Ghoultide Gathering 2011

September is passing so quickly and it is almost time for the Ghoutide Gathering weekend. I am getting very excited and so is Mr. Boots Purrington and Professor Purrington.  Boots, and his cousin, the Professor, will both be available in Northville, Michigan this weekend.

Boots is a shoe cobbler by trade, hence his name, and.....

the Professor has the brains in the family with multiple discoveries in the culturing of milk. (notice the white tux)

I do hope you are able to come see these two little Halloween creations at Ghoultide, and if so, please grab me by the elbow and introduce yourself.  It is a magical weekend filled with fun and frivolity and I would love to meet you!!

Have a great week and weekend!
Laurie

Finishing Up Work for Ghoultide Gathering

The last push to finish up things before packing them up for the trip to Ghoultide Gathering has been going on in my studio.  Below is "Gregory Gourdhead", the only figure on a painted stand I will have for the show.  As usual, time just got away from me and the other poor heads will have to wait for their bodies to be finished at another time.  I love doing these figures because they allow me to sculpt and paint on the paper mache head in contrast with painting the body on a nice smooth surface.  I would love to do a number of them so that the heads could be moved from base to base onto different bodies to play with the display, but that will have to happen at a later date. 

Something new this year is a Skelly Head Box shown below with three new candy buckets I was able to recently complete.  The Skelly Head box can be used as a candy container or for storing any number of things on a shelf or tabletop.  The new little candy buckets shown have a Monkey-Cat, Moon Boy and Witch to add to the characters I have already painted on some earlier buckets.  I have two buckets left to finish and then I am done with my Ghoultide pieces.

I was also able to finish the second round bodied candy container for the year.  It is similar in design to the original candy container, but because they are hand sculpted and painted they are still quite different when placed side-by-side. 

There probably won't be a post next week as I'll be madly packing and boxing pieces getting ready to leave for the show.  If you aren't familiar with Ghoultide Gathering please click on the link in the upper left column of my blog page.  I am so thrilled to be a participating artist in such a wonderful show.  Think about making the trip...it is sure to not disappoint!!
Laurie

Candy Containers.....

I am continuing to work on Ghoultide Gathering pieces and thought I would share with you some of the candy containers going to the show.  All six of these candy containers are open at the top so all one has to do is put a small amount of candy in them to make a "sweet" gift. 

There are two sculpted cat head candy containers shown, which are slightly different because I don't use molds in the sculpting process, plus in the top photo the cat has gold colored eyes and in the lower photo the cat has green colored eyes.

The smaller paper mache candy cups each have different figures painted on the front along with different painted trims so above you will see the skelly bat figure and pumpkin boy figure....

and a Monkey-Cat and Count figure in the second photo.  All of the containers have black twisted wire handles, with tinsel being added to the cat candy containers. 

I still have much to do so I am headed back to the studio!  Hope you enjoyed the peek!!

Laurie

Two Long-Legged Boys Available on SpookyTime Jingles Friday Night!!

Hmmmm...a little pastel coloring and some Halloween mischief will be available Friday night (the 12th) at midnight EST, (11 pm Central, 10 pm Mountain, 9 pm Pacific) from Monkey-Cats Studio.

"Purkins Goodnight" and "Winston Wabbit" will be searching for new homes to keep them warm (poor Winston even has his bunny slippers on!). They are tired of the Plains' winter this year and they are hoping they can find a location with Spring beginning to warm the air to help uplift their spirits. Do you know of such a place?


I have seen some of the "sneak peeks" being shown by the other artists of SpookyTime Jingles this month and it promises to be a visual delight to tempt collectors!!! Don't miss out!

Happy shopping Friday night!!!
Laurie

"Purkins Goodnight"

"Purkins Goodnight" is finished and ready for his debut. "Purkins" is the first cat to come from Monkey-Cats Studio with a crook in his hat, a full curled tail and an egg shaped body, all which make him a pretty unique character for 2010.

As with many of my figures there is a story about this little guy. "Purkins" comes from a long line of black cats from the rural high plains. The family name, "Goodnight", came from a farmer's wife. One summer, night after night she would hear the cats howling in the farm yard outside her bedroom, and finally one evening after a day of hard work she couldn't take the feline serenade any longer. She went to the window and yelled to the fur-boys below, "enough already, good night!!" To her surprise, the howling stopped. The next night she tried it again and the howling stopped again. Eventually, the tone of her voice became more gentle, almost like the Walton family's nightly exchange, and she received the same response from the cats -- silence. Finally, she began to simply say, "good night" out the window to the gathering below. As the cats began to raise kittens the question finally was asked , "what is our name?" Well, "Goodnight" of course was the response, just ask the farmer's wife. And so it was that the "Goodnight" clan was established.


"Purkins" comes from the second generation of the "Goodnight" family. Still a little more country in his taste, he favors polka dots and sweater vests over pin stripes and fitted garments. The farmer's wife found him very charming when he was a tiny kitten and named him Perkins, but his mother misspelled the name on his birth certificate and so he became known as "Purkins." Kind of like Oprah was suppose to actually be Orpah....but the name was misspelled. It happens.

A happy little feline, it is said that if you just give him a scratch under the chin he will purr like there is no tomorrow. Perhaps his mother was correct in the spelling of his name..."Purkins" seems to fit him quite nicely!

I'm off to work on my SpookyTime Jingles' update!! You will find this little fellow amongst the offerings for the month on Friday night at midnight. Let's hope he makes it a good night!!

Laurie

WIP Update and My First Robin This Spring

WIP update...I'm gaining. Hats have been made, scepters sculpted, buckets pinched, faces added and second coats completed. I still have a lot to do to finish this group up, but I feel good about checking items off of my list. Speaking of list, I didn't use to create them. I'm finding now that lists keep me on track so they are now a part of my creative life. Do you create lists?

