fairies and sphinxes

Hello! Here are a couple new pieces. The silver fairy came about because the first version I made was a right pain the ass to cast (thin arms, thin neck) it was hard to get good casts, so I made this lovely lady and I love her. My wax skills are so much better now! I have Bob Burkett to thank for my vast improvement, he is a master at metalsmithing. He is battling some pretty nasty health problems right now and we are worried about him. Hopefully, he will have a quick recovery.

The sphinx painting is another collaboration Andrew and I are working on, part of the Oracle Card series. This is the obstacles card, a card symbolizing constraints or delays. She looks like she knows a secret, perhaps its in knowing there are obstacles you have an advantage to overcome them. Andrew is doing a great job with the backgrounds, he has a good sense of atmospheric light. I enjoyed painting this card, I felt like I was channeling the old fantasy illustrators like Frazetta, while blocking it out. It was fun. I can't really believe how much work we've made for ourselves. I stayed up all night finishing the castle for our garden art line. Working towards new products for Faery Con has been really fun and challenging. I'm not expecting it to be a bead show, so we're trying to make more finished pieces (our new silver fairies are destined for necklaces,) plus the prints and cards so all bases are covered. Im so tired! I can't wait for the show and wish I had more time! Well, my castle cracked all over the place after firing, so I have alot of patching up to do!