Chester Chimp Work in Progress

As mentioned in my last post I started working in Halloween colors again and have a figure in the works that I thought you might enjoy.  Below is a picture of Chester Chimp, standing by his pumpkin friend, Percy.  (I'll show you more of Percy later.)    Chester isn't finished yet as he has many details that need to be finished on his garment, hat and extra additions to be placed in his hands.  I have found it is those additions and details that take the most time to complete, but I also think they make the pieces have more character and interest.

Chester is only the second monkey to be created in the studio, and I'm sort of liking how the little fellows are beginning to develop.  I currently do not have plans for another monkey this year, but I might have to add one to the list as this fellow gave me a great idea for another one.  Decisions, decisions. 

Hope you like the peek and I will keep you updated with his changes.

Have a great President's Day!  My boss is making me work!

Laurie

Jack-o'-Bunny and the Easter Crow WIPs

No rabbits this spring for Monkey-Cats Studio, but I did manage to get the bunny ears on a pumpkin boy, plus I finished the sculpting on an egg carrying crow.  Below is the photograph of Jack-o'-Bunny and the Easter Crow as works in progress (WIPs).

I hadn't done one of my pumpkin boys dressed to help the Easter rabbit in several years and this little character seemed to demand a pair of rabbit ears so I felt obliged to fulfill his request.  Along with the pumpkin boy I finished a crow carrying an Easter egg with his right wing.  The sculpt on this one was a bit of a challenge, but I think his little curved wing worked fine to hold the tiny egg.

Off to go do some sanding to get them ready for some paint.  I'll keep you posted!

Have a great day!!

Laurie

PFATT Marketplace Update, Oct. 10

BOTH SOLD- Thank you!
Wow, are you sick of me yet?  Seems like I've been putting my work out there for sale more this past week than any other time this year.  Just two more pieces and I promise I'm done for awhile!

PFATT Marketplace will have two works available.  One is a very special orb.  This is only the 6th orb I have created since I began Monkey-Cats Studio.  They are very time consuming and average somewhere between 60 and 65 hours just to paint the figures on the piece.  There are 4 figures that form the major decoration of the orb with a Ms. Moon forming the night sky above them and the bust of a skelly figure completing the bottom of the piece.  The orb is paper mache painted in acrylic paints and sealed in a matte polymer varnish.

This is Winnie Wicked, with her little kitten, Midnight;

Voltaire Vampire with his companion, Ding-Bat;

 Maximilian Moon and Moon-beam;

 and Punkin' head Petey on his way to the Ghoulie Gras.

Ms. Moon forms the sky above the figures

and Slim Pickens skelly oversees the nether regions of the orb.

I'm very happy with this orb and hope you agree!

The second piece being offered is a skelly candy cup complete with candy corn and pumpkins.

PFATT Marketplace opens at 10 a.m. Pacific time (which is 11-Mountain time, noon-Central and 1 p.m. Eastern)  Here is a link to get you directly to my page.

http://www.pfattmarketplace.com/monkeycats.html

I would also like to share with you that I have a 6-page article in PRIMS magazine currently on the newsstands.  I'm thrilled to be included in the pages of this magazine and hope that you get a chance to see the article.  It includes Halloween works...of course!

Thank you to all of you that have supported me through this wonderful Halloween season through your kind words and purchases.  It always helps to have support to keep those creative juices flowing and I hope to bring you new and more creative works in the seasons ahead!

Laurie

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

Enjoying the Fall Weather

The past few days have ushered in cooler temperatures to the Plains, and it has me anxious to do some fall decorating.  Hubby grew pumpkins this year, including some "blue" pumpkins so I'm hoping to have a few of those to place on the porch with the big orange varieties.  I'm trying not to get ahead of myself too much since it is only mid-September, but with night temperatures to be in the 30s tonight, it's hard not to think autumn is here.  Perhaps I need to calm down a bit and just have a cup of hot chocolate!    

