Saturday, November 6, 2010

Roger's Gardens and Meeting fellow EHAG Artist Debbee Thibault



At the last minute I read that Debbee Thibault, well known folk artist and fellow EHAG member,
was going to be at a signing event at Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach, CA. 
Rogers isn't far from my home so I headed over to see what I could see.


Every season, Roger's is decorated to the hilt and going into this Christmas season
is no exception. This beautiful nursery is always elaborately graced with fine ornaments, 10ft decorated 
Christmas trees, each with a different color and texture theme set among fine antiques,
 beautiful art work, and plants and arrangements to die for.


I've always stood in front of the display cases that house the works of Vaillancourt, Christopher Radko, and Debbee Thibault with eyes full of wonder and admiration for their fun designs. 
There was a special table set up for Debbee today with a little Christmas tree loaded with her special ornaments, and when there was a slight lul between crowds, I went up and introduced myself as a fellow EHAGer and that brought on a big smile.
She was friendly and most gracious as we chatted about sculpting techniques, and her fun art pieces.
You would think I would have taken a photo... but alas no. Silly me.

In the same room there were some works by another EHAG artist, Vergie Lightfoot. Last month I missed her Halloween signing, and Bethany Lowe's too! (I didn't know about it), by one day! I did get to see the few pieces she had left, (such as the kitty below)... I kind of snuk (is that a word?) this photo.... and
they were so amazing!


Vergi had some very Whimsical and Wintery looking pieces there today and as usual,
those signature kooky Marty Feldman like eyes gazing back at you. So fun!
If you're in the area of Newport Beach, California, you might want to pop over there
to have a peep. The fragrant fresh trees, garlands and Poinsettias will be there in a few weeks.
It's a nice place to visit, especially at Christmas!



Fully blooming Christmas Cactus at Rogers.


I'll close with this photo from one of my aviaries.
This is the Australian flight with Lady Gouldian Finch. A while back I'd shared some photos of some
of the olive green fledglings. This is what the Lady Goulds look like in full Technicolor!




Tuesday, November 2, 2010

I Won 3rd Place in the Martha Stewart 2010 Halloween Creations Contest!


I can hardly believe it!
"Brimstone the Gourd Goblin" has won third place
There were so many wonderful and creative entries, and I'm so pleased and honored to have been chosen!
A big Thank You to Martha Stewart Living and to Grandin Road!



This last month has been filled to overflow with various projects, and of course
with the holidays approaching commissioned work and Fall and Halloween art is slowly
shifting to Christmas and even Spring works.
The Morning Glory's are still blooming boldly as many of my garden perennials begin to fade.


This beautiful green spider has set up residence on the last of the Borage and Anise.


The Orange Weaver is in full fall plumage in the Aviary, and fits the season's 
color palette perfectly.


These lovely Sunflowers were a gift from my dear and oldest friend, Connie. We've known each
other slightly more than 50 years, since we were wee tots and she's always ever thoughtful.

 I thought I would share with you and the reason for the flowers, as well as an explanation
for why my postings and artwork have been a bit sparse of late, and perhaps why they may
 be higglety pigglety for a few weeks more.
Recently appointments to the doctors and the subsequent tests have confirmed that
I have IDC (Infiltrating Ductal Carsinoma)/breast cancer. Phooey.
Needless to say these sick breasts and I will need to part ways, but don't despair!
They're not who I am, and I should be able to make a full recovery and get back
 to my gardening, art and horses within a few weeks.
I'm truly looking on the lighter side of things....
 As a rider, I will no longer have to be irritated by bouncing bazooms at the sitting trot!
I only tend to get dressed up once every 10years or so to attend a wedding or formal function of some sort, so that's no biggie because I'm really just a jeans and T-shirt kind of gal anyway.
And my camera strap won't get hung up when I'm traipsing through the forest's
shrubs, twigs and stickers looking for little creatures to photograph.
I'm confident things will work out fine, and I'm looking forward to creating lots of new pieces while recuperating!

Thank you for your healing thoughts and prayers!









Sunday, October 31, 2010

New EHAG Emporium piece and Happy Halloween!



Introducing "Finbar"

He comes from a place
neither here nor there,
a piercing gaze and an all knowing stare.
Is it bump neath your bed,
near the head or the toe,
when it's there,
is it there?
When it's gone,
Where's it go?

