where ya all from?????

[Michelle McLachlan]

Thought it would be fun to know where all of us are from...
we moved to Tn last Oct, came by way of NM, by way of OR (USA).....not my favorite state,, the weather is nealy unbearable!!!
I do mixed media work and my soft bodied art dolls... have been looking for a local place to sell them, how are sales for all of you?
Question..Beth (my daughter,who's the reason we are in Tn, she's attending U of Memphis, as a Religion major with her minor in Art) anyway she has been doing her doll work with polymer, baking is a problem here, cracking after the first bake, any suggestions????
ok.. enough catter... glad to be here.... michelle

[Luke Smith]

Thank you for the kind offer Kendra, i would love some sunshine:), its as you described cold and cool, i imagine its quite draining always having the sun beating down on you, me too!! they are extremly helpful and easier to pop the doll in through the top while its on so you dont burn yourself. saying that i dont thing any of mine have cracked either normally it was the neck and back off the knees YEAA to the convectional oven:)

[Lorna Ours]

Well, I'll go next... I currently reside in the Tampa Area in Florida, called "New Tampa".  We just moved here about a year ago from CA.  It is beautiful here, though yes, hot and humid.  I am a self taught artist, I sculpt realistic baby (dolls) from a professional clay. I started sculpting in 2004.  I have so many of my mini ooak dolls all over the globe. I also create mini accessories for these ooak dolls to be displayed in.  I also have my first doll in vinyl, she was the "Katelyn" kit.  One day in the near future I am hoping to be able to get my second doll produced into vinyl as well.  You can view all of my creations at my web site at: www.martysbabycreations.com ..  I will be adding more pictures to my albums here so you can all see my work.  I look forward to getting to know everyone..  Lorna

[EO Site Admin]

Cool Lorna!  You are not far from me at all!  I'm in Largo, sorta between Clearwater and St. Petersburg.

[Lorna Ours]

That is so cool, we have been to St Pete and Clearwater.  We may be going down that way again in the next week or so.  This is great to have someone in the "dolly world" so close.  We are about 30 minutes or so from each other...  There are some shops down by the beach that I want to go to and just browse... When I do come down that way, I will let you know and will bring my Ryker with me, he is my life size baby that I want to get into vinyl kits..

[EO Site Admin]

That would be great Lorna, it really is a small world! LOL

[Lorna Ours]

Yes, it is a small world... We would of never known about living so close to each other had I not seen the link on facebook for the FAEBAE site. 

[Lorna Ours]

Hi Michelle, nice to meet you. I'm Lorna, also a sculptor.   I use prosculpt clay and for the first time, trying Living doll clay, they say it is just like prosculpt.  Fortunately I have not ever had a problem with any of my sculpts cracking while baking.  I use a Roaster Oven to bake my babies in.  I bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes per 1/4 inch of clay.  My mini dolls I usually bake about 45 minutes.  I use an oven thermometer in the roaster oven to make sure that the temp reaches and stays at 275 degrees.  I at that point instead of turning the temp to off, I just unplugg it and it stays set at that temp.  My roaster oven has a wire rack in the bottom, I left that in, I then use a oblong glass baking dish, put a piece of batting in the bottom of that, then a piece of material over the batting, then I lay my limbs, head on that, then put a layer of more batting over my pieces, then tent that with foil, then put the lid on, plugg it in, and after 45 minutes, unplug, leave pieces in to cool down as the roaster oven cools down, probably about an hour or so, then remove them.  I of course bake a bit longer if it is a life size doll.  This is how I do mine and hoping that is why I do not have any cracks.  As for the heads, I make my own foil head armature for my mini ooak dolls, and I make sure that the bottom of the neck area there is a whole so any air that is up under and between the clay and foil/tape can escape.  Once I make my foil head armature, I then wrap it with masking tape or florist tape.  I also put a layer of foil and then tape over the vinyl head forms for my lifesize dolls.  I wish I could be more help... Lorna

[Stefanie Rose]

Hey michelle!! I am stefanie. I live in Virginia (USA) I like living here! I always say its beautiful inspiration for an artist! You  know I was selling on eBay but, I decided to start selling on FAEBAE. So I put up my auction a couple of days ago. No bids yet but, a lot of views:) plus The whole site is SUPER friendly! I work with  polymer clay. There could be many reasons for cracks so I will list a few that i know of.... before firing the fist time you want to make sure that the clay is even and smoothed out properly b.c that could cause cracks after 1st fire. also if she is using a under armature and hanging it while baking this could cause stress cracks beacause the weight is not evenly distributed(thats the way i bake mine) and another one is that you have to make sure you let the sculpt COMPLETLEY COOL before handling beacause while it is cooling it is the most fragile(polymer clay heats up to bake and is still soft until completley cooled) and WILL break. I hope that at least one of those suggestions helps your daughter! I recentley discovered a cloth doll shop supply store about an hour away from here! I cant wait to go because its the only place that i know of around here that even knows about the stuff that i do with clay!:) lol Nice to meet you!

 

Stefanie

[Maria Murphy]

Hi I am Maria. I am from Ireland. I am 42 :-(  and a freelance fantasy artist. Married, living in a grand old house built in 1865, which once was an old convent. I have not seen any ghosts yet but I live in hope :-) along with four cats, one of which is an indoor cat and spoiled. My website is http://www.mariamurphyart.com I am a vegetarian. I love books by Doreen Virtue. I give angel readings by email as a hobby. I love housework and I am a neat freak. I collect doll witches. Started my art business in 2009 full time. I love renaissance art. I am working on angel oracle cards with one of Ireland's Angel experts, we may get it finished one day :-) I love traveling but I have one big problem that there is no cure and that is travel sickness or motion sickness, this  does not stop me from traveling but the person with me, usually suffers as they have to listen to me moaning all the way there and back.  One of my ambitions is to create some faery art soon and in a year or two go to some of the faery fests in the UK and visit one in the USA, as it is my favorite destination. That is all for now, before I bore you all. Phew! Great to be here and I hope to add something to Faebae at some stage. Can't wait to browse through all your work and see what you guys are doing.

Maria xxx   

[EO Site Admin]

Thanks so much for sharing with us Maria!  Wow, your home sounds like the perfect place for inspiration... I bet it is beautiful!  Would love to see some pics if you ever have time :-)  Your artwork is wonderful, I really enjoyed browsing your site.  Looking forward to seeing the Angel Oracle, that is fabulous.  I also have wanted to travel to the UK for some of their events, FAE Magazine's Karen Kay has some great stuff... they are in the middle of the Faery Fest right now.  I sure wish I could be there!! So very glad to have you here, and looking forward to seeing and hearing more from you soon :-)  (PS.... I also have bad motion sickness issues, so I completely can sympathize with you! LOL)

 

[Stefanie Rose]

Sounds wonderful where you live!!:) great little bio!

[Luke Smith]

Hello Lorna, Michelle, Stefanie Rose and Maria its lovely to meet you all, i have loved reading all your entries of where you are all from, i think its wonderful getting to know artists background and where people draw their inspiration from. wow Maria your house sounds amazing, i love old buildings. 

Regarding the cracking i am a little unsure because people have different views on it the main one is def to have a gd surdy armature and basic shape under the clay to hold it together so that there is no stress points.  But when its baked should u remove the clay and leave it out, wrap it up, dip it in a cold bath or leave in the oven to cool these are a few ways i have learnt i have tried most and it doesnt make a difference at the mo but i didnt want it to affect it later on, how does everyone else get around this problem? looking forward to hearing from you:)