The weather has also inspired me to finish up the pieces for Ghoultide Gathering.  Yesterday I finished the last time consuming piece for the show so I thought I would share a few photographs. 

There are four figures that surround the piece and this is one of them, a little witch figure, Willendorf Wicked.  Willy, as her family calls her, is still a child at heart and continues to carry her pumpkin doll.  She is a kindhearted witch, but a word of warning, don't let her her sweet face fool you, she is a prankster.

To Willy's side is Spidey Pumpkin.  He loves those eight-legged arachnids and plays yo-yo and web games with them daily.  His room would scare most mothers, but Spidey wouldn't have it any other way. 

The last photograph is the bottom of the orb.  I painted a little lumina pumpkin character placed against a night sky to finish the piece.  I love pumpkins so it just seemed to be the right thing to complete the work.

There is a night sky and two other characters not shown in this post...I want to have a few surprises for the collectors at Ghoultide to look forward to.

Hope your weather is feeling more like fall too!

Laurie

Gandolph Gourd

Work continues on building an inventory for Ghoutide Gathering.  I just finished Gandolph Gourd with his super sour Halloween sucker and mini-gourd friend.  If you take a look at Gandolph's teeth you will notice a few are missing.  Poor Gandolph has a terrible sweet tooth and unfortunately was never taught to brush or floss after eating.  (Some have even speculate that one of his missing teeth is actually his original sweet tooth! )

Gandolph got very excited when he was given this Halloween sucker and instantly took a big bite. Much to Gandolph's surprise the sucker wasn't sweet, but was a special super sour version of the familiar confection created by one of his witchy friends. 

I think there is a lesson to be learned by Gandolph...if the sucker has a slightly "sour" face, perhaps it isn't as sweet as you would hope. 

It was fun playing with this character.  Hope you like him!

Laurie

Pumpkin Boy WIPs

I have been working on finishing a group of 11 figures in paper mache this past week.  It always amazes me how long it takes to add their little fingers, boots and "extras" to help them develop a personality.  Below, are two of the pumpkin boy figures that are almost completed in paper mache.  The figure on the left is waiting for his scepter head, but he has failed to tell me yet what it needs to be so currently it is just a stick.  I suspect from the way he is holding that stick it needs to be a cane so he can tap dance the night away.  Doesn't he look like he wants to dance?...and 5-6-7-8, (insert Fred Astaire singing- )

"I'm puttin' on my top hat,

Tyin' up my white tie,

Brushin' off my tails.

I'm dudin' up my shirt front,

Puttin' in the shirt studs,

Polishin' my nails...."

Okay, that just gave me the solution!!  I love it when things work that easily!

Have a great week...I'm off to sculpt the top of Fred's cane!!
Laurie

The Orb Figures are Completed

The orb is done and I'm now painting on a few sculpted figures before mixing some more paper mache clay to sculpt with this week.  I looked at the calendar over the weekend and counted the days left before Ghoultide Gathering, and then counted the number of pieces I have done, and I sort of felt my heart skip a beat....yikes, time to kick it in high gear!  Since it is an evening and day event this year, instead of just a day event, I would like to have a few more pieces done. 

I mentioned in the prior post that I would show the figures on the newest orb so here they are....

  "Spidey Wicked".....

"Monte Moon".....

"Over Bite"....

 "Lenny Lumina"....

and "Skelly Bones" on the bottom.

Hope you like how the orb figures turned out!

Have a great week!

Laurie



New Skelly figure and Mortimer

I have been busy painting on the sculpted works in the studio and realized I have been neglecting to post. Time is passing quickly for me so I thought I would share with you what I have been up to before another week passes.  Below is "Dr. Dem' Bones", who is actually related to "Baron von Spidey Bones" (previous post), and hence has a bit of a family resemblance....well, as far as skelly figures can resemble each other that is.