Finbar is awaiting his carriage and wishes to travel home to your abode.
His pumkin head is made from Paperclay and is aged
to complement your dusty mantlepiece.
His knoggin measures 6" high and 4" wide

Contact me if you wish to purchase this handsome fellow.
$65.00
PayPal

Happy Halloween!





Saturday, October 30, 2010

EHAG Giveaway tonight! Hurry Hurry! Step Right this way!


I've let the time get away from me and oh my gosh, I forgot to tell you about the EHAG Emporium Giveaway that ends tonight!!!
There are four fun pieces from the EHAG artists that you can have a chance to snag, including my little
Baby Gourd Goblin!
Gourd Goblins are feisty enough when grown and this baby guy has gotten into the
Halloween decorations and keeps rearranging what I've already put up. Silly fellow!

So zoom over to the EHAG Emporium site and leave a comment to enter for a chance to win!
Also....
The Emporium itself will open it's doors again on Halloween night! So check back Oct 31st at 9pm (est) for more amazing Original art from the EHAG artists!

May your Treats be many, and your Tricks very few
as I wish a Happy Halloween to You!




Sunday, October 17, 2010

Listed on Ebay, just in time for Halloween!



Where in the world has the time gone! Can you believe it's nearly Halloween already!
I must apologize for not posting in my usual weekly manner. Some of you may not be aware that
last month was the start of the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky and I've been busy designing the booth and new website
for the IEBWA (International Equine Body Worker Association.. which I am chair of) and
I thought I would share some of what has been taking so much of my time.
This was the conceptual rendering of the booth and graphics, and it ended up looking spot on in person.


Now that the WEG is over with, hopefully I'll be able to get back into my much missed art...
Just in time for Halloween, are these three special pieces listed on Ebay tonight.


This was the piece shown in the Celebrate 365 Magazine, Fall 2010 edition!
He'll come with a signed copy of the magazine... WhooHoo!



A mystical Owl on a stick to compliment your costume or enhance a witchy spell!


This is a very special piece that will enhance your collection for certain!
Just search for EHAG on ebay!

The EHAG Emporium will be coming up shortly and they'll be hosting some
wonderful giveways! I'll be donating a fun little piece so check back in a few days.

Hope everyone's having fun decorating in the Autumnal colors, and especially Orange and Black!

Thursday, September 30, 2010

I've been published in the Fall issue of Celebrate 365!


I can hardly believe it, and am so excited to have been published for the very first time
in the magazine, Celebrate 365...a journal for the ornament enthusiast! 
Not one, but two pieces of mine were selected and can be seen on page 13, along side amazing art by many of  the finest folk artists in the business. Names such as Scott Smith of Rucus Studio who has a feature article and graces the cover, Johanna Parker who also has a feature article, Bethany Lowe, Debbee Thibault, ....


There are many fellow EHAG artist friends, and PFATT friends in this issue as well such as
Pam Gracia of Soft in the Head, Joyce Stahl, Lori Davis, David Everett of Chicken Lips, Debra Schoch ,
Iva Wilcox, Susie Pastor, Amelia Schaefer,
Lori Ann Corelis, Lauri Harden, Lori Rudolph, Vergie Light foot...

oh my gosh, this sounds like an acceptance speech at the Academy Awards!.... the list goes on and on!
A HUGE Thank You to Connie Porcher of Celebrate 365!
What an Honor and I'm so very grateful!

Many of these artists and Celebrate 365 will be at Ghoultide Gathering this Saturday so pop on by,
say hello and see if you can snag some old world 
Halloween Goodness!
Ha Cha! :-)


Monday, September 13, 2010

PFATT (Primitive Folk Art Talk and Tea) blog giveaway tonight!



Tonight is the drawing for the PFATT givaway! Not much time left!
This little mysterious grinning gourd is my contribution.
There are many other wonderful prizes from the PFATT artists... AND..
even two admission tickets to Ghoultide Gathering in Northville, Michigan courtsey
of Scott Smith of Rucus Studios! Wow!
HuRRy!
Sign up quick for a chance to win!
The drawing is at Midnight (EST)
Wishing you Ghoulishly Good Luck!
Congratulations to Mama Spark the winner of "Guess Who Gourd"!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

New Ehag Emporium piece! Malaki of Mordone Marsh...



Before you is the all seeing
"Malaki, of Mordone Marsh"

Born of the ancient and Celtic ways,
Malaki is known as the messenger of days;

The Seer of much, and friend of night's gloom,
Will he predict an impending doom?

