Counting cats

I've now counted the cats on the "Sisters and Cats"set. The biggest one has eight kittens- three are in the basket, five more outside and then a mother cat - for her total of nine cats. The next one is holding one cat  awkwardly while a mother cat is carrying a kitten with another following - for a total of four more cats. The third sister holds a Burmese - looks too long-haired to be Siamese- and a grey and white hat is washing itself on the back. The fourth sister has a basket with two black,white and orange cats. The fifth sister holds one cat while another one sleeps at the back. The sixth and seventh sisters just have one each.   So we come to a total of 21 cats. Interestingly, now that two black cats live here, none of the cats on the matreshkas are black. Most are multi-coloured and most look like they have short or medium hair - no real long-hairs - and only the one that looks like a pure-bred. I really had
 forgotten all those details and I don't remember on what basis I picked cat colours... maybe I painted them pretty well at the same time and had the colours mixed! Definitely these Russian-made blanks are a lot better than the last set I just painted - which won't be shown here until October- and which don't join as nicely.
      I'm currently painting a bouquet and wishing Spring would hurry along. In the meantime, there are lots of snowdrops out so cheers for them.

Into February...

Here are the featured nesting dolls for February- the "Queen of Hearts" set that I painted in 1996. I'm showing front and back views. The Queen shows off her tarts, the King has a stick to take to the Knave and the Knave has tied a cushion to his tender rear. The last piece is a tart. Since I only used the three outside parts of the wooden nesting dolls, I used the "leftover" smaller bits to make a very small snowman set. When I paint a set of nesting dolls, I first gesso them and sand slightly. Then they are painted in acrylics and finished with a gloss acrylic varnish . Sometimes they have to have a bit of sanding with fine sandpaper at the joins, then I use beeswax to rub along the joins so that they will come apart easily and not stick. The outside dolls can have accessories such as the crown or a lot of modelling as there is no fitting inside to think about. I find it really adds to the fun to make a three-dimensional addition to the outside doll of a set. I don't remember if I used Fimo or modelling paste to make the tart. I have a general plan when I start a set but I also find that once the painting starts, extra ideas for embellishment flow.

Angelic Matreshkas

I'm starting the New Year with the "Peasant Angels " Matreshkas. The inside nesting dolls have wings painted on their backs but I made paper mache' wings for the outside doll. This is part of a plan for the new year of having a set of dolls in the kitchen window for a month at a time - except I won't do it in hot weather in case they react to being cooked in the sun.The peasant angels are my own design. I painted these in 1995 on "blanks" that I purchased. I still have a few more blanks. I haven't done any in a long time but I've  just started a new set- part of my plan to play in art.  After having Mrs. Santa Claus out for a Christmas decoration, I thought it would be fun to give the other hand-painted sets a turn. I had forgotten all the details of them so I'm seeing them anew. I would not have remembered when I painted them if I hadn't labeled them.

Some artists I know are making resolutions to paint a picture a day for 100 days but I'm not making resolutions for art or for otherwise.  I'm going to follow the suggestion of Rick Hanson of simply planning to nurture what makes me feel good. For me, that mostly means finding time for art but I'll do it in various ways, not a rigid plan. The nesting dolls should help in suggesting a relaxed and playful approach.  Another thing is to just let it go if it doesn't work out - one recent painting has turned out to be a write-off - or a paint-over in this case. It wasn't a  total disaster as there were more things I learned. Every painting is a learning experience after all. This one just didn't say what I wanted it to say - but then I had started another one (even while attempting to "fix" the unfixable) that is going in the direction that I want to head--- freer and yet more complicated too. I'm going to continue to work in different media too. I enjoy working in pastels for long poses in Life Drawing. I found myself thinking it might be fun to try pastels for plein-air work too - so I may try some when the weather gets right for outdoor art work.

Mrs.Santa Claus

I have a certain fondness for matreshkas and even have made some. Well, maybe not *made* since the blanks are sometimes available, but I have painted them.  The Christmas collected and "made"  ones are stored until the holiday season every year so it is nice to get them out and see them afresh. I have long suspected that Mrs.Santa Claus does a lot of the work while S.C. supervises the elves and the paperwork so, a few years ago, I painted a set of the nesting dolls to show some of her activities. The outside one has her baking gingerbread men, then she is making dolls, organizing stockings, putting up decorations, hanging lights, and wrapping gifts. I put this set in the kitchen window and now have decided that for 2014, I will give the various hand-painted ones a turn in the window.  Not through the summer, of course- I don't think the heat would do the paint any good.  In each case, I gessoed the blanks and painted them with acrylics and then used an acrylic varnish. The outside ones can have hats or extra texture that wouldn't work on the ones that have to nest inside. In this case the only texture is Mrs.Claus' curls.  Just another way to bring play into art....The 12 days of Christmas baubles did not make it onto the tree this year but I did post them all on the blog last December.