Work in Progress

Redbone Coonhound Custom Sculpt

and a couple of others for the day

including Rhodesian Ridgeback and another Redbone Coonhound

New Border Collies....

and one old one...

Kira and Scampi are doing well, I apologize for those who have been wondering what has happened to the dog blog, but I find I do not have the time to go comment on all of our friends, we are still occasionally reading, catching up on the dog world, but I do not feel it is fair to post and not reciprocate, so until I find the time, Kira and Scampi's blog has sadly been put on hold.

It is a long way until Christmas...

“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

I have been in a creative funk. Nothing I make, create, sculpt or paint has been to my satisfaction. This is traditionally the slowest time of year for me, sales, work, everything. This year it has been worse than usual. I know the economy is bad. Times are tough, people are having trouble paying there bills, feeding their families. After what this country, and the world, has been through the past few months, we need hope. We need this feeling to return to our lives. I think right now, we need Christmas.
It is a long time until Christmas, and a long ways from Christmas.
I need to remember why I do what I do. To bring magic into my life, and hopefully into the lives of others. Christmas is not only about the giving, the loving, or the magic. the most important thing to me about Christmas is Hope.
So remember Christmas today, keep it in your heart. Even if you are not a Christian, remember the peace, the love the spirit of the season, even if it is not the season. It is the joy of living, of appreciating the little things that God (or the Gods) have blessed us with. The drop of water glistening in the sunlight, the colors of the sky,the green of the leaf, the kiss from a dog, the smile of a stranger.
Remember, smile, and pass it on....

My Christmas Mural/Tree

This is my wall of my studio. (4' wide x 6"high) I painted it for a couple of reasons, its hard to keep making Christmas Ornaments in July in Florida, and the second was for my beautiful kitty. This kitty is the reason for all of the ornaments I make throughout the year. He has passed to the rainbow bridge many years ago. he was my best friend, my heart kitty, his name was Merlin.
Merlin is what got me started in making Christmas Ornaments. I had a tree, and no money, so I wanted to make some ornaments. I thought, I have cats, I could make an ornament to match each kitty. So, how do I make them? 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. Then I got frustrated. I couldn't do with the dough what I wanted to do, so I took a pottery class and learned how to work in fired clay, bought a kiln, now 16 years later, here I am still making kitties! (Yes, doggies too!)


I also make a White Angel Kitty Christmas tree every year. I love the way porcelain shines in the light of a tree, every ornament, with a couple of exceptions are white angels kitties. I decorated three full sized trees this year. (one of the benefits of being a Christmas Ornament designer!)


Hey! Who put the Husky Ornament on the Kitty tree!

Yes, I am Virginia.....

"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

I actually received some complaints on
this quotation. Some people do not understand that these are thoughts and wishes. Like faith, without a little faith, we tend to die a little. live a life a little less fulfilled. My favorite quote ever seems appropriate now.

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. "Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. "Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' "Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? "VIRGINIA O'HANLON. "115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET." VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.