"Dr. Dem' Bones" is shown getting ready to attend the Ghoulie Gras, hence his formal top hat and white "bone-tie".  He didn't want to show up for the party without a gift for the hostess so he is carrying Larry Lumina, a little jack-o'-lantern, to present upon his arrival.  Also, the hostess has a hairy creature very fond of bones so he has brought along several bones on twine to make sure the little fellow doesn't try to grab one of the Doctor's skeletal bones again this year.  (He never did get that one rib bone back last year!)

There is going to be one more skeleton based skelly figure coming up so if you happen to be coming to Ghoultide Gathering you will find them there.

I also recently had a reminder that I had not posted the finished "Mortimer on the Pumpkin", so here he is!

Hope you like them and have a great week!!

Laurie

PFATT Marketplace Updates Tomorrow Morning!!

Time is flying, and unfortunately the speed of me producing new works is not-yikes!!  Must work faster, must work faster, is my new mantra.  I can't believe we have another PFATT Marketplace update tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. Pacific Time (11 Mountain, noon Central and 1 p.m. Eastern) already!    UPDATE: All SOLD...thank you!!

I have three offerings this month,  Baron von Spidey Bones, and two candy containers Lance Lumina and Morrie Moon.

Baron von Spidey Bones is my first full-sized Halloween figure being offered this year.  He has lots of details including his ornate rib cage and the little spiders building webs to help hold his bones together; a rather ornate back of bones, as well, with another spider hard at work;

a small little bone-tie at his neck; a large top hat and a suspicious smiling jack-o'-lantern held in his hand.  He will come signed, dated and numbered by me.  A small note, he is all hand sculpted without the use of molds.

The two candy containers are also handmade paper mache and are hand painted with my original designs.  Both characters, Lance Lumina and Morrie Moon, hold items in their hands and their images overlap a background of a sky filled with stars, swirls and a spiderweb on the back of the containers.

If you are interested in any of the three pieces, go to:

http://www.pfattmarketplace.com/monkeycats.html

then email me at:

monkeycatsstudio@charter.net

after the marketplace opens Tuesday morning with which piece(s) you are interested in and the cost of the piece.  Please remember to include the cost in your email so that I can keep it fair for all collectors.

I'm off to go mix paper mache clay now! Must work faster, must work faster......

New WIPs for Halloween!

Now that some of the other business things are taken care of I am back in the studio playing in paper mache clay.  I have a few skelly boys started (armless and naked at this point), an owl candy container, owl figure, and owl-head handle, plus Jakey Boo (cat) in a jack-o'-lantern and a crow head.  They really don't look like much at this stage, but I'm just thrilled to be in the clay again.

Ah, Halloween, it fills my heart with joy to play in the imagery of the season!  I will show updates as the little fellows develop accoutrements and accessories.

Have a great week.

Laurie

Deadlines....Yikes!!!

Have you ever experienced the feeling that time is on your side and everything is flowing well, and you are getting a lot of things done, and then realize that there was something you forgot about?!!  I almost forgot about the PFATT Marketplace update this month.  I flipped the April calendar open and had an OMG moment.   Where is my brain?

Fortunately, I already had some candy containers made and primed, and was then able to turn to one of my trusty-rusty sketchbooks for quick ideas for figures.

The little witch is done, the vampire is blocked in and will get finished today, photographs and edits tomorrow, and then back to the computer to complete the listing for the unveiling on the 10th.  Gosh, and everything was going so swimmingly!!

Have a great week and happy creating.  Off to go paint!
Laurie

Little Parker Pumpkin with Bailey Bat

I have finally finished the painting on two new sculptures, and this is one of them, "Parker Pumpkin."  As is normal with many of my figures, Parker has a story.  It seems as though Parker comes with a well-vined pedigree, with his family's seedstock traced back to at least the 1620s, when his ancestors were shared with the settlers of the Plymouth Colony.  Being native to North America, this little fellow's family roots run deep and proud.

