The Wee Peeple Newsletter

February 2024                                  Issue 204

The Plein Air Painting Club!

"Plein Air" is French for:  Outdoor Painting!

Several Members of the Smithville Artisans Alliance expressed an interest

in Outdoor Painting...

The Dollmaker jumped right onboard for that!!

The focus soon became the stately yet gnarly Live Oaks in the area...

One day, Member Joan even painted the Dollmaker right into her Painting! LOL

All this happening to coincide smoothly with the Dollmaker's

so, in February..

First the bare branches...

and then.. the Foliage!

and then..

the Dollmaker used these Tree Studies

when it came time to "Paint the Bowls" again..

in this case.. Painting Glazes onto Ceramic Trays for

continuing the Theme of the

The Dollmaker eventually discovered that she has a strong affinity for

Baobab-style Trees

with their massive trunks and diminutive arms...

 This break from Dollmaking certainly is a jolly romp

for the Dollmaker who seeks Definition through

diversion, distraction and deviance this time of year...

what with there being some serious Dragon Energy in the air these days

she does feel compelled (if not exactly Propelled)

to continue working on and off with the Idea of

specifically, Dragon Heads

especially now, since her latest shipment of "Dragon Horns" has come in...

"center">  

...which looked really good on paper...

but failed miserably on the steeper sides of the

greenware bowls...

To get the bubbles, the glaze is mixed with detergent,

But! well, Bubbles slide!

so the bubbles kept sliding down the sides

making puddles at the bottom.. no. This was not the effect she was after.

"This looked easy online!" she grumbled.

She intends to try this again on a flat surface next time...

It might work on a flat tray...

Right. So. eventually the Dollmaker

 washed the underglaze out of that experimental bowl-

 -traded it for Mugs-

And went back to painting Trees!

This year the latest Mugworthy Idea is to make "sets" of Mugs

Sets of Two and Sets of Four..

All Good!

so the Dollmaker, casting about for Delightful Inspiration

found, in her "Empty Bowl Archives"

Trays with Underwater Themes

which she painted Last Year.

So, she went with That.

Always a favorite!

A good old Underwater Theme as recalled from early childhood murals!

(Most often painted on VERY LONG Rolls of brown paper!)

Truly, the Underwater Scenario is an Inspiration with "great depth"! lol!

In this case she made Four.

Of course, the exciting part comes next...

 when these ceramic mugs and trays are fired!

Staying tuned for THAT!

 Unrest amongst the Raccoon Doll Thought Forms concerning how it's

About Time that they had their own tags... ahem... led to the creation of

So now the Raccoon Dolls have their own tags.

Let the Dollmaker know if you have a Raccoon Doll and would like the

"Official Raccoon Tag!"

New Tags were created for the upcoming "Elemental Dolls" as well.

Elemental, my dear Watson!

The first sprouts are shooting upwards through the carpet of fallen leaves in

most notably, the delightfully edible Asparagus!

Popularly known as a "SuperFood", Asparagus is also a Perennial Super Grower

marching right