Toy collection

It's funny how a picture can look really wrong, until the final cropping is done. Bearing in mind that I will be making these artworks up into cards, I added a big extra wodge for the scans - which got cut off when the time came to frame up. When the magic circle mount was added and it made compositional sense.

'Sea Horse with Button Moon'

As I was getting near deadline, I revisited a favourite theme - 'We Three Kings' - rooster style. This is the first version from 2004 -

The second version from 2006 -





And the third version for the Green Gallery, 2008 -



Rounding off the batch of toy sculptures - Sherbettina -





- and the 'blob' who turned into Bonbon the rabbit -

Last Friday was D-Day; most of it spent scanning all artworks for my records and future usage, as well as taking a thousand photos of the animals. Before I packed the paintings up, I couldn't resist seeing how they all looked together...

Then I emptied my toy shelf -

(all except poor Minxie, who is on her own again)

- to see how it all worked as a package. And was rather pleased. After years of hard work, I finally feel as if I have created my own identity. I am a toy artist. Which is where I always wanted to be.

Yes, there are only five toys here - I was a little late with the final one, and poor Tommy was hastily needled over the weekend.

Hey! What about me???

With some relief I sent the toys off, on Monday last. And celebrated my new status of No Deadlines by getting the cottage straight - girl's got to relax somehow! And while I would love to put my feet up and do a bit of reading, I find myself back to full steam, planning new lines of needle felt bits and bobs and finally indulging in a little dream I had a loooooong time ago...

A pair of chaps

Funny how deadlines creep up on you...the next few days are going to be intense (er) . I am five toys down and on my last painting.




Mr Lavender was the first piece I made for the Green Gallery order. I think he is a retired actor, now living in genteel poverty, but who still has a way with the ladies.




Pippin was a bit of a tricky one, black is an absolute bugger to work with, if you'll pardon my language - it seems to pick up more stray (non-black) bits than white. I am not over fond of penguins myself, and Pippin has a calculating look in his beady glass eye...but I am going to make more, as I know that there are penguin lovers out there.




Although his flippers are quite cute and as they are jointed with strong waxed cotton, he can march all the way to whatever Pole penguins come from...I always forget.




I am now going to disappear for a few days and get my act together. Quick march!

Overheard at the boundary

The characters -
Head Monkey
Grey Goosie
Wise Monkey
Custard
The Great Stabber (unseen and unheard, but definitely there)
and a rather grumpy bottle of beer who becomes more subdued as the scene progresses.

The scene - A Sunday cricket match in a rather chilly June. We are near the boundary, listening to the assorted shouts of exasperated bowlers and cheering team mates. The dying sun casts long shadows across the field as the match draws to a close. If we listen carefully, we can just hear a whispered conversation coming from a small group of friends...

Custard - 'Is that our chap out there bowling?'
Wise Monkey - 'I think so - hard to tell from here, they look the same from a distance, and all dressed in white.'

Grey Goosie - 'Can someone tell me who I am, where am I and why I am please? I'm only two hours old.'
Head Monkey - 'You are a mere babe! We saw you being created by the Great Stabber. You are at a cricket match and your name is Grey Goosie.'
Grey Goosie 'What is cricket? Who is the Great Stabber? Why? How? When?'



(momentary distraction as attention reverts to the match)

Head Monkey - 'Oh good running sir!'
Custard - 'I wish I could run like that, but alas, I am legless'
Bottle of Beer 'Well don't blame me! I didn't ask you to stick your great yellow snout into my neck!'
Wise Monkey - 'Calm down, Beer, he meant legless as in legless, not as in legless. But then, you are a rather fine specimen of Fiddler's Elbow, so you must expect to be drunk, if you pardon the pun.'

(The bottle of beer subsides, grumbling, then squeaks as it is plucked from its resting place. When it returns, it is somewhat quieter).

Grey Goosie - 'So why are we here? What are we doing? Who are you all?'
Custard - 'Well I am waiting for my legs, then I will be going to my new home. I have heard that she is a lovely, gentle lady who lives in a magical palace filled with wondrous materials and treasures.'
Head Monkey - 'I have been waiting for the rest of my body for weeks...I am destined to travel far across the ocean to sunny climes' (he shivers as a breeze cuts across the field) 'and not before time - this country is far too cold for a monkey. I have heard that my new mistress is a talented artist who creates delightful books for children. I am to be her special toy, all her own. I would jump for joy, except I am only a head...'
Wise Monkey - 'And you have been made in my image. I belong to the Great Stabber. Before that I belonged to her father, and he brought me from a far hotter country than you are destined for. Although I too am missing some limbs, I am very old, and one of her prized possessions.'
Grey Goosie (breaking in impetuously) - 'What about me? What about me? Where am I going? Who will love ME? More importantly, why haven't I got a proper grown-up beak?'

(There is a startled gasp from the beer bottle as yet again it is lifted from the table top, to a mysterious Somewhere high above their heads).

Wise Monkey - 'Oh impatient youth! Barely three hours old and already seeking the answer to everything. For every creature there is a home. It is written in the stars'
Custard - 'We have heard tell of Mavis, who stayed on the toy shelf for many weeks, but at last found a home and flew hundreds of miles to live with a fairy artist. She even laid an egg on her journey. You will find your Someone, one day. When there's a bit more of you.'
Head Monkey (grumpily) - 'I wish there was a bit more of ME!'
Wise Monkey - Now hush, my children, the sun is sinking and the wind is gathering...let us snuggle into our basket and I will tell you stories of toys who were found, and we will dream...'

(As the curtain descends on the drowsy scene, the beer bottle is heard gurgling emptily off-stage, before silence falls, disturbed only by tiny snores emanating from the sewing basket).