Another finished dog. I just love making these guys. They take about a week to make. Making the armature is easy enough and only takes an afternoon. Then the actual shaping (building up of body) and adding face and paws takes a few days since they need drying time between goes. Because of that I usually start another dog before I’ve finished the one I’m working on. At any given time I have at least 2 dogs ‘in progress’.

How many dogs will I make? I’m not sure. I have other projects I work on in between (more clay dishes for instance since I bought a few packs of air dry clay) but I come back to the dogs when I feel at a loss. I have cardboard prepared to paint on, so I have to get to that at some stage. The idea is to have enough work to choose from when its time to have an exhibition. What doesn’t sell there will go in my new online shop.

Yes. New shop. I was getting really down about not selling anything in my Etsy shop for a long time so I closed it. Maybe that was rash… Now if I want to re-open it I have to start over. But who knows. I’ve seen some papier mache dog sculptures on there for unbelievable prices, which makes me think mine, at reasonable prices, might sell. Or I might just stick to opening a Facebook shop. I started on that but stopped cause I can’t make things to sell now AND have enough stuff for a show later on.

Oh the dilema of being an artist… sell something now or keep it to show…

Anyway, this little dog began life as a short muzzled boy, but when I added cheeks and jowls he looked like he’d been stung by a bee. I began thinking I’d put a bee on his nose and call him ‘I got Stung’ but discovered I could carve into the paper mache clay. I fixed his face and now he has this quizzical expression I really like.

(I reserve the right to make a stung dog though!)

He’s been made the same way as all my dogs, with recycled materials and finished with vintage white cotton fabric and white paint. His face and paws are air dry clay.

It was a glorious day today. I took Lainee down into Parikia this morning and we took a long walk with one of my aunts all the way to the other end of town. The sea was so gorgeous I couldn’t resist and had a quick skinny dip. I hadn’t planned on swimming so didn’t have my bathing suit or a towel. There was no one around so why not? The sun was warm enough to dry me off quickly and it felt incredible. Sure, it was cold in the water, but it was worth it. Though its such an easy walk it sure doesn’t feel like nearly enough exercise.

Lainee said it was enough for her though. She made some new friends along the way and then came home and crashed.

Mom made me some bean soup. It was nice. I hadn’t had it in a long time. Sometimes I need to remember I’m greek. I can’t live on panettone, thai green curry and gyoza all the time!

What else have I got to share?

My new vacuum cleaner sucks. Literally. It sucked the rug right off the floor. I almost broke a rib trying to pull it across the rug. I found I have to use that little air slider thingy to loosen its grip in order to vacuum even on the hard floors. Well, that’s a good thing. Last thing you want is a vacuum cleaner which doesn’t suck!

My newest clay dishes (in cement-like air dry clay) dried with big cracks in them. Not as good as the white air dry clay which is a pity as I have 2 more packs of the stuff… Tonight I’ll try patching them up and see how that goes. Maybe they dried too fast?

The dishes I made a few days ago are now dry and I need to decide whether to paint or just seal them tomorrow, then share them.

Instead of doing more clay work tonight I think I might start on another sea rope basket as I watch Netflix. I finished watching Hollywood (a funny, feel good series) and have started watching Sweet Magnolias. So far so good. I love strong independent women doing their own thing.

So much happening in my amazing life!

z

I finished the play bowing dog with the teddy in his mouth. As the title says, he’s killing it!

I actually finished him a couple of days ago but was waiting for the chance to photograph him outside. Not the best light, but a bit better than the kitchen counter.

This dog is made like the previous ones – starting with cardboard, newspaper, masking tape, wire, foil. Building the armature first, then building up the shape bit by bit. The top layer is vintage fabric and paint. The nose and paws are paper clay.

I made the teddy out of fabric so he’s soft, and I even gave him some ripped bits. One ear is only partly ripped and chewed, the other ear dangles by a thread.

The gallery below shows some of the progress.

I’ve been working on so many different things at the moment I think I may have to start posting more than one thing a day! Eh, better to have too much to share than not enough.

I’m loving having some days a week to myself. I sort of made it clear to mom that I won’t see her every day, I won’t go into town every day. I need a couple of days a week (at least) to work on my own things. I’m happy to do the shopping or take mom to see her sisters etc, just don’t expect that I’ll do something every day.

Today I spent all morning working then I took Lainee for a walk on the beach. It was a lovely sunny day, made me wish I had my bathing suit with me! Bonus I met a guy riding on the beach… It was lovely to touch and smell horses again. Made me wonder if I want to organise a few rides.

Anyway, spend time with mom o’clock.

Thank goodness for 9pm curfew, I get the nights to myself and SOME nights I even feel like working!

z

Wow. Day 18 already. Time sure flies when you’re having fun! Lockdown is said to be extended and apparently they’re warning that the next couple of weeks will be the worst in terms of deaths. I don’t actually know cause I never watch the news. Its too depressing. I prefer to bury my head in the sand and watch Netflix. I just finished “The Crown” and “In Between” and “Between” (those last two came up together when I was browsing so I added them to my list on the same day).

Yeah, I watch too much TV, but at least I (mostly) work while watching.

Today I’m sharing Fetch, another dog sculpture made of all the usual ingredients. Only this time I’ve left him ‘au naturel’ – no fabric, no paint, just the clay. I actually love him like that.

Below are the usual steps to creating him. I started with cardboard, wire and masking tape, then paper mache in strips and lastly adding a topcoat and details with paper mache clay.