Parker learned at an early age the impact his family had on the history of America, and he was raised to uphold the standards of his family tree, uh, I mean vine.  Parker had other ideas, however, after he overheard a group of young pumpkin boys discussing Halloween and all of the mischief and fun of the night.  The other little pumpkin boys shared their love of bats, spiders and bugs, and told him stories of spooky ghosts, witches and ghouls.  Parker decided he wasn't going to become food for the humans; he was going to become a jack-o'-lantern!



After Parker learned that most jack-o'-lanterns were carved and not painted, Parker carefully rethought the idea and decided instead to train Halloween bats.  Over time, what Cesar Millan is to dogs, Parker became to bats... he became known as the "bat whisperer!"

Parker is shown in this sculpture with a bat named Bailey, in his right hand, and uses this well balanced bat to teach other little nocturnal fellows how to get over their fear of jack-o'-lanterns.   After all, you can't have a bat afraid of common everyday Halloween folk. Not to worry, Parker hasn't failed yet with any of his bats, and it is partially due to the talents of Bailey!

Hope you like this silly pumpkin and understand his batty dreams.

Have a creative week!

Laurie

Painted Halloween Portraits

We have been having some Internet problems and I'm afraid my cute little neighborhood squirrels might be the cause...seems as though they like to chew on wiring that is placed above ground.  No wonder the cable company has buried as much of the cable as they can.  Anyway, sorry for the late post, but I didn't have Internet access.

One of the good things I discovered about not having Internet access was how productive I was without the distraction of running over to the computer to check email or Facebook.  (Maybe those squirrels are a good thing!)   I was able to put the finishing touches on this tiny little pumpkin boy portrait yesterday, which is on a 4" wrap around canvas.  I hope to get a few more done in the upcoming weeks to place on these small black wooden easels I found.  I think they will work nicely with other Halloween collectibles to enhance your arrangements of holiday objects.  Yes, I'm all Halloween already, and happy to be so!

Have a great week and St. Patrick's Day!
Laurie

We're Home from Ghoultide!!!

Goodness, where does the time go?!!   I got home very late Wednesday night and saw multiple postings regarding Ghoultide on Thursday, and realized almost a week had gone by already!  Yesterday was unpacking, laundry, mail, and email day, along with some errand running and suddenly the day was over and I realized so was the trip!  Today I was really excited to get into my pictures, and was very disappointed with the quality. Sadly, it was me and not the camera to blame so I don't have much to share as far as booth photos are concerned.    Below is the only decent picture I have from my table and you can see that my lighting was a problem before the show opened.  So sorry to disappoint you!  Oh, and can you believe I won a runner-up for booth display...can't show you why because the photo didn't turn out!  I was honored to be in the company of William Bezek (winner of best display) and Nicole Sayer (runner up) as fellow award winners.

The morning at Ghoultide started with light rain, but what was so lovely was that it didn't seem to dampen the spirits of a single person in attendance.  Below are a few pictures of the decorated grounds.
 

Can you believe this painted pumpkin head by Scott Smith?!!!  You should see it in person!

 
Ghoultide Gathering was thrilling and the talent was just amazing.  So many artists that I have admired for years, and to be in their company was just a dream come true.  Many of us dined together with collectors and friends the night before the show and the sharing nature and good will was just palpable. Thank you to all of you that traveled to Ghoultide and took the time to introduce yourselves, purchased works and gave words of encouragement.  Artists frequently work alone and this contact and feedback is so inspiring and vital to our creative spirits.  I came away filled with ideas and revitalized to create new and hopefully better pieces.

A special thank you to my collectors....I couldn't continue to live this life without you and I am forever humbled that you choose to purchase my work.  Thank you all for making this show such a great success for me and every other artist at Ghoultide Gathering.

Hope to see you next year!
Laurie

Ghoultide Gathering

The initial set up at home for Ghoultide Gathering has been completed, the works safely tucked into bubble wrap and boxed, and now we are preparing for the  journey to the big event on Saturday.  If you are a lover of all things Halloween consider attending Ghoultide Gathering in Northville, Michigan.  The talent is amazing (I am thrilled that I get to participate with such talented artists) and the show is sure not to disappoint anyone attending.  Cool temps are in the forecast to set the mood, and who could ask for a better setting then the Mill Race Village we will be occupying to enhance the experience.  Hope to see you there!

