#MerylStreep and bigots

Meryl Streep made herself another Hollywood gossip gusher who attacked Walt Disney with disparaging remarks about antisemitism and sexism. This happened at a National Board of Review dinner in which Emma Thompson was honoured (Saving Mr Banks), and it has caused a great deal of stir and backlash since being published in Variety.
 The facts are, such ignorant and insideous remarks are uninformed garbage gossip that needs reply.
 Maybe a celebrity of Ms Streep's caliber doesn't have to worry much about prejudice and bias preventing her from following her career in this day and age, but back in the 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s there were plenty of women having doors shut in their face to keep them from joining in a communal work force, not to mention the blatant racism that ran unchecked. And yet, the historicity of the company that Walt Disney created, and the core values he lived and worked by, should highlight the truthfulness of the man's character.  Adding to this are the substantiated voices of those who actually worked with Walt Disney, and who knew him personally, and have gone on record time and time again to refute the old rumour mills of agenda.
In fact, it is these very same voices of 'old-timers' who actually knew Walt that have always given gratitude for the surprising opportunities that their forward thinking boss ushered into his workforce. This array of talented artists and creatives and bright thinkers premiered the entry of women as designers, painters and animators and imagineers, and the inclusion of employees of all backgrounds and race.
So why do myths and accusations still raise their ugly head? It simply is due to wilful ignorance, as in this modern age there certainly are more ways of finding the truth than ever before.
 So, as to Meryl Streep, and any and all lazy thinkers, why don't you come clean and stop being one of the hyprocritical bigots you yourself are trying to point a finger at?
~ Gina 

~A Christmas Wish from my home to yours~

 

 

***A timely reminder for those with faith:
God didn't put us in a world bereft of Heaven. He created a world made of Heaven. Each child's face is Heaven's face. Each child's tender hand is Heaven's touch.
The splendour of an ALL Good and... All Loving Presence is found around us in such as this - in Nature's glory, in a perfect raindrop, in puppy breath, and in our child's embrace. Yes, for those who recognize good and right, if we dare to look, we see God's Heavenly perfect blessings in an imperfect world.
This earthly, temporal life is a life of choice.
We are not created robots programmed to love, nor is God a cosmic puppeteer in which we are forced to love. Because, to be able to love, one must choose freely to love...or it is not love, it is force, it is rape.
That is why choice makes us free. That is why choice makes this world imperfect.
There are those who refuse the Heavenly and choose not to Love others ... and yet, we are still not deprived of hope. Because the Heavenly still remains firm and true. As it is written: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
Yes, even in the depths of man-made hell, we see these Heavenly choices. These choices of Love overcoming such darkness. We see the choices of heroes who gave their lives in saving others. We see the love of parent and precious child. We see the outpouring of love of community and of nation. We see the love of that which we know to be good and right gives us meaning. We see Heaven's Righteousness alight even in the darkest hour. Faith, Hope, and Love.
We are created for such things as these.
We are created for Heaven.

It is my wish for my loved ones all ~ that each of you may see the Joy and Blessings from Heaven in this Christmas Season and discover that everlasting gift of Love incarnate once born in Bethlehem's stable.

Merry Christmas!
~ Gina

(Photo credit: This is a photo I took some years ago of my youngest daughter with our late, beloved doxie, Leo Manny, posing as the Good Shepherd watching over the flock!)

