Helping a mouse in need

When it comes to illustrations , there is nothing like little mice. I just love them.*grin*
I have been working with winter illustrations and I plan to show it to you sometime.*grin*

Any one that knows me for the past 8 years , knows how much I love little mouse and how many have been subject for my sculptures , specially in wool. Couple years ago I did a little bird helping a mouse in need and this time I have a kind mouse helping a *frozen* vagabond.
I then had my painting turned into decal. This was not an easy find. I knew a company that made them but it was not good quality , however I found one that I truly liked it.
Once the decal was made, I transferred to the porcelain teapot and fired in my kiln. The decal is permanent. I love the results and now I am excited to make more!!!
Do you care for some tea?

One Saxy Mouse!

Among my favorite things to do, it is to turn pots. I learned to turn pots about 5 years ago. I usually turn during the Autumn season . There is something about that time that makes me feel happy. I can go to my shop at any cool evening , light up a small fire on my wood stove, place a tea pot with water and wait for my favorite tea, while I get things ready for the turning. I like to listen to Christmas music too... I think is because there is a strong scent that comes from my apple trees and it reminds me of my own farm back in Brasil and because is during this time that I make my gifts to family and friends.
Most of my children enjoy to do pottery too but I think my youngest is the one that never leaves me side.*grin*
I have not done any crockery for about a year and a half . I am always very busy with the marionettes and now with my porcelain BJD that it did not allow me to get the time aside to do the pots; however this is the first year in 4 years that I was able to finish school with the children in June. Time seems to be in my favor now. My days are so wonderful and much relaxing. I so enjoy to be with my children , tending for the garden, weeding my flower beds, baking whole wheat bread for my family, making cheese from Hershey's milk and so much more.
Kate and I go for long walks and during that time we talk about the marionettes, future plays , her music and we laugh and enjoy the amazing nature that our Lord has so graciously blessed us with it.*grin*
It is during late afternoon and after milking that I get to work on my art . It is never work , it is always an exciting thing to do and I feel so blessed to be able to create as much as I do.
Just recently I start drawing. Fairytale is what is in my heart. I think my eyes are my best tool. As I get older , I think my work improves because there is no urgency feeling like i used to feel when I was younger. I am enjoying each and every moment...*smiles*
I started drawing this little mouse one day and the idea of have him on a thread spool was an immediately thought , but it was my new dear friend Anita, that suggested me ( without have seen the mouse) that I would give him a crown. Anita has a lovely blog called castles crowns cottages and I hope you will visit her as well.


I loved the idea !I went mad hunting for a picture of a crown. well, I stopped for a moment to think and found the *perfect* crown as a model - Anita's blog picture !*smiles*

I loved , loved him so much that I decided to give him more attention....

I am not sure which one I like better ...perhaps the sepia....

I was already working on few new crockery doing several tests to permanently fire an image to the pot. That means , firing an extra firing so the image wouldn't ever fade and still be dishwasher, oven safe.

I did a full kiln of pots and experiment with different glazes , some new ones and others familiars ones. The stoneware I used was little more darker than I expected but the results are definitely great; however I will use a white stoneware next time so the image can show up better.

I am looking forward to make more cups, plates bowls and have my *One saxy mouse* in it! *grin*

Another thing that I did was the sentences. It was fired the same way as the image.

Here you can see some other things that I did. This picture was taken on my kitchen table and the light is not a true light so the colors are not favoring the real thing.

I hope you enjoyed visiting me today . Would you care for some tea?*grin*

Musician Mouse

Some of you that knows me , thinks , based on what I have said in the past that my first art was oil paintings. Honestly it was not , because the first time I used oils , I was about 8 years old. You would *think* now, because I am sharing my latest drawing that it was drawing- no, not that either!


I am sure I drew a lot of pictures but what sticks to my mind (as far as memories) is sculpting.


I remember vividly one day , I think I was in kindergarten , but it may have been first grade, when the teacher called my momma and told her that I was a problem . My heart was beating and I couldn't remember if I had done something wrong . Well, momma came home with her hands full of little soldiers that I had sculpted from chalk. I remember that the tool I used was the lid from a pen. There were 23 of them. The teacher told my momma that I was not paying any attention to the class and now she knew why.Opps!


Momma was not happy about that but it was not long after that she let me do arts.


I don't ever remember doing much of drawings. I have always been afraid to try it... I don't know why. I have done many , many oil paintings... so many that my walls does not have any space left, grin, but I never draw before I paint , it comes from the brush. I do need some guide and my best work will be if I use a picture rather than the real scene because the lights and darks are determined. I believe the artist improves as its eyes improves. I often need to leave what I am working on and do something else so I can truly be refreshed . If only work with one medium, you would be seen much less work from me.*grin*



Anyhow , I faced my fears and worked on few drawings. When ever I finish something I look and I just about always not sure if I like it or not, or it should be changed or not , so my way to know is I start showing to the children and watch their first response. The body language tells me a lot and I have to be careful because my children tends to *love* everything I do, however Gabriella is very honest about her feelings so I normally show her first.*grin*
This little fellow received all the " ohhh, awww, so cute, I love it " comments !
I hid him from my eyes for few days and today I picked him up and looked and fell in love... what do you think? ( I would love to hear from you)
Now I wonder if I should paint him or not! Decision, decisions!*smiles*

Folk Story Tail

About three years ago , I made a mouse and some babies and gave as a gift. Recently I was request as commission work to make them once again.

They were made from 100% farm sheep's wool but the *rug* and and the book is felted alpaca.

Their tails has wire so one can easily pose it.

Here they are .... Hope you like Cheryl!smiles, Patricia~

Wee herbs....

If you take a leisurely stroll through a kingdom of green trees, blossoming flowers and spiced air,
you will find many busy forest-mice harvesting bundles and baskets of flowers and herbs.
Most mice-folk are fond of freshly plucked herbs to garnish their cheese and salads but many
are wise and swiftly hang their herbs to dry-usually in a knobby hollow of a tree or perhaps draped
against a large tree stump or boulder .In fact ,this is the most common way of drying herbs ( countless thousands of human-folk have passed through woods in the spring time and mistakenly believed bundles of herbs to be moss!) Such a thought…..
Rosemary is a particular favorite with forest- mice ( hence the many mice named so) as well as thyme, savory and sweet marjoram , to state a few.
For medicine tonics and balms, feverfew, and coltsfoot are among the easily recognizable in their glass jars upon the shelves. And we mustn’t forget tea time – Chamomile and Dandelion are often served in the afternoon . But perhaps the sweetest delight is not for our forest friends but for a human- folk. For the herbs that hang to dry throughout the spring give flavor to the air and life to the forest breeze. Perhaps in your next ramble through the woods, you will be able to detect the fragrances of the drying flowers and herbs and appreciate them as they were meant to be.

You can meet Mrs Mouse at my etsy store by clicking the etsy gadget