Questions and Answers from The Magic Sleigh
Published On: 12-19-2011 05:40am
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I was recently interviewed about my ideas, my thoughts, and my work. Here are some of the questions that were asked.
How long have you been doing this? I started working first in Porcelain in 1990.
What inspired you to get started? Christmas and Merlin, my cat, is what got me started in making Christmas Ornaments. I wanted to make an ornament of him for my tree. So, I learned how to make bread dough ornaments. From there I sculpted in bread dough, making several hundred of these ornaments, selling them at craft shows, friends and family. I specialized in animals, mostly cats and dogs, but would make some other barnyard critters. Then I got frustrated. I couldn't do with the dough what I wanted to do, I wanted to do more with the dough, like make it more three dimensional and sculpt more as time went on, and had to learn how to work with a high fired clay. So I took a pottery class and learned how to work in fired clay, went out and bought a kiln, now many years later, here I am still making cats and dogs. I have changed styles a bit, and now make more than just Christmas Ornaments, I have expanded to a line of Fantasy Figurines and I am now painting cats, dogs and fantasy figures.
What motivates you to keep going when things are low? Things are at the lowest in sales they have ever been for me. I know it is the economy and what we artists produce is a luxury item. It is hard to sell luxury when no one has extra money, What I have done is to get more creative, I have started painting since the economy has crashed, I have more free time to try new things and expand my techniques. I have also spent quite a bit of time volunteering and teaching.
What's your philosophy behind your work?
The Spirit of Christmas. I believe that we all should keep the magic of Christmas in our hearts every day.
"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- myth is more potent than history -- dreams are more powerful than facts -- hope always triumphs over experience -- laughter is the cure for grief -- love is stronger than death."-Robert Fulghum
What do you find the most rewarding about what you do? I love to see the smile on a face when I have created a likeness of their beloved pet!
What do you find the most frustrating/most difficult about what you do? Not having enough time to do it all. I have so many ideas floating around my head, I feel as though there are millions of sculptures to make, millions of paintings to be made. I hear a song, I see a light in a leaf, it fills me with pictures in my mind. It can get overwhelming.
