Fungus Friday

Today’s fungus is a very tiny orange mushroom nestled in the moss.

Itty Bitty Orange Mushroom

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Inspriation Thursday

It’s time for another Inspiration Thursday. I will be highlighting one artist a week.(I hope I can find enough artists who want to participate.) The artist has just one question to answer, “What inspires you?” On the surface, it seems like a very simple question; however, it is also very complex. I hope that you will enjoy both the answer and the featured artist’s work.

Our artist for this week is Natasha Smith of Shetland. You can see more of Natasha’s fabulous work here http://www.facebook.com/FeltingIsFun?ref=ts

What inspires me?
O.K so for me its my environment. I moved to the wilds of Shetland 6 years ago and have never looked back. For anyone who has been here, they know the secret of the isles.  For anyone who hasn’t, this secret is still to be discovered. The sounds, the smells, the wind blowing across the sea. The weather here changes so quickly you can see all four seasons in one day. All your senses are tantalized, that is what makes Shetland a wonderful place for an artist. It’s truly an awe inspiring place to be.

Viking Men

I live surrounded by sheep and wanted to try and utilize their wool so I started knitting and stumbled upon needle felting. I have fallen head over heels in love with it. Using wool of any type makes me feel linked to my surroundings. I love the feeling it gives me inside, it makes me glow.

Dragon Day Out with Bling

My work is guided by everything I see and imagine, almost everything touches me in some way and I hope it shows in my work. My mood also molds my work. I think that is true of all artists across the board. We all have our happy days and some days are more subdued than others. On these days, I still try to create as I know sometimes something magical can come out of your feelings.

Chinese Dragon

Of course I am inspired by talented artists, but I do try not to be influenced by their work too much. I like to keep evolving my own style. Ultimately I create my art for fun and to make people smile.

Natasha’s Beautiful Daughter and Pals

This is what drives me forward. Sometimes though it is just me who smiles, and that’s the best reward of all.

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Bartholomew Bogling

I’d like to introduce you to Bartholomew Bogling.

Bartholomew Bogling

Bartholomew loves living in his bog. There are a lot of fun things to do there.  He likes to lurk in the water and weeds with his eyes just above the surface of the water. He waits patiently for one of his friends to come by, then he pops up out of the water and startles them.

Bartholomew Sailing

During the rainy season, when the water in the bog is high, Bartholomew enjoys going sailing on his little raft.

Bartholomew Sailing

The wind blows into his sail and he feels like he is flying as he skims across the water.

I hope you enjoyed meeting Bartholomew. You can see more of my art here http://www.woodlandwhimsy.com

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Sneak Peak

I would like to share a few sneak peak photos of my current work in progress today. It is almost finished.

Can you guess?

What am I?

Last look

This lovely little creature is coming along quite well. Check out the finished work and  a story in my next post.

 

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Fungus Friday

Two Tiny Mushrooms

Two delicate little mushrooms with one protecting the other.

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Inspiration Thursday

It’s time for another Inspiration Thursday. I will be highlighting one artist a week.(I hope I can find enough artists who want to participate.) The artist has just one question to answer, “What inspires you?” On the surface, it seems like a very simple question; however, it is also very complex. I hope that you will enjoy both the answer and the featured artist’s work.

Today’s artist is Jody Whittington. Jody is from Vermont. While she is mainly a needle felter. She has recently branched out into polymer clay. You can see more of  of Jody’s work here http://www.facebook.com/MakeLifeBearable   and here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Felted-Family-Creations-More/207989989269097 (Jody shares this page with her mother, who is also a very talented artist.)

What inspires you?

I really think I am going to go with saying that just about anything inspires me. When I don’t know what to make I walk around my house just looking for something to hit me (inspire me) I’ll use these pictures as examples…..The sunflower bear….it was rubber erasers that I made into flip flops that inspired me to make a summer time bear.

Sunflower Bear, needle felted

The merbaby….it was the smooth rock I had that made me want to cover it in stain glass paint and make it look like water.

Merbaby, polymer clay

My wizard was inspired because I had a clear colored marble, to use as a crystal ball.

Wizard, polymer clay

My Jae~Maes are inspired by memories or thoughts….The little girl playing dress up in her grandmas attic was inspired by a friend reminiscing about how she used to do that.

Dressing Up, Jae-Mae Collection, needle felted

The togetherness piece was inspired by my son sitting on his dad’s knee.

Togetherness, Jae-Mae Collection, needle felted

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Michelle Mushroom

I’d like to introduce you to Michelle Mushroom.

Michelle Mushroom

Michelle has very traditional fairy tale mushroom coloring, but she is not a traditional girl.

Michelle’s nose ring

One day Michelle saw some young human ladies walking in the woods. They had sparkly bits of metal and stones adorning their bodies. Michelle was fascinated. She’d never seen anything like. Beautiful things affixed to their fingers, arms, necks, ears and noses. Most of those things weren’t really workable for Michelle, as mushrooms(even magic ones) don’t have fingers, arms, ears, or any way to keep something hanging around their necks. She does have a fabulous nose though.

A closer look

Michelle gave some thought to how best to decorate her own lovely nose. She had a ladybug friend named Lucy. Lucy was so beautiful and just the right size. Michelle talked to Lucy about her idea. Lucy thought that it would be fun. Now Michelle and Lucy spend almost all of their time together. They both feel more beautiful together than they did  separately.

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