Y manana, El Dia de los Muertos!

October just zipped past. Here is what I’ve been up to….

The Festival of Champions was a big hit!! My part was to design and construct an obstacle course based on the 12 Labors of Herakles. I had a bit of a tight deadline so I had to work fast. Originally,  the course was to be outside in Mt Vernon Park South but because of the weather we brought it in to the Sculpture Court. It might have looked a bit more magical outside with birds and apples in the trees etc., but there were advantages to having it in the museum as well. We had a big crowd.

First the kids took a list from a pot that held an image of nervous King Eurystheus. A  speech bubble above his head  read,  “Welcome to the Herakles Obstacle Course! I, King Eurystheus, have sent Herakles to accomplish 12 Labors. The first was to slay the Nemean Lion. I didn’t think he could do it, but  HE DID! He came back wearing the lion’s skin as a cape! Now I hide in this jar because I am afraid of him. Do you think you can make it through this course? Beware….   I have thrown many obstacles in your way!”

The course was designed for kids ages 3 and up. Each obstacle had an icon to identify it so that little ones could make their way around the course.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures on the day of the festival. I was too busy! But I did get a photo of Ingrid Schindall playing Queen Hippolyte. The sign read “Communication and good manners can overcome many obstacles. Ask one of these Amazons for a hula hoop. Be sure to say please and thank you!”
Ingrid is a fantastic hooper and sells her hand made hoops on etsy. Syl loves them and was her assistant for the day.

Here are some pictures of the obstacles in progress:

Here’s the Hind before I added the golden antlers with matching hooves. She was at the center of a large maze. The kids were instructed to “Find the Hind”

The swamps of Lerna were curtains spray painted,  cut into strips then suspended between two sets of columns. A large Hydra was hung above and the kids had to venture through.

One of the nine heads of the Hydra.

Calm down Kerberos, pet him gently!  He was made of soft, soft fleece. I over heard a little boy say, “OUCH! He bited me!”, then he laughed himself silly.

David and Grace enjoyed the rest of the festival immensely. They loved the Heroes exhibit, took the quiz to find out which hero or monster they are, and said that Kevin O’Malley’s talk was hilarious! Here are some more photos from the festival.

Go ahead and take that quiz…tell me which hero or monster you are!

I’ve been in a fall mood and have been as busy as a squirrel. There is something about the cooler weather and shorter days that makes me want to gather up and organize my resources. I am making little handpainted Witch Brooches, Catrina Cameos and Pumpkin Pins to celebrate the season.

Catrinas are the skeletons of well to do ladies. On El Dia de los Muertos,  they come back to remind us that, in the end, regardless of how much money, status or power one may have,  we all wind up dead. I’ve loved these ladies with their fancy dresses and headpieces ever since becoming acquainted with them while living in Texas. I thought it would be fun to make some cameo pins of them. (while listening to mariachis, of course!)

The brooches, my little skeleton books and more will be for sale this Saturday at the Festival on the Hill in lovely Bolton Hill. I’ll be teaming up with Kris Willett again, so look for us under the Earthly Treasures sign. Fingers crossed for nice weather, please!

I’ve also featured a selection of pins and mini books at my etsy shop, peggyellen. Please visit this little witch and her pumpkin pals there!

And….don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Family Festival of Champions, Oct 24th,  and  the Dia de los Muertos Festival ,Nov 1st, at The Walters Art Museum. More details about both of those days to follow…

I am gearing up for some fall craft festivals, making more little books, cards, some pins and masks.  They will feature ghosts and skeletons awakened from their infinite rest to celebrate Halloween and Dia de los Muertos. Maybe some witches too! First stop, The Lauraville Fair Saturday the 26th, starting at 12:00.  I’ll be joining the lovely Kris Willett of Earthly Treasures and artist  Nathalie Jedynak.  If you are in town, stop by and say hi!

I could cut this pink rubber stuff from now to eternity.  It is so very relaxing. I’ve been printing with acrylic paint onto felt, then touching it up and adding highlights with a brush. It sort has that “paint on velvet” feel.

ps…Stay tuned for more festival dates and the grand re-opening of my etsy shop!

School has started and it feels like fall.

Sometimes caution ties my hands, other times I take the anxiety and play with it. (Hand modeling thanks to G.A.B)

My youngest decided to join me in the Illustration Friday fun this week. Here is Sylvie’s work. She taught herself to use  a free paint program that came with the family computer. Unbeknownst to me, she  was working away on her submission while I was here in my studio working on mine. Surprise Mom! I am looking forward to doing mother/daughter IF posts more often.

Big thanks to Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty for the inspiration!

Its been a while since I’ve posted anything to Illustration Friday, so I thought I’d give the prompt “wrapped” a whirl.

Here is the preliminary sketch I did of myself wrapped in towels.  It doesn’t really look like me.

The nose is too short and the eyes are too big and the chin is just wrong. Self portraits are tough. One thing I learned is that if you put on a clay face mask before you start it helps you see the planes of your face. I think it changes the way you look just enough so that you can see yourself a little better. Below is a reference photo.

