Mary Poppins Update

I'm working away on this lovely piece so I decided to update. I asked the Walt Disney Archives if I could have the Mary Poppins figure back, if they weren't doing anything with her, and they graciously told me I could. I don't live too far away from the studio but it took four hours to get there and back because of holiday traffic! But the funny thing was I came home and ripped her head, legs, arms and hat off because the anatomy was all wrong. Believe it or not, the trip to get her was worth it. Starting from scratch would have taken at least a week and a half and having some time away from her I was able to recognize right away what was off with her (and a little embarrassed I gave her to Disney like that). So this is her all shiny and new with better proportions. I finished the Willow tree and I'm still working on Bert in the Chimney scene surrounded by kites because he is a jack-of-all-trades in the movie. He's a Screever, Kite Seller, Chimney Sweep and One-man Band. The hardest thing about doing these is their faces. I do major face studies of both Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke (Bert's face study shown. Pencil on heavy paper) and study work done by Milt Kahl. I want people to recognize there faces in a familiar way and love them like they did the characters in the movie. I spent hours on faces for both Mary and Bert and they ended up in the trash. It's really discouraging when this happens but I keep telling myself that I have never regretted re-doing the faces of my figures so that encourages me.

Baby Grand for Grad

I was commissioned from some very good friends to do a baby grand piano for a cake top for a graduation party. It needed to be made in just two weeks so there wasn't time to do a full study of a baby grand piano so I used a free download for a paper grand piano as a reference and just omitted and added a lot of different things.
After the piano was completed I thought about what it would look like to play beautiful music. I have zero knowledge of how to play music or how to read it but I pictured the pianist being surrounded with the notes and them wrapping around her like air. I needed to wait to post it because it was a surprise.
 Mary Poppins is coming along great and Bert was so fun to do with him being covered in soot. Will post soon.

1969-Let It Bleed & Scooby-Doo

Phew! I'm not gonna lie, this piece was not easy. Every layer got more and more difficult and yet they are all covered up! haha. This is where I love having a blog, I can post the details here. I hand cut each part of that clock and made a great paper pizza with pepperoncini's, just like the orginial album cover. This piece is for Susanita's Little Gallery's "Cover the Cover" Exhibition coming up. Scooby-Doo is my all time favorite childhood cartoon and one of my daughters too. That is a real Rolling Stones "Let it Bleed" vinyl record and jacket and it is unscathed from the artwork. Each layer comes off easily to have access to the record and the jacket fits perfectly underneath it all. I found out (according to Wiki, not the best source) that both Scooby-Doo and "Let It Bleed" were released in 1969 so I thought they would be a perfect fit.

Disney D23 Mary Poppins 50th Anniversary!

I was chosen to be part of the Disney D23 Fan Art Contest for Mary Poppins 50th Anniversary! I can't even explain how thrilled I am. Here is a link to the expo. http://d23.disney.go.com/d23-expo-2013/
Can't wait to start on the piece!

Let Them Eat Cake

Splash

I have been wanting to do an African American girl for a while so this is her. I LOVE her hair! I was thinking of Marie Antionette when I did it and of course my previous piece, Joyeux. I love using this swing theme in my pieces because it always reminds me of the Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland when the bear comes down from the ceiling for the finale or the Tiki room with the beautiful white birds in the center. I can see a girl in a cage being a little controversial but it wasn't intended as such. I thought of this cage as a canvas and there is no hidden meaning. I love how whimsical and fun this is and now that I did all that hair I have Marie Antionette on my mind so maybe for the next piece?

The Chocolate & Art Show-"Little Black Dress"

 Come out this weekend, April 26-27. I have three pieces on display, including my Alice in Wonderland "Who's Been Painting My Roses Red?" from the Sing That Movie exhibit. It's 21 and over with a yummy chocolate fountain and goodies to eat!

The Chocolate & Art Show-"Kiki's Z Gallery"

This is the first, and largest, of three pieces I am doing for The Chocolate & Art Show in LA, April 26th-28th. I am very honored and excited to be part of this exhibit and can't wait to see all the amazing pieces on display (and to taste that yummy chocolate fountain!) The piece was inspired by Z Gallerie's symmetrical designs and it's use of mixed patterns. I decided to use some very colorful, bold and glamorous paper and to add some "edge" to the flowers, because this show seems very young and trendy and butterflies and flowers may not normally fit in.
Everything is measured and hand cut and takes A LOT of time and patience...oh, and paper. Lots of paper!

Medium: Paper, tissue paper and more paper! On Canvas

Missions

 "Time-out"

 "Playing Dress-up"

(Cub is on parent Tigers back playing with tail)
"Play Time"

 "Tween"

I'm working away on a few projects, Mary Poppins has the closest due date, but inbetween I have been working on these. I plan to do them as paper sculptures but I'm also painting them for Mothers and Fathers Day cards. I'm selling both the paper sculptures and cards at a Women's Tea at our church to raise money for missions. There's a missions family in Mexico that needs another Corriente Cow or Bull.

Who's Been Painting My Roses Red?

I am so excited for the next Susanita's Little Gallery exhibit, "Sing That Movie!" March 25th 2013. I chose Disney's Alice in Wonderland and since I have had my daughters I joyfully revisit all my favorite Disney films as a child.
 Frank Thomas was the directing animator for The Queen of Hearts. I remember watching or reading one of the many interviews or books about Frank I have studied and he shared how he came up with the idea of the Queen. Frank Thomas played piano in a Dixieland jazz band, with other members of the animation department, and while playing one night he looked out in the audience and saw a big woman that was pretty full of herself. He talked about how he often used the audience to inspire him for different characters. I wish I could remember where I read or saw that about Frank because it's a wonderful piece of animation history that I would like to fully remember.
The Queen of Hearts is one of my favorite Disney villains, I believe what makes her so great is that she is unforgettable. I personally would like to see her and Ursula do battle! Haha.

Medium: Paper

Painting the Roses Red

Susanita's Little Gallery is having a "Sing that Movie!" exhibition and I chose Alice in Wonderland. I love Disney Animation and growing up with these movies it's a dream come true to be able to do art for the films.
I still have a lot to do with this piece. My daughter drew the picture below of the Queen of Hearts and, so far, this is my favorite drawing she has ever done. I used her work to help me decide to make the Queen for one of my characters. Before I started the finished Queen I sat down and did a mock example to make sure my idea would work in paper. Below is the preliminary Queen (she looks more like Fred Flintstone in a dress, haha).