One of my new Christmas pieces, "Noel"!
~~~~~~~~
  Merry Marionette Minis™ are original characters of Jesters, Lords, Ladies, Knaves and Knights of Fairy Tale whimsy.
Inspired by the Old World Punch-n-Judy, each character captures the essence of marionette theatre and is created in jewel tones with an antique finish.
These articulated minis can hang from a collectible stand, as an ornament, upon a beaded necklace or worn as a blouse adornment or unique tie pin.
~ Weird Contessa Studio Creations™ are one-of-a-kind original designs by
Gina LF Draker,
a professional prototype sculptor in the Toy and Collectible Industry since 1988.

Noel the Royal Jester™ is Copyright 2013 GLF. Draker
Merry Marionette Minis™ is a Trademarked Property of  Weird Contessa Studio Creations™
(All Rights Reserved)

WALT DISNEY, AMERICAN ICON

To mark the 4th of July Holiday this week, I was thinking of a very iconic All-american inspiration - Walter Elias Disney.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that Walt Disney holds that kind of inspiration for my work as a creative, and a special place in my childhood and to my children's childhood.

His special kind of inspiration doesn't only affect artists the world over, but children the world over - for they are the truest dreamers of dreams.

I hope that many this summer will get to visit The Walt Disney Family Museum In San Francisco and the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, Missouri. These are fine organizations that should be enjoyed and throughly supported in every way possible.

One of the banners I created is for associates at the facebook page, Friends of the Walt Disney Family Museum, and I hope that you will consider joining in the discussions there, as well!

Some time ago, I was in a conversation about Walt and wanted to make my point loud and clear that he is as relevant today as he was in his own time. I'd like to share that here, along with images from many projects of mine - from Logos to sketches and Banners of 'Uncle Walt'. As you may already know, Walt's visionary genius inspires generation after generation.

The old-timers are not the only ones who recognize the inspiration of Walter Elias Disney, but every single tried and true-blue Disneyphile actually wants more Walt.

There is not only a nostalgia for this kind of hopeful Americana idealism, but a great need to feel that same sense of direction and ethics which centered country and family in Walt's day.
That's the brand Walt established - the ones you find from remembered pages of a child's morality tale of faith, courage and strength, hope and perseverance; it is in the heroics of praise-worthy deeds of history, and in the discovery of the fantastical that charges creativity with determinism and fortitude.

You see, to Walt, that hope could take form and the possible world is what we make of it. This is the type of idealism that could only lie in the heart and mind of a true Visionary who changed modern culture as we know it.

Now, Disneyland lovers, as well as history buffs, film geeks, animation students, and Art professionals, all value this extraordinary legacy. But so do parents and grandparents, and so do kids. They recognize it in the master leadership and master showmanship of so many skilled, talented, and gifted individuals who brought this gossamer stuff of dreaming into concrete experience. 

Yet, it is not only the art medium that bore his name, but this thing called an idea that firmly took shape and still has its presence among us. 

 

Walt was a creative, artistic, imaginative genius, an idea man, a doer - and he knew good business. Walt knew the business of giving people what they want, what they dream about, making it have dimension and depth. That was this American paradigm on which Walt Disney built his dynasty. 

And not only did it serve Walt's generation - but it is virtually impossible to NOT find his indelible brand of imagination on childhood since. 

So, I ask you: is Walt Disney sufficient for the masses? 

The answer is a resounding yes! 

Few individuals in the whole of history can reach so many with such untempered joy, as did Walt Disney. God bless him!

HAPPY DREAMING! THANKS, WALT!

ALL ART IMAGES BY THE ARTIST / COPYRIGHT
© GINA L.F. DRAKER. 2009-2013
 (NOT TO BE REPRODUCED OR DUPLICATED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION) 

MR Moon™ 

 

 HOW I DESIGNED THE PROJECT: 

(1) Here is a peak of the way I began MR MOON™ - first by laying out the rough shape. Then I sketched out a very rough idea of the face on the surface of the clay.

(2) The second stage was to cover the disc of baked clay with soft clay and shape the features into being. Soon the character of old Mr Moon began to take shape!

(3) Here is the Moon face as it was after baking. It is now ready to be detailed and sanded.

4) Here is the back of Mr Moon™ - with his craters and all!

HANGING THE CHRISTMAS MOON™ 

~ is a custom sculpted piece, having been made for a special Christmas gift.

As no two One-Of-A-Kind pieces are ever exactly the same, being hand-sculpted and each delicately painted by hand, this piece is unique in its overall design and construction.  

However, I will be starting on other "MR MOON" designs featuring Holiday themes and Fairy Tales! And more to come on the making of Santa on a future post! Watch for more quite soon!

                       © 2012 GLF.DRAKER./WEIRD CONTESSA STUDIO CREATIONS™  (COPYRIGHT/ALL RIGHTS RESERVED).

Walt Disney mock up in clay:

This was a piece I did yrs ago, sculpted in one night, for a meeting at Disney Animation in Burbank. It was done as a rough mock up - like carved wood - on purpose. I have been lately thinking of making a mold and taking the piece further from there. This was actually sculpted before Blaine Gibson did the Partners statue for Disneyland/the Disney Parks. And if it wasn't known before, it must be said that Walter Elias Disney was not just a visionary genius, but he is my true mentor and life-long artistic inspiration for becoming a professional artist. 

Walt Disney - sculpture in clay - © GLF.DRAKER. 

     Victorian Hurdy-Gurdy Circus Monkey

            *Haven't named him yet ~ any ideas?

               
