I drew one more animal portrait this evening, a sweet little hedgehog 🙂
Off to rest some more, or that’s the plan anyway.
Month: April 2008
The Owl and The Pussycat
I have a cold, but I am trying to be productive while sitting in bed. These are my first two entries in my new sketchbook, an owl and a pussycat. He is a Northern Saw-whet Owl and she is a Persian kitten. Both are dressed in vintage clothing. They are tiny pencil drawings, four by five inches.
I have been scouting around for mini canvases and found some at Michaels (in their store…again, can’t seem to find the same thing on their site) that are four by five. Of course after buying a couple of canvases, I’m now thinking I’ll do the paintings in watercolor on paper instead. It’s always a good idea not to get a bunch of things before trying one out. This time I only bought one each in two sizes, but I’ve made the mistake of being too sure about what I wanted to do before. Somehow, certain artwork tells you how it wants to be done as you are working on it. So, you can’t always plan in advance. These just seem to want to be paler and more delicate in a way that watercolor would work best.
Emerging Art
I think I painted about eight million hairs on this kitten doll, when two million might have done just as well. I have her shoes, socks, and pantaloons left to paint and I’m feeling terribly slow. I may be coming down with a cold. It’s gotten everyone else here so far. I really want to get my doll done so I can photograph her with Ziggy. They look great together.
I don’t think that I believed how labor-intensive this kitten-making would be. Max had moved on, at least temporarily, from making the sewn, stuffed, and dressed dolls because, with all the sewing, they were extra involved and time consuming to make, and because Max prefers the sculpting and painting end of things to the sewing and stuffing end. I thought since I enjoy sewing, it would be right up my alley, which it may be. Oh, but all these hairs…I think I went a little nuts.
Fluffy, Original One-of-a-kind Persian Tabby Kitten Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max Bailey
My Name is “Fluffy”. It’s not a very original name, but I didn’t pick it, did I?
I would have picked a fancy name like “Floradora”, or maybe an exotic name like “Esmeralda”. But not “Fluffy”. No way.
At least I wasn’t named “Puffy”. I wouldn’t like that one bit.
From now on, maybe I just won’t come when I’m called.
I have a red velvet cushion that has “Fluffy” embroidered on it in gold. It has real gold tassels on it too. I like the way the tassels bounce up and down when I swat at them. If I wasn’t named “Fluffy”, it wouldn’t be my cushion anymore, would it?
I also like my pink flowered bowl. It says “Fluffy” on the side of it. It’s my bowl. Just thinking about it makes me hungry.
I hope you understand that underneath all this fur is a tiny little kitten who needs a lot to eat.
Someone just called “Fluffy”. It must be dinner time. Maybe “Fluffy” is a pretty nice name after all.
I wonder what’s for dinner? I think I’ll go see.
I’m back. I ate, and I feel much better. As I was saying, my name is Fluffy. I’m a Persian tabby kitten, and I’m just a baby, so my eyes are kind of blue. I’m wearing a really pretty dress. It’s mauve, and has pale gold flowers with wine-colored centers. It’s got a white collar and ruffled cuffs, and lots of swirly white petticoats. I’m wearing a pale turquoise jumper over it. Best of all, I like the big yellow-gold bow at the front.
Max Bailey hand sculpted me from paperclay. (He’s the one who named me Fluffy.) My whiskers are made from stiffened cotton thread. I’m a one-of-a-kind original work of art, and meant for display only. No molds are ever used in Max’s work, so nobody else looks like me and never will!
I was completely hand painted with acrylic paints, then signed and dated and sealed with matte varnish for protection and preservation. I rest firmly on a turned wooden base that is stained and sealed in golden oak, and I am 7 and 1/8 inches tall.
Update: Fluffy has already been adopted. Thank you!
