little face begging to be tried out and I decided I would go for a more traditional round-shaped ornament.  Here is Option 2.

Cute, but I still wasn't jumping up and down with excitement.  So back to the drawing board.  I had the idea last year that a stocking would be a great shape to start with. I also threw in the harlequin print for some extra character and tested some fabric rope trim.  And so came Option 3.

Anticipation was mounting but I knew this was not quite it.  I loved the sweet face, the hair was a definite must-use, the shape was great, the pattern really brought it in to my Griffinwyse-y mood but it still needed something.  I realized this really looked like a Carpathian elf and Christmas is the Polar Elves' domain.  Polar elves are happy, lively and traditional with a twist.  Color was one missing element.  I also loved the sweet sleeping elf but wanted to try adding in some individuality and spunk with wide-eyed elflings.  I changed up the harlequin print to a four-color combination, sculpted a new open-eye elf and painted away.  Here is what emerged.

At last!  This had all the best elements of each trial, in my humble opinion of course.  I believe it brings together that one-of-a-kind, hand made, character-unique feeling I strive to bring to my work.  The variety in each piece will be in the individual faces and hair of each elf. I am limiting this to a 25-piece run.  These take quite a bit of time to sculpt and the painting is equally extensive.  This first ornament numbered 1/25 will be available shortly to those people who are signed up for my Members Mailing List and receive my quarterly newsletters.  If you have not signed up please head to my website www.griffinwyse.com and sign up. The rest of the ornaments will be making their way into my shop around the beginning of October!  

Happy Early Holidays!

New Blog Home!

I am so excited about switching my blog over to Blogger!  I was able to get everything up and running in no time and with the content and look I had been struggling to get before in my previous location.  I am not a computer guru by nature so those of you who feel the same will be able to feel my joy and relief!  My old blogs transferred pretty well and this will be a nice new home for future posts.

I thought I would also take this opportunity to post the info on an upcoming event I was asked to participate in.  Country Village is hosting their first ever Wizard Fest and asked me to bring my elves, wizards and magical creatures to help celebrate.  It sounds like a fun event for all of those Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and all-things-magical fans.  I will be offering specials on my own wizards for show attendees only so be sure to stop by to visit and check them out.  I will also be have some things on hand for the younger collectors, too!