They don't look like much now, but I'm hopeful!!

This morning when I opened the door blind I was greeted by a robin (on the grape vine), a Eurasian collared dove (on the ground) and a group of house finch (everywhere). Why is this exciting? This is the first robin I have seen since winter started here, and the doves just returned to the yard the end of last week. I also heard them report that the first Sandhill cranes have arrived on the Platte River (just south of town) for their annual migration rest before starting north. We have about 4 good weeks of crane viewing and it is a sight to behold. They rise in groups off of the river in the morning and then return to the river in the evenings for overnight protection. The skies are filled in the morning and night and their ballet in the sky is something everyone should see at least once in their lives. Yes, there are crane fests, crane watch gatherings and the Rowe Sanctuary where you can have guided tours. Such a wonder of nature. Shhhh, I think Spring is coming

Have a great day all. I need to get back to this group of white clay misfits!!
Laurie

New Peek at Purrseus

Just an update on little "Purrseus." I worked until late last night finishing up a few details on the figure. He now has a striped hat with tinsel trim, a red bow tie and a striped vest under his high collared white jacket trimmed with holly leaves and berries. Lots of details on this fellow.


I put a little more gold in his eyes, worked on the cheeks, painted a peppermint button on his vest, a snowflake on his hat and....

gave him striped socks to match his vest and trimmed his boots in holly leaves and berries to match his jacket collar.

Remember, as part of the SpookyTimes Jingles 1st Anniversary Celebration, Monkey-Cats Studio will give 10% of the sale price to the Kearney Area Humane Society in the name of the buyer. They do such good work I'm very excited to do this.

More peeks to come! Enjoy the day.

Laurie

"Mr. I. B. Purring"

Let me introduce "Mr. I.B. Purring", of the renowned Purrings of Nebraska. I know, I know, many of you have not heard of this family, but they are very well known in the Great Plains for their vocal skills, as they are the opera stars of the cat kingdom. "I. B.'s" relatives have performed on the best fences and roofs throughout this region "singing" to the moon, stars and their fellow felines. I personally have experienced several of their concerts, which always seem to start shortly after placing my head on the pillow at night.

Each family member seems to have a special vocal skill, and "I. B.'s" happens to be the fine art of purring. He can purr in the range of a soft deep tone similar to the gentle humming of a computer fan to his kicked up roaring purr resembling a lawnmower. It is a talent limited to a special few, and "I.B." is more than happy to share his skills with anyone willing to scratch him behind his ear and provide him a tiny piece of salmon.

" I.B." is shown here in his stage attire getting ready for his annual Halloween performance. He and several of his family members always practice for this annual ritual throughout the summer months in preparation of their celebration of voices on Halloween night.

"I. B." liked the photo above so well he has decided to use it for the advertising this year for his upcoming concert series. I'm sure I'll catch a few of those concerts this summer when we have our windows cracked open...you too?

Thanks for stopping by !
Laurie

Purr-cival's Unveiling

"Purr-cival" is done and ready for his unveiling. Below you see the little fellow in his off-white cape, festive hat with copper garland, bow tie, bucket and striped detailing. Just like his namesake, Percival, this little Halloween kitty is on a quest, just one not nearly as noble. You see, "Purr-cival" is in search of that perfect Halloween confection.

He has searched the world over for the best caramel apple, gooey popcorn ball, handmade ganache, cookie, cupcake and other divine treats trying to identify the one premier confection to make him stay and live with the maker of such a tantalizing creation. Alas, "Purr-cival's" search continues, but he knows in his heart he will persevere.

For now, "Purr-cival" is content to spend his Halloween nights going door to door with his little bucket collecting treats in anticipation of finding the "Holy Grail" of sweetness. Being true of heart, he knows it is out there, somewhere, and he is undaunted in his search.

So when your doorbell rings on Halloween night and you see this little face standing on your porch, don't give him a Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfinger or Baby Ruth, because it just won't do...go to your kitchen and give him the most delectable treat you can conjure.

If he likes your treat he just might stay, curl up in your lap and purr the night away!!

Now, wouldn't that be a storybook ending.

Have a great week all...one more kitty to paint and then it is back to the clay!

Laurie

May Halloween WIPs

I'm still working in clay all of this week, but here are some of the works in progress I have going for next month's STJ update and for creating some type of inventory for three fall shows I am participating in (I need my head examined). The heads of the figures are pretty well completed with their little smiles or grins, they have their bow ties and hats, and one figure has her arms and hands (the rest are to be completed this week in between head construction on other figures).


The 2 cat heads are some of my first smaller versions of my Monkey-Cats and of course the boys were too busy to be bothered with modeling for me over the weekend. Fortunately, they both come to me when I call them by name so I would get an occasional glimpse as they arrived for their head rub and drink of studio water when they weren't napping. Silly little creatures and the clay head with the broader grin is Elwood...such a comic and I swear he smiles!!! He brings me his chenille worm (chenille pipe cleaner he took from my supplies) and if I ignore him he sticks it in my paint water---yuck!!! We have decided he likes the way it feels in his mouth because he takes them to his water dish downstairs, his water dish in the kitchen and my paint water. He gets very excited when I rinse them and pull them through a towel to get part of the water out of them (yes, he has used up my entire package of chenille pipe cleaners, but I don't care because they bring him such pleasure).

There is also a moon figure with her scepter and Halloween bucket, two other celestial figures and a pumpkin head. I had a blast making collars and bow ties this past week so most of the figures have one or the other or in most cases they have both.

Well, I had better get my fanny in gear and get today's clay mixed up!

Have a great day and happy creating!
Laurie