My newest piece is this wee lad who is fully articulated as any good monkey should be. Inspired by the Victorian Hurdy Gurdy Organ Grinder's Monkey, he is smart enough to perform in any circus or Music Hall act and loves to be the center of attention! He is part of Weird Contessa's 'Wearable Collectible™' collection and can be worn with the beaded necklace or as a whimsical brooch with secured pin on back. He may also be kept as a free standing figurine under display. Remember, Monkey loves applause!

                  Monkey in the first stages of paint!

     Here is Monkey in the Rough clay prepared for detail work! 

Victorian Monkey - Copyright 2013 Weird Contessa STudio Creations™

All Rights Reserved

Please join us in A Christmas Grim with The Victorian Undertaker™ (a special Christmas audiocast written and produced by Gina Draker)

It's that time of year again and Santa is coming to town!

                   Santa is getting ready for the Holidays!!!
Yes, it's that time of year for me already when orders begin for the Holiday Season and Christmas is just around the corner! With that brisk chill in the air and Jack Frost just waiting to leap, these Autumn days grow short of light, giving me just the right mood in which to create a Victorian Christmas inside the bubble of my imagination. This idea of warming wassail or spiced apple cider, an old-fashioned pumpkin pie or gingerbread man, is all I need to summon a Dickens Christmas of cobbled lanes and merry Carolers singing: God Rest You Merry Gentleman. But, there I go again, and I'm suddenly hearing the jangle of bells from a far-off sleigh and a mighty Ho Ho Ho echo down my chimney. Oh, but not too fast! Santa has to get ready for Christmas! He's not even painted yet!  

          
                          (Arms articulated) 
 Unfinished/Unpainted Santa in Progress! © 2012 Weird Contessa Studio Creations™

~The Mermaid Box~

I love the primitive Maritime folk art of early Americana. 

Historically, sailors had little to do at sea once keeping to their duties aboard ship; However, in treasured spare time, they might take up carving. 
Wood was the easiest of natural mediums to find for such carpentry and often these carvings would be a source of added income to trade in little sea ports. 
Such sea-going Artisans were to be found living and leaving from coastal villages and ports along the New England coast and across the Mid-Eastern Seaboard to down in the Deep South and river towns where cargo ships would bring in such sailors and skills from around the world. 
In the Victorian era, when Gold Rush fever took hold,  the Mariner was often tempted to throw in with the Pioneer settlements burgeoning across the wild and lawless  Western-Pacific landscape. 
Soon, such hand-worked carvings were found among trinkets and goods of trade that could  be found easily enough in places like San Francisco and all along the coastal regions
 of Old California, out across foggy seaports in Oregon 

and over the mist shrouded shores of Washington. 

 This Mermaid Box is a little nod to the artisan Mariner of old. As I think of more homespun folk mermaid designs to come, I can't help but think of a bearded old Sea Cap'n, with faithful dog at heel. There he sits dressed eternally in pea coat and cap, whittling away a beauty made of wood nearly visible amongst the shadows outside a seaside clapboard house. Yes, his smoking pipe is barely discernible against his shadowy form that fades in and out of the winking sunlight settling over the glistening beach 

and churning white capped waves at Sea.

               
                  Mermaid Box with raised relief of Sea Maiden of original design.
                                                   Mermaid and Fish may be customised with various colours.  

                                       

                                   More Maritime inspired folk art boxes and the
 Blue Mermaid Collection™ coming soon! 

                                                                             © Weird Contessa Studio Creations™

Shor' it be ... a wee bit o' luck for Saint Patty's !

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

Tis ol' ~Casey Séamus O'Toole O'Malley~   himself! This wee jolly little leprechaun has made visible his spritely self for your mortal eyes just in time to join in the merriment
and mischief for Saint Patty's Day!

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

To bring alive the luck o' the irish, First I set about sculpting my wee leprechaun friend, and after a bit of detail tooling and then further baking, he was ready for the final stage of acrylic paints! 

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

To add much more to his lucky charm, I added a shimmering gold fleck clear-coat to his green suit! He might just yet get a shamrock pipe, too! 

 ♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

         
                    ♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧
         
                    ♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧
Happy St PatTEA's Day!
Are you wondering what to serve for St Patrick's Day?

Well, first of all, you must know that the Irish take their ”cuppa tae” seriously !
TEA is the Irish National Beverage !
In fact, the average Irish tea drinker consumes at least 4-6 cups per day! (Not bad, but I think I drink more on my average day of sculpting! And you might say, it inspires me!)
Now, how to make a good Irish cuppa ?

First of all, m'darlin', you must have a good Irish teapot to keep the tea warm as it steeps. Warm the teapot before adding the boiling water! For loose tea, use one spoonful for each cup, (a generous spoon, mind!), and one extra spoon for the teapot! If using a teabag, it is one per cup and one for the pot! Remember, Irish like their tea strong - and it should steep for at least 5 minutes but no longer as to not burn the tea!
Please remember, to have a true Irish 'cuppa tae', always put cream and sugar in the cup first, rather than later.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day ! 
And remember what m' favourite leprechaun, Casey Séamus O'Toole O'Malley once told me ~
 ♧ "May the Good Lord kiss your head with wisdom, your lips with a smile, your heart with love, and your feet with the right road ...especially if trouble be after ye !"