Laurie

The Dumpty Pumpkin Boys

New to the Monkey-Cats Studio Halloween line up this year are two pumpkin figures seated on paper mache blocks that I have loving named the "Dumpty Pumpkin" brothers, "Lumpty and Humpty".  (They looked like they could fall off of those blocks and hence the names.)

"Lumpty Dumpty Pumpkin" is the first squatty little fellow shown and he is just tickled pink because a baby bat has landed on his fingers.  (Human children would be delighted by a butterfly, but in the world of Halloween a butterfly just wouldn't do, it had to be a bat.)  Being the youngster that he is, he grins with delight and puts his other hand up to signal his brother about the event.  If he gets too excited and doesn't pay attention that little fellow is going to take a tumble from his perch, and so begins their story that parallels another childhood tale.  

"Lumpty's" brother is "Humpty Dumpty Pumpkin", the elder of the two Dumpty Pumpkin brothers.  "Humpty" is a spider collector and is shown here with his favorite companion"Yo-Yo", named for his ability to go up and down quickly on his spun webs.  "Humpty" also adores his spider companion because he came with a pumpkin shape on his torso so he knew immediately that their relationship was meant to be.

The boys are headed to Michigan next week for Ghoultide Gathering.  Hope you like these silly brothers!

Laurie

Horace Lumina

He is finally done...all 31 inches of him.  This is "Horace Lumina", grand patriarch of the Lumina family dressed for the Pumpkin Ball.  He is shown carrying his Horace (falcon) face mask and his pumpkin bucket, wearing a reversed-scalloped edged tux jacket and vest trimmed with spider buttons.  He finishes his ball attire by wearing color coordinated striped stockings and boots.

Horace oversees the Lumina family using pretty tight reins, and yet no one complains about his rule over the clan.   His demands aren't viewed as too extreme throughout the year, but come October 30, all Lumina family members are required to gather for the family harvest celebration and Pumpkin Ball, which is a two evening event culminating on Halloween night. 

Horace supervises to make sure there aren't any young Lumina boys drinking hard apple cider, that the mischief is playful amongst the frisky family members, and that the pranks pulled on humans aren't too extreme.

Horace has a gentle look, but don't let that fool you.  That appearance can quickly change when he is asked to reprimand a young pumpkin for tomfoolery!!

Horace is headed to Ghoultide Gathering in a few weeks.  He far exceeds the height of any of the other Monkey-Cats characters, but I think he will blend in nicely!

Have a creative day!

Laurie

Count R. Balance

Count R. Balance is one of the new little vampire figures completed for Ghoultide Gathering.  He is a happy little fellow because he has just learned about all of the squash and pumpkins coming to this year's Pumpkin Ball, and he is hoping to nibble on a few of the attendees....he is a vegetarian after all.

As you can see he has a pretty good set of fangs, mesmerizing eyes and a smile that will melt Miss Batty Patty Pumpkin's heart.

Being a creature of the night his companion is the bat, therefore he chose to wear a bat bow tie, a bat masquerade mask and had tiny black bats stitched on the front panels of his vest, as well as....

a handsome white bat stitched on his formal cape.

I'm getting closer to finishing most of the sculpted work for Ghoultide so I'm breathing a bit easier...well, sort of!!!  So hope to meet many of you there!

Laurie

Making Progress

Painting, sculpting some final details and making some progress. I have finally learned I need to be painting on several pieces at once so that as I'm waiting for one surface to dry I still have another to work on. As you can see the heads and faces are one of the first things to be painted because the face tells me so much about what that figure's character is going to be like and what he or she would like to be wearing.

I still have a lot to get done , but I'm feeling much better about getting what I need to get done, done. With that said I better get some paint on the figures that still have too much white surface showing!

More peeks to come!
Laurie