Click on the images to expand.

This time I’ve included a stick I collected from the beach, a tiny bit of driftwood. I knew I picked it up for something! I just had to find a use for it!

He’s also wearing one of the tiny scrappy bits of fabric I hold onto cause I know they’ll come in handy one day. See? This one came in handy!

Here are some hero shots, taken on an overcast and not windy day. Ideal photo taking conditions.

So far he’s my favourite but then again… I love all of them. They are all so different. Just like dogs!

I will probably seal him with something before he’s ready to go to a loving home, to protect him, but he’s finished.

I think I may have found my ‘groove’… I love making these dog figures and experimenting with different looks and finishes. I also love being able to capture personality in my sculptures.

I ‘feel’ dogs. Maybe Eric will help me ‘feel’ cats too.

z

Yep. You got it. I got lazy busy again and didn’t do the hero shots I mentioned yesterday so I can’t share a couple of finished projects.

What I can share though is a couple of previews to give you a hint of what’s coming up over the next few days.

Well here goes: I cooked up some chicken and vegetables for Lainee, oh, and I progressed on my playing dog sculpture. (This is what happens when your studio is also your kitchen.)

I already mentioned finishing my Brienne doll, so here’s a preview of her armour.

So. What has been keeping me so busy that I forget to take photos?

I ran errands again. I groomed a dog. I visited mom. I worked on the dog sculpture. I answered emails. I browsed online for a vacuum cleaner (did I mention I have a new rug?). I read up about how to make my own papier mache clay so I don’t have to keep buying it. Now I have to find where I can buy ready mixed joint compount in GREEK… during a lockdown…

On the plus side, I did order 2 types of air dry clay to try out and it arrived so I can begin working with that. I have marble waiting to be painted on. I have boards ready to paint on. I have a million dolls in the basement store room waiting for their chance to be re-made. Not to mention timber pieces ready to make into coat and key racks if I can find my bloody mandala stencils…

Its not like I dont have things I can go on with!

z

This is the beginning of sharing projects I’ve been working on since Lockdown 2 Day 1. As I said, things like this need time to dry so I’ve been working on them in spits and spurts, allowing for drying time, errand time, Netflix time and inspiration time.

I’m still working on new stuff so hopefully projects won’t stop coming now and I won’t have to bore you with recipes!

The idea for this was to make a Paros cat, but turns out I made a fat british shorthair instead…

Well, thats ok. I finished her in blue and white tile patterned napkin decoupage and made her pretty anyway.

Paros cats are slinkier and generally thinner. Except for Fatcat. She’s an exception. Still… I need to work on my cats. I just don’t know cats the way I know dogs so this was harder for me. I’ve been able to paint cats but not really sculpt them.

Anyway, the process was similar to the bulldog – starting with cardboard shaped and held together with masking tape. Then papier mache newsprint over the top. I then added a layer of papier mache pulp to smooth her out and create her face and paws. Lastly I decoupaged parts of her in a blue and while napkin and painted the rest to make it really white as the pulp is a pale grey naturally.

Below is a gallery of the process. If you click you can enlarge the photos.

Not entirely happy with her, as I said, but she’s ok for a first attempt at a cat.

I’ll work my way to finding ‘my’ cat…

z

Day 2 of lockdown and I achieved a lot.

Firstly I did some baking. I made a cake and some apple crumble. The cake was something I just felt like making. I hadn’t made a cake for ages. It was a plain butter cake but I’m thinking maybe it had a bit too much butter… I used the pure butter made here on Paros cause I was told it was the best for baking. Maybe it was too strong? Who knows.

The apple crumble is something I enjoy making in cold weather usually cause I love to have it as breakfast with yogurt. Yum. I made some more of my yogurt and fruit ice cream as well, cause I’m addicted to it. I promise I’ll share that recipe soon.

I did some washing (well, I just put it in the washing machine and hung it out to dry in the sun). Today was a lovely day, windy but sunny. I took Lainee for a short run on the beach and continued working on my cat project.

This is how the cat began – I started it at the same time as I started the rag dog. I made the body out of cardboard from a weetbix box, the legs and tail out of wire.

I’d been slowly building up the cat body using scrunched up paper, aluminium foil and masking tape, then layes of papier mache. Today I added the head and continued layering paper to give it strength. With papier mache I found that I build up as I need to, even trimming bits off when necessary as I did with the bulldog. I will most likely begin working with papier mache pulp for the next steps.

I had good company while working… I was watching country music videos on YouTube and there was a lot of Alan Jackson in there. I love Alan Jackson. Nothing better than good music and singing out loud while you work.

The cat begins to take shape. Its a slow process as it needs to dry between layers. In between I did other things – its always good to have more than one project on the go.

And, cause Lainee won’t leave me alone, here are some pics of her on the beach. She really is quite demanding… she thinks she’s the only thing I should post about…

She was so happy on the beach today. Its funny how Lainee has been coming out of her shell slowly. I’ve had her for 1.5 years now and it seems like every day she shows me a little more of her character. The first thing she began doing was playing on the bed after I’d had her for a few months, but would stop the minute I tried to join in. Now she wakes up and wants to cuddle and then plays with me. Its our special time.

Since the weather cooled down she’s begun jumping around and even running when we go on our walks. Today she ran up and down the beach. It fills my heart with joy to see her like that.

Well. Gotta go. More tomorrow…

z