Éirinn go Brách !

Sláinte !
xo
~Gina~

                              
                                                                                 Casey Séamus O'Toole O'Malley

© Copyright 2010 Weird Contessa Studio Creations™  

(All Rights Reserved)

~SANTA'S VISIT ~

 Santa's Visit  was inspired by my cherished ideal of a Victorian Christmas that harkens back to this Christmas innocence of childhood dreams. For this I had an old-fashioned yuletide Father Christmas in mind, a true classic Jolly Old Elf who is the Santa Claus of sentimental Christmas Eve anticipation. With his arms full of toys and a symbolic evergreen of the season tucked in his embrace, Old Saint Nick has come on his promised visit to deliver his joyful delights to each hopeful child. 

As I was sculpting for a Christmas Curio Display and also for an Ornament, I had two mediums. The weight of a firm polymer clay is ideal for a heavy and higher-end work with detail that requires more depth and this clay works wonderfully for the curio piece. Here "Santa's Visit" is already baked for permanence and getting cleaned for the next stage of being painted

 (*see below). 

For the Christmas Tree Ornaments, I used PaperClay™, which is a light medium and is actually similar to Papier mâché, but in pulp form and is not a non-layering technique; it is made from a clay-like pulp and requires complete drying time before being painted.  The process of sculpting in this medium also is different and is more additive rather than subtractive. It can be sanded, rather than carved. Like watercolour painting is different from oil painting, this paper medium is light and more expressive of its own medium than is a true clay - which holds more to a highly realistic detail sculpting. 

*Note the differences and the beauty of these variations and techniques.

 Both of these unpainted pieces are fully dried Paperclay™ sculpts and are ready for paint - as seen completed below. As no two pieces made by hand are exact, each piece is one of a kind and has its own personality. Look closely and one may see that even the face of each Santa different in expression, as are the toys! 

 These are Christmas tree ornaments, yet may be used as a wall hanging for Christmas decor, as they are light and retain the look of an old-fashioned heirloom. Upon request, an Antique finish may be added to complete the feel of Christmas Past.  

                                                                 SANTA'S VISIT © Copyright 2010 Weird Contessa Studio Creations™         

                                                                                                                                                                                     (All Rights Reserved)

Knowing what to be Thankful for...

I must admit that Thanksgiving is not my favourite holiday to celebrate. 
It is not for lack of festivities of food, family and friends - but the holiday in general just disappoints me. 
Being of both European and Native American heritage, I find it distinctly unbalanced that this particular American holiday has been celebrated in ignorance of fact and historical correctness.

("Homeland" is a colour sketch for a larger painting. This sketch is pen & Ink and watercolour wash on paper.)  

Even the traditional children cut-outs of turkey hands with fingers as feathers, or pilgrim hats in black and Indian headbands of multi-coloured designs are simply being a thing of the past. Why are little things like this forgotten in today's dreary little "politically-correct" school rooms.  

(A collectible locket that I had sculpted the prototype for in 1995 for Disney's Pocahontas. [©Disney/Applause Inc.]
The film was spectacularly beautiful and the soundtrack was stunning and aptly written from the native american point of view -
alas, the storyline was
 non-historical pandering to ignorance and shame-faced mythology.) 

A general fear of prejudicial feelings has now erupted in a complete disregard for honouring history. Do we as a nation still not understand what these two cultures were then and how and why they interacted with each other the way they did. Isn't that the true founding of America? 

Sadly, there is a distinct loss of Native American Indian culture, heritage and history in the United States. 

It is especially disparaging to have been raised on those old school text books so utterly out of focus on Indian heritage and accomplishment, and over-balanced with the European expansion, conquering settlements and colonisation of white America. As it stands today in American public schools, there we have another dissing of culture altogether in order to avoid being non-politically correct. Politically correct? What a load of rubbish.  

(The title of this is "Injun Red" and was drawn in conte pencil on canson paper with digitial colour. I chose red as I wanted to convey the emotional response of a dying culture and embattled confusion. Red being blood). 

Is it to deny one culture is to deny another? Because to teach American history once was a sort of propaganda for the European conquerers with a distinctly one-sided tell all of history. But since the rallies of the late 1960s and multi-cultural awareness of the 1970s, there have been voices of disquiet. Culture shouldn't be a bad word, but this has even been caught up in politicos and gleeful law suits of racism running rampant. Culture and history go hand in hand, and in understanding both, shouldn't we celebrate what we can learn from history, rather than rewrite it or remain in ignorance of it?  

(This is a drawing I did many years ago -  It was based on a historical photograph of an indian chief. What I wanted to capture was a man losing his way of life.
His face strikes me as proud, defiant and fearful.) 

So, it is at this time of year, and certainly with a grateful spirit in giving thanks to Creator God, that I especially remember the Ancestors for all they gave and achieved and reckoned with to forge a new country or to hold tightly to the birthright of an old one.   

I hope to share that gratitude here as I post some of my artwork in remembrance of the first American - the American Indian. 

Happy Thanksgiving !