Dumpling spent weeks looking for just the right store front. I was busy running round, having paintings scanned and making banners etc. I thought for just a moment what to call it, but it was obvious: The Magic Bag, of course. Finally, we swept the front step and unlocked the door! My new Etsy shop is now open for business!
Currently listed are some original paintings and prints, hopefully soon will come some limited edition dolls and more artwork. Now the store is up and running I need to make time to create some more art to go in it!
Do stop by to ring the bell and say hello if you are ever in the neighborhood.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheMagicBag
New painting: 'Feeding the birds fed her soul'. Acrylic and collage on board, 16" x 12 ". Whimsical folk art.
All sorts going on in the Magic Bag right now. Body parts keep popping out. All a bit 'Dexter'. Doll limbs and rabbit feet, even the complete torso of a rabbit.
I'll see if I can make sense of it all and assemble them in some fashion. They are all made of poly clay, and chances are it has something to do with that possible Etsy shop I mentioned before.
I'll let you know what happens!
Continuing the theme of 'little', I have recently completed another bit of stained glass painting for Bonny Doon Art Glass.
This one really was little! Two tiny people, only a few inches each, who are shown driving in this vintage car. The rest of the window was completed by John Forbes, of BD art glass, and contains custom golden bevels and copper foiled glass for this private piece.
Painting this small is actually far harder than painting big. Glass paints are hard enough to work with, without having to jiggle them onto such small bits of glass.
The Doll house is not the only scale stuff that's been going on around here. There has been a major drama unfolding on a very small scale in my back yard.
I have many birdhouses, but my favorite was a gift from my husband. It is shaped like a tiny Cape Cod style house, red with little windows in the roof, and even a front porch. When we moved last year, it came out of the packing boxes and was temporarily placed on the railing of the pagoda in the yard. It hasn't moved since.
A few weeks ago whilst eating lunch in the pagoda, I noticed some grass and twigs poking out of the circular hole in the door. It looked like someone was building a nest!
My suspicions were confirmed a week later when we noticed two tiny birds coming in and out of the house with what looked like grubs. Two days after that we heard the first tiny squeaks of baby voices. By now, Mama and Papa bird were coming in and out of the nest every two minutes or so, to feed their hungry brood.
Within another two days, the baby chirps had reached such a pitch that we could hear them from anywhere in the house. I looked in my bird book and I think they are they are Bewick wrens. The parents continue to work at least fourteen hours a day to keep up with their needs. Seeing and hearing the birds and their babies gives me such a simple sense of pleasure and joy. This is the first time one of my birdhouses has been occupied, and it's been a thrill to watch Mr and Mrs Bewick raise their family - both in my yard, and in a perfect little house for them.
The nest was becoming very crowded. There seems to be at least four of five youngsters. The babies would gape at the hole when the parents returned, and I became concerned they might fall out. Later that day I noticed one of the chicks had fallen out onto the deck area. I knew I shouldn't touch it, and at the time was busy feeding my own baby bird, so decided to go out again later, when my own baby was tucked safely in her little nest. When I did, the baby was no longer there. I checked the floor and surrounding area, but couldn't see anything, and secretly hoped the parents had managed to push the baby back into the box.
The next morning, as the dawn broke, the babies started to chirp as Mama and Papa flew from the nest to find breakfast. Their day was already well underway by the time I got up and pulled the curtains. Right then, we watched in horror as a Stellar Jay flew towards the box and grabbed one of the babies, right from the hole. The Jay flew to the fence, with the baby in it's beak and smashed it against the fence. The Bewick's cursed and swore at the Jay, but it was too late. We went outside to 'shoo' the Jays, but they continued to return as we prepared to leave the house. Before I left, I checked the nest, and could still see at least three young.
Later, when I returned home, the garden seemed quiet. When my daughter was asleep, I crept out and sat in the pagoda, waiting for the familiar chirping, and the regular visits from Mr and Mrs Bewick.
Nothing.
After twenty minutes of waiting in silence, I checked the nest and found it empty. I suspect once the Jays knew the nest was there, they systematically picked off the babies, one by one, until they were gone.
I imagined the parents returning with a grub that final time to find an empty nest, and no reason to stay. I wondered if they grieve? I wondered if the sorrow hangs with them as they fly away, or whether their job is finished and they think no more about it.
The garden felt quiet and empty for days. So did I. I mourned the loss of the Bewick children at the hands of the Stellar Jays.
I left the house alone for several weeks, just incase. Then yesterday I decided it was time to sort through it. Layer upon layer of first twigs and then grass, followed by feathers and fluff. So precise, so deliberate. Whilst taking the contents to the green can, I hear the chirping of other fledgling birds, old enough to fly, but not old enough to feed themselves, and I watch as their parents flutter about to keep them happy and fed. The circle of life. And now it's time to feed my little one again.
Hot off the press, varnish still wet, here is another of my 'Bunny and Boo' series, called Happy Birthday Boo!
Bunny blows a party whistle, and Boo patiently waits for cake.
Acrylic and collage on canvas, 8" x 8 ".
The grand plan is to open up an Etsy storefront, so I am currently stockpiling some images, getting pictures professionally scanned etc, so I can at least have ten or so items to start from. I will then be able to offer prints of existing work etc.
I've been painting a lot recently, which is most enjoyable, and a lot cleaner and safer than glass work. Also plan some more poly clay adventures soon.
Dumpling has been visiting Etsy storefronts to see what kind of shop we might lease. Makes me almost consider creating another bear. He's been so helpful since he came out of the Magic Bag, especially with the dolls house and all.
More soon!
I think the easiest way to show off the finished doll house is in this little slide show I put together.
It has a few 'before' pictures, but mostly 'after' shots. Dumpling can be seen working away in quite a few of them, and he also invited a couple of friends (Tipsy the rabbit and Rosemary Bear) round to show of his handy work (think he's angling to get more work from Rosemary, as she is Heiress to quite a large estate).
