Weird Contessa Studio Creations™

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!

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!

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!

~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!