In the form of an owl, hold him high as you prance,
On All Hallow's Eve, masquerade in a trance;

Beware, as Goblins, and Goulies appear,
in the glow of the moon and in shivering fear;
They'll whisper of secrets, too frightful to hear...Beware!

"Malaki" is a hand sculpted paper mache piece
created especially for the Aug EHAG Emporium.
His hat is painted and aged fabric, with a German Glass Glitter hat band.
His painted wand is embelished with fine ribbon, brass bells, and tinsel.
Malaki has "Trick or Treat" hand painted on the back of his head.
13" x 3 1/4"
$75.00 + shp

If interested, please e-mail me

Thank you So much for looking!





Thursday, August 26, 2010

EHAG Emporium GIVEAWAY is back!


The Ehag Emporium will open again on the 31st so be sure to log on at 9:00pm (EST) to try and snag some spectacular original Halloween Art, directly from the Artist....
  AND
right now we're hosting
another Giveaway with Halloween delights from some of
Everyone has been so busy, (it's getting to be that time of year you know!) so the giveaway is a bit
late in posting... So...  you might want to quickly pop over to the Emporium and put your name down
for a chance to win these fabulous original art pieces!

Also

There are still a few days left for the kids to submit their Halloween Masterpieces
for a chance at the grand prize of a 100 dollar gift certificate for art supplies at the art store of their choice!
Good Luck Everyone!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

What's Blooming Wednesday and Reptilian Smiles



We're lucky here in the city, in that we don't really have snakes
but we do have lots of Western Lizards that live here in the garden.
This little fellow was on the wall, supervising me cleaning out the spa.



This is a Confederate Rose, which is actually a variety of Hibiscus.
It's blossoms are often a good 5 inches across, and although short lived
they are a wonderful suprise overhanging the pond.



This time of year we also have a few of these jumbo Japanese Beetles zooming around.
This green guy was taking in the fragrance of the Sweet Pea Bush.


The Bower Vine, or Humming Bird Vine creeps it's way up the pine tree and

                                                 blooms most of the Spring and Summer.
                   This plant was a gift, mailed to us by my Grandma Tinnon, back in the early 80's.
            It's amazing to look back and realize that what was once a dormant little twig of a thing, in a
                  4" pot, has grown to elegant proportions, generously yielding abundant orange blossoms
  and remembrances of her, from year to year.


Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The 1st Annual EHAG Next Generation Halloween Art Contest!


What: A Kid's Halloween Art Contest


                                                     Who: Children ages 10-14

When: Now thru August 31st, 2010. The winner will be announced by September 7, 2010

Where: Online at the EHAG Facebook Page and EHAG Blog

How: Parents email an image of your little ghoul's Halloween themed artwork to ehaagartists@hotmail.com along with the young artist's name, age, date, contact info, title of piece and medium used.

Prize: $100 gift certificate for art supplies from the winner's art supply store of choice.

Be as creative as possible and all artwork must be created solely by the young artist. We ask that no gore be depicted. Artwork will be judged based on originality and use of medium, and all mediums will be accepted. (All EHAG family members are excluded from participation.)

The artists of EHAG are obviously not the first generation to create Halloween art, and we certainly will not be the last. So, we decided to sponsor a kid's art contest that both celebrates our most favorite holiday and nurtures their creative spirit! And, as we know that there must be children out there that love both art and Halloween, why not begin to encourage them today!

Good luck, and we look forward to seeing your creative Halloween art entries!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Aug WIP and a pre Autumn Surprise!


It's been a while since I've posted a WIP so I thought I would throw out a
little tease. :-)
Also!.....
Look what greeted me on the ground early this morning!!!


The first Autumnal leaves of the season!
Ha Cha!
While the rest of the country has been roasting in triple digit temperatures,
here on the coast we've been lucky so far with a pretty constant 74 degrees. Ahhhh
Of course, our warmest is usually Sept, but I'm hoping for more coolness to welcome in the Fall.
I can taste the candy corn now!

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Hooray! It's EHAG Emporium Night!



Here is my July EHAG Emporium offering...
"Brimstone", the Gourd Goblin.

This little GG is 6 3/4" to stem tip and 5 1/2" wide.
He snitched the 12" Witch's broom, which has a real Sulphur Crystal imbedded in it.


