The Young Ones Update

Wow! Came back from brekky and noticed several requests for “The Young Ones.”

They’re now in my etsy store.

If you’re interested in owning a set, convo me through etsy and we’ll sort something out!

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What Happens in Vegas

Did you ever get a sense that someone’s not telling you the whole story when you ask them about their trip to Vegas? My friend was there for a decadent weekend recently to celebrate a cousin’s end to bachelorhood. When I asked him if it was anything like “The Hangover,” he responded, “It’s actually more like, ‘Very Bad Things,’ but minus the dead hooker. I think. I don’t know. I passed out somewhere around three.” And he refused to elaborate after that. Whoa.

Here’s to some of the people that makes Las Vegas so fabulous:

The roulette dealer and the cigarette girls were especially fun to paint, but not as much fun as the pimp in his little red snake skin sport coat and pimp cup!

But my absolute favorite is mini Elvis impersonator and his pompadour!

I suppose I should think over whether or not I should let my friend host Anthony’s stag night!

New Name, Old Website

I finally splashed out and bought BoBo BaBushka a little somethin’ somethin’—a new domain name! If you want to read my banal musings and check out the latest projects, all you have to do now is type in: http://www.bobobabushka.com and voila! It’ll take you right back here!

Since I’ve been under the weather these past few days and haven’t been able to paint anything fun, how about I treat you to a picture of my brother’s main and auxiliary dogs taking a nap?

..and my Bo when he was very very young.

I guess I’m just feeling a bit nostalgic because I missed the Westminster dog show yet again this year.

See you soon!

 

A Clockwork Orange

Have your glass of milk-plus and get ready for some ultra-violence with Alex and his droogs.

I’ve been reading a lot of YA novels recommended by my former students on dystopian societies: “The Hunger Games” trilogy as well as the first of the “Matched” series. But I couldn’t help but go back to the classics. “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess is by far my favorite, although through the first read I had a bit of a hard time with it and had to refer to the glossary in the back of the book constantly. Why couldn’t we read THAT in AP English instead of “The Red Badge of Courage?”

The boys are Alex, Georgie, Dim, and Pete.

“Feed Me, Seymour!”

This might deviate a bit from my usual course, but I was in the mood for something new. Sculpting has never really been my thing, but I can papier-mâché like nobody’s business, thanks to my former students’ desire to transform my classroom into a sticky war zone two semesters a year. Like any good art teacher, I’d be down in the trenches with them, thus unintentionally honing my skills. I’m not quite sure I can make a life-sized doll with newspapers and wheat paste, but I can certainly come up with a 40″ Cheese Doodle without incident!

My love for dark comedies started with “A Little Shop of Horror.” It’s got everything! A carnivorous plant, domestic violence, a Greek chorus consisting of three sassy urban teens, and a great musical score.

Audrey II took about 2 weeks to make. For once I am grateful for the unrelenting Australian sun…it’s made that period where you wait for the glue to dry between layering so much shorter!

The original plan was for Audrey and Seymour to be able to fit inside the plant’s mouth, but as the layering got thicker and thicker, I had to nix the idea. Still, it’s the thought that counts, right?

Now if you will excuse me, I’ve got an entire room full of shredded newspapers and glue blobs to pick up. Stephen Sondheim was right: Art isn’t easy…especially when you have no helper monkeys to clean up after you!

A Trip to Wynnum

Anthony and I have cleared our weekend to head up north for some wedding-related stuff and the Swampland Festival—I mean, Wetlands Festival—at Nudgee Beach. They were, happily, left untouched by the recent floods. It’s business as usual and that’s good to see…especially since we have friends living there!

On the way over, I did something that I’ve been meaning to do for a while now…visit the Collective Store in Wynnum. A very enterprising woman named Leonie has opened up a most marvelous shop right here in Queensland. I’ve seen something similar during my travels in Asia and was hoping someone here would do the same. Well, Leonie did it and she did it so well. You can rent a space at The Collective to display and sell your wares. The shop is absolutely beautiful. Leonie created a harmonious space housing so many diverse objects from artists all over Australia. I was gobsmacked and more than honored to have my dollies sitting in such a gorgeous store. It’s like being inside a live-action Etsy shop!

All the items in the store are handcrafted and absolutely gorgeous. You can find anything from clothes to home decor to jewelery to an outrageous hand-carved rocking horse that looks like it can weather any storms Australia dishes out.

(And that’s real horse hair too!)

I’m happy to say that the Good Luck Faeries will be featured at The Collective Store in the very near future (as well as the Toadstool Pincushion). In the meanwhile, watch out for some new additions in Etsy in the next month or so!

Are these things fabulous or what?

It was a real treat to see my Rainbow Girls sitting in the front window!

If you are in Australia and have created beautiful things to share with the world, check out The Collective Store. Click on the icon on the sidebar and it will take you to their website, where you can find out more on how to join.

And Now For Something Completely Different

I’ve got a few projects sitting around and a few of them requires sewing, which I like doing every now and then as a little break from painting. So why not combine the two?

You may recognize this toadstool matryoshka from a previous entry…and a teeny custom-made gnome. The last one is no longer in my possession, so I was only too happy to paint another one.

This is how twee he is!

Some itsy bitsy details

Instead of dolls this time, I’ve packed it with some miniature sewing notions.

…and the top of the toadstool becomes a pincushion!

It also comes with a needle purse with a pre-threaded needle and threader.

I managed to find a lovely toadstool headpin, but couldn’t find any hedgehog ones I liked. But with a bit of polymer clay, a magnifying glass, and lots of mild cussing, here’s Hector the Hedgehog (he’s got a sister too named Nectar, who will be featured in another project).

I just cannot get enough of hedgehogs these days! It’s not fair that there aren’t any in Australia (but plenty in New Zealand, so many, in fact, that Anthony’s had a few as pets while growing up). The closest we have here are echidnas, which is really not the same, even though they’re a bit like a cross between hedgehogs and anteaters…who, by the way, CAN be housebroken…but that doesn’t mean I’m going to run out and get one, even though it might be a great solution to the ant problem in my kitchen on Cupcake Days.

An Echidna. The highlights cost extra!