More figures!

Here is another example of some freelance work I recently finished. Somebody hired me to create personalized figurines for their family to give to them as Christmas presents. I think they turned out pretty well:

Finally!

Hello! I haven't updated in awhile because I have simply been busy. I finally got permission to share some freelance work I did this past fall. I was contacted by an ad agency all the way in San Fransisco to take part in a promo for the new Windows Phone 7. They sent a bunch of popular bloggers two Windows Phone 7s (one to keep and one to give away to their readers) along with the Phones, they sent each blogger a shadow box that contained handmade things that represented different functions of the phone. My job was to make small people that would represent the contacts in the phone. There are six figures featured in every box in the upper right quadrant (does any of that make sense?)

I ended up making about 400 figures in all and the boxes were sent to a lot of bloggers.

This SF blog wrote an article that describes it better:

http://www.thesfegotist.com/news/local/2010/november/29/windows-phone-7-shadowboxes-hub-strategy

and here are pictures of some of the work:

^These were for the family and parenting bloggers
^these were for beauty and style bloggers

^food and drink^design

I had a lot of fun with these and I've gotten really good at making people in this size! and I was even hired to make personalized christmas gifts for a family in San Fransisco.

I've been working on some new craft items as well, which I will post another time.

Handbags!

Hey, I made a handbag, it looks like this:

The front of this bag is a hand-sewn design depicting four Arabian ladies wearing niqabs, walking past pink minarets. I was inspired by an article the I read about how they want to ban burquas and niqabs in France. Also, if you really want me to get into it, I thought the juxtaposition of these oppressed women next to these large, sharp phallic symbols was very interesting.
Anyway, my boyfriend and I found a bag full of these beautiful antique handkerchiefs that belonged to his grandmother. (Obviously, I cleaned them before I made the bags) and we used those along with an old tablecloth and other fabric scraps.

He made one too. It features a person walking in the rain:


Both bags are up for sale on my website:

http://themadfawn.etsy.com

One Down...

Hello! I haven't updated in awhile, but I have many pictures to post.

These are from Fawndeleine's first ever craft show that was on July 4th! Everything came together beautifully for us and we painted a banner with our logo on it. (I think we're going to change the name, but haven't decided yet) Fawn's work and my work are very different, but when we put them all together they looked great next to each other. Very colorful.

Here are pictures of some of my newer creations. They are all finished, painted and for sale.


Sunbathers:Hangin by the pool


I also made earrings to match my bracelets!

As for what I've been up to lately, I am trying to refine my skills at the pottery wheel so I can make some cool dishes and sculptures.
Also, I am going to be exhibiting some of my work at Rock City Art in Rosendale, NY.

I made these and then realized I should take a picture of them right away because it is very likely that they will break before they have a chance to be fired.

The one on the left is a classical man with a horse's head and the one on the right is Venus with a goose head. They're probably about 8" & 6.5" tall. I wanted to make some classical figures to go with my garden sculptures, and I figured a goose and a horse were two animals that would go well in a garden.

Just so you know, I am going to paint these once they are fired, and I plan on having them fired sometime next week hopefully. I'm trying to have everything done by July 4th because that is when Fawn and I are going to have a booth at an arts fair in Kingston, NY. It doesn't feel like it, but that is actually pretty soon.

also, here is my cat, Happy Sunshine.sometimes she looks like a pony


and sometimes she looks like a sea otter


(yes I am one of those people that does this)

unfired garden sunbathers

It's been awhile since I last posted, and I don't have any finished work to post, but I am almost done with my quilt! Here is a picture of what it looks like now. All I need to do is add some flowers and sew the back on. The problem is, I've been working on it so much that I'm starting to hate it. So I took a break from it this week.

(It's 5'x7')

Instead, I've been doing a lot of gardening, and I had this idea that I wanted to make some little garden sculptures. I figured I would make some molds and fill them with plaster, but it isn't really working and I'm very discouraged.

I tried to make a garden Venus, but it's not working :(

(the top one is the ruined original and the bottom one is the failed cast)

Ew and the alginate smells like a dentist's

So I made some cats to cheer me up!

I figure I better stick to what I'm good at and just use good ol' red ceramic clay. I've been avoiding it because I'm not sure where to find a kiln to fire my work, but I'm just going to have to figure it out.

More garden sculptures to come, and hopefully a finished quilt soon!

Old/New illustrations/drawings

I'm having trouble posting images that are large enough, but I'm hoping that maybe if you click on the images, you'll be able to see them in full size...

This last one is from easter... and it features my cat, Happy Sunshine, who is a little baby terror.

When the box is better than the gift.

Hello again, my dear blog! Um, I made some more things that I want to post up here. I've been having trouble explaining them to people. I took these little jewelry boxes and made 3d love notes/valentines in them.It says "Home is where the heart is..." on the lid.

and inside:

And another one:

And another one:

That last one I got the line from my deer friend Fawn. Each box is a standard ring box, about 2.5"x 3.25". I love the idea of making artwork in boxes. They are very surprising and secret and you can keep them forever. I do worry about the person's reaction when they receive one of these boxes because they will be anticipating an actual gift, but I guess I think of them as sort of elaborate gift cards that could go along with a real gift.

Anyway, I will be selling these at a few crafts fairs that Fawndeleine will be appearing at this summer. Also, someday soon I will start an etsy account. Really, the biggest thing that is stopping me, is coming up with a name for it. 

Since this is my blog, I'm going to share some of my older work in boxes. If you know me, you've probably seen these already:

As you can see, these new gift boxes are like little poops from my old ideas.

I am also working on a quilt, which is taking up a lot of my time and I'm starting to hate the way it is turning out. I think that always happens with me when I take on a big project. Obviously, I'll post pictures when the quilt is finished. It's my first one, so if it isn't any good, I'm going to make more that will be amazing.

I guess that's all for now...

Fine Art and Handmade Items

Hello! Welcome to my new blog, my name is Madeleine and I make things and post it on the internet. And sometimes I sell things! (well not yet, but soon hopefully I will)

I've spent the last few years concentrating on ceramic sculpture like this one that I made in college:

I quit my job about a month ago and now that I am super broke, I've been thinking it'd be awesome to make things that I could actually sell. So I've been making jewelry and crafts that I think of as things I would love to buy from another crafts person if I had money.

And that is how Fawndeleine was born! I'm teaming up with my beloved Fawn, who was my roommate in college and we are both designing a plethora of handmade things; from jewelry, to valentines, rugs, quilts and more!

I started by modeling these little beads out of polymer clay:

And now I have a ton of them.

I have a load more stuff to post, but I'm out of time and my boyfriend says he's going to divorce me if I don't get off the computer. So, I will have to continue later!