Brimstone is hand sculpted of Paper Clay and as you can tell,
he's quite the muscular fellow... you see... Gourd Goblins creep about in the dark of night...
neath piles of leaves, and stacked straw. Often, a glimpse is taken
of them moving about on their stubby vine legs
in the odd corn field and empty pumpkin patch.


His little Broom can be gently moved ... Or, did he do that himself?


Brimstone is signed and numbered 1/1, Original.
SOLD

Please contact me via e-mail Possiblim@aol.com if you're interested in this fun piece.
Thank you so much for looking!
Deb

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Lookie Lookie Sneekie Peekie!


The EHAG Artists are at it again, and the doors to
 the EHAG Emporium will be
beckoning you in, this Saturday at 9:00pm (EST)
So, mark your calendar, put out the dog, bring in the cat,
set the timer, put your galoshes on, and put za candle back...
Spectacular new original Halloween Art will be making it's debut!
Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Here she is! The Lovely Miss GiGi of Booger Swamp!


Isn't she elegant as she waves to the crowd, and is presented
her bouquet of Deadly Nightshade Berries!

GiGi, or Gourd Goblin as she's affectionately known... is listed on ebay tonight
for the special PFATT Tuesday challenge.
Diminutive but mighty... You might want to pop over to ebay and have a peep!

Monday, July 19, 2010

PFATT EHAGS Galore!


Just one more week (well, a week and a half) till the Ehag Emporium once again opens it's doors!
Check out the three great giveaways the Ehag Artists have donated this month.
All you need to do is simply sign up on their blog for a chance to win and be sure to check back
on July 31st for new works from all of the Ehag artists!


Oh.... and one more thing.....
I've been naughty and remiss in not posting this sooner.... but I would like to thank my Virginia friend,
Pam Gracia of "Soft in the Head".
On the 4th of July, I learned that I was the winner of Pam's Tea Party Blog Giveaway! Ha Cha!
Now the tricky bit will be deciding what lovely Soft in the Head item to spend my gift certificate on!
WhooHoo! Thank you Pam!

And another thing.....
PFATT Tuesday is tomorrow so type in PFATT on ebay to see what fun art the members have created for this months theme. My "Miss October 31st" piece is still in the works and will be listed tomorrow evening.


And another... nother... nother... extra thing.....


Here's a bit of beautiful for you!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Have a Safe and Sane 4th of July!



Whoo Hoo! It's that time of year again, when the quiet of the morning is uplifted with crackling firecrackers,
and the occasional familiar Piccolo Pete whistle!


There was always a sense of anticipation when you would see the Red Devil Fireworks stands
starting to pop up all over town.
Those stands were such a magical thing, and there was something about the glow of the exposed light bulbs, the red, white, and blue packages and the wafting smell of gun powder and starter punks in the air.




There was always that hope that your Dad might spring for the deluxe assortment box with the extra giant cones, and maybe a roman candle or two or three! "Roman Candle? No, they don't sell those here!" Can we get the big box then?!



Of course we had to have a few boxes of sparklers! They used to only come in a brilliant white, but in later years, we could buy sparklers that threw off red, or green sparks. What fun, spinning them round and round, or writing your name in the air with the brightly glowing and spitting sparkler stick.


I was always mesmerized by the snakes. They always seemed the most difficult to light and my Dad would say, "That's going to make a mark on the sidewalk", so we would "grow" our snakes on the edge of the driveway. How did they do that?! Those long winding black sooty snakes would curl and just keep on growing like a Phoenix, from that little round disk.


One of the last fireworks to be pulled from the box was the little, put together yourself, "Clipper Cabin". Oh! What does it do?!... well.... My Dad always carefully assembled the little country cabin and lit the cone... and we waited... and waited... and the chiminey started smoking. Ahhhh. Peace on the Frontier,,, until we'd ignite the whole thing and it would burn in a blaze of glory! lol


And then there was Joe.
He wasn't one of the flashy, sparkly, glowing, fizzing and whistling fireworks. You simply unfolded his little cardboard stand and lit his Hobo stogie and watched the glowing embers.
Unlike the cabin, we extinguished his cigar before it got too close to his face.
But... I guess Joe was at the heart of the "Safe and Sane" Red Devil campaign and from a simpler time.
I don't know why, but  "Smokey Joe" was one of my all time favorites. :-)

Wishing everyone a wonderful
4th of July!