Ok,  yeah, I got a little carried away with the face mask…heh heh… next time I’ll use more colors and put flowers on my cheeks and make myself into a sugar skull.

For some wonderfully expressive portraits, check out my cousin Janet’s paintings. She really knows how to capture a likeness. You can find her work at the Bluebird Novelty Co.

That is what I used to call my blog friends.

While I was planning my recent trip, I thought it might be fun to actually meet a blog friend in person. Shelley Noble is a stop motion animator whose work  I have admired for some time.  I wrote to tell Shelley that I’d be in town,  and her reply with an invitation to visit her fabulous world of Halfland was so warm and welcoming that I knew it would be a special day.

From the minute she met me at the door I knew that this would not be a typical “how do you do” visit.  Shelley lives and works in a wonderous loft. Her work and living spaces were in a lovely balance when I arrived, the set for Halfland on one side, living space on the other. Shelley’s workspace is chock full of stuff for making  Halfland come to life. It’s an incredibly magical workshop with everything in it. Honest, every color of paint or pastel, ribbons, feathers, paper, all sorts of tools. I could have lost myself in there for weeks.  But the thing that really makes it all work is her resourcefulness. Just read her blog posts about the way she creates things and you’ll understand what I mean. She’ll use a drinking straw to make the perfect mechanism to animate a bird’s head, or a 99 cent container of gloop to make a cup of tea look delightfully real. Incredible imagination, she has.

Here are a few of the beautifully detailed props that she showed me. I love Shelley’s blog because she is so open and generous with her techniques. She is always willing to share what works and discuss what doesn’t and why.

And for more fun, she asked me to draw some paper trees for Halfland! She brought out some huge pieces of cardboard  and we spilled over into  the whole space.  It was the most wonderful blend of life and art. We talked and talked about everything as we worked; animation, dance, art,  food, books…etc. Shelley and I have a lot in common, but the most important thing that I noticed was that we are both curious. The questions flew back and forth between us and it was all so comfortable. We each had a genuine interest in how the other conducts her life/work balance.

Shelley painted this quote backwards on the wall so that it can be read in her bathroom mirror. Clever.

We had a great time cutting out the trees. When my family came to pick me up, I couldn’t wait to show them everything. Next thing I knew the girls were painting too! YAY!! They each signed the guest artist board, they will never forget it.  To see how the trees came out check out Shelley’s post.

I could not have dreamed up a better visit.

The trip was fantastic. It was the classic southwestern road trip…cactus,  the Grand Canyon,  the Pacific, but with the added bonus of seeing so many friends and relatives along the way. Here are a few highlights, in chronological order:

We arrived in El Paso late and stayed at the Camino Real Hotel.  It is a gorgeous landmark building. Above is a photo of the famous Tiffany Dome over the bar.Across the street from the hotel is the  El Paso Museum of Art. It is wonderful and free. It opens at 9:00am, so I ducked in while the kids were getting ready for the day, I loved it so much I went back and got them.

This is a detail from a mural painted by Tom Lea in 1938. I saw the restored sketch for it in the museum and just had to walk the 6 or 7 blocks to see the finished mural in the courthouse. It is gorgeous.

Then it was off to Marfa, but first a little shopping along the way…

We visited friends, Buck and Camp. What a good time, great friends, art everywhere and four dogs to keep us on our toes.

The girls had a blast. They rode bikes all over. We made pizza on the grill and drank tequila,. The next day we went to Chinati…loved it.

In the afternoon we went to Balmorhea, a natural spring.  It was heaven.  Later we had another great meal at Cochineal, then a night walk with the dogs and tons of stars. It was sure hard to leave. I could have spent a lot more time in that small town.

Onward through New Mexico

Our next stop was the historic Arizona Inn where we spent a few delightful days with more dear friends. We relaxed and ate and talked and swam. The littlest ate oranges straight from the tree. Mushy. Perfect.

Rt 8 to San Diego, a dip in the ocean, then north to LA.

In Los Angeles we stayed with cousins and had a wonderful time. We had a nice mix of touristy activities and family meals.  The girls fell in love with Pinkberry. LACMA, Griffith Park. We went to Malibu and had a wonderful afternoon and evening with my  dahlia mentor and her charming husband.  AND I got to meet a blog friend in person! But that deserves a whole post of its own….soon.

We left sunny California and headed east on Route 66…well mostly route 40 but we got off onto 66 often.  We were going in the opposite order of the song…but we sang it anyway. Its impossible to sing it backwards. I dare you to try.

The Grand Canyon….words cannot describe the awesomeness. Pictures never do it justice.  Just go.

Finally, we spent a lovely evening swimming with more cousins in Tucson, then back to El Paso in the middle of the night to catch our flights home.

Whew! Ok, hard to believe, but that was the speed version. If you want the true vacation slide show experience check out my flickr pictures.  And be sure to hum this while you’re at it…