Artwey - launched at pilgrim house, Spirit of the Sea Maritime Festival ...

i spoke to ruth meech about Artwey and she agreed it would make good reading and we will eventually be featured in the dorset echo magazine ... she put an article for us in the echo newspaper, and featured my Shimmery Fish plus a picture of andrea from the files.


remeeber when i started blogging? i was working on three big marine-themed projects, two puppets and a lobster costume. all came back to me to help promote artwey, and my work too.


the tompot blenny's top-knots have drooped a bit in the last two years! Thanks to Coastlink for the loan of puppets and costume.


and here is some of my work at Pilgrim House.
i shall have to show you my new goat sign properly, and the story behind it ...


nopt the plush team cards and the new Artwey postcards ...

WIP - another cuttlefish created ....

the belly and swimmers of a cuttlefish i am creating in fleece, which will make a lovely christmas present this year, and i am to deliver to shaftesbury when he is finnished ....

here are the markings to give a hint of that shimmer of changing colours, in rust thread and 2 kinds of shot fabrics ...

a familiar face apears next to me on the sofa, needing some more padding and giving me the evil eye!

we really need to buy some christmas cards - i have not written a single one!

Catching up - some recent pictures ...

louise and tompot blenny in the dorset echo last friday night...they didn't mention her name, nor the maker of the puppets. boooh!lobster trousers hanging up in my workroom ...
scarey lobster lady emerges into sunshine ...
saying goodbye to the blenny, matty and daisy give him a few pokes before i have to take him and the cuttlefish along to the marine week launch on chesil beach...
matty has a good look at the cuttlefish - she must be really impressed with the piecing used to create his head ...
sea creatures can die in hot cars ....a yummy jellyfish cake for eating after the mayor of portland has finnished speaking ...
some of the wonderful junk found on the beach ready to be used for sculpting, along with a propper artist.
the echo shelter providing good sunshade and shelter from portland type winds. my car was fitted with a lovely handmade staff parking sign just for the event...
hilda from the echo makes notes while mums, dads and children make some art from the flotsam and jetsam. finbar webster was there to take pics for the paper, and he recognised me. there was i with my hands up 2 sea creatures but did he take a pic? nope. booooh!
i didnt take any more pics after this point as my hands were buried in my puppet creations, and then i had some cake. i will probably take some more next week when i come back with louise and the lobster costume.

Cuttlefish puppet lives !

Cuttlefish puppet lives !, originally uploaded by RaggyRat.

yippeee - i have finnished my most unusual puppet/creation yet, the pettern making for the head makes me feel i could tackle anything now! See the wallpaper shapes i made, to create his head.

Steve is modelling the puppet for me here, it only got its eyes today and before that steve was calling it my baseball mitt... after these pictures i showed it to my neighbours and one asked if it was a squid. well, same family - sort of, so im not worried.

so, back to lobsters me thinks ... if i have time today, between minding the twins while steve hoovers house, taking louise for a bike ride, bathing the ferret and other assorted mummy jobs!

have fun - its a sunny day!

busy busy .... and waiting for a cool photo ...

cuttlefish pattern pieces, the fish himself looking rather unstuffed - which is correct - and some sketches of eyes. i found looking on youtube quite useful in helping form a 3D sence of the animal.

also - some mug desgns by louise who was working alongside me...

cuttlefish puppet on the go ...

cuttlefish
Originally uploaded by RaggyRat

Here is the cuttle fish shell, as interpreted by me. they are interesting creatures that change their colours and patterns to communicate, in what seams like zebra stripes and dots ... i used white flowery stiff fabric for the frill ... are these fins? and some of the flowers onthe shell itself to tie in the piece as a whole.

In 2 other colours of upholstery fabric i made some wavy stripes, and then machined over the whole lot in 2 colours of thread. im simply alluding to changing dots and stripes rather than trying to slavishly copy from one photo of a cuttlefish. it was not easy to find whole body patterns, nor, i found, a good one of its eyes !

Blenny finnished - and moving on to more fishies!

Ran outside in between rains the other day to get some photos taken

i shoved a window cleaning tool (used once to clean windows before the rubber fell off it) up into tompot blenny's head, so i could hold him up for picks. think he is a boy, anyway ... who knows? i havent modelled too closely.





NEXT! a puppet cuttle fish, so i stripped down the blenny wall and changed it for a fresh piece of paper and some useful googled images. i worked out how to do the cuttle fish ''frill'' on waking, which is nice, and involved drawing round a side plate and making something which looks like an awful shirt collar. Opened out and pinned the outer edge undulates beautifully a bit like a full skirt.




Finally, as if i dont need a change from making fish, a challenge from Tami and Wendy from Teddy Talk to make one of these ...




so i drew this ....

and then made this ... which happens to be a bag with a zip under its chin :-)

and heres the local paper - saturdays - with a double page spread detailing the sea fest but not my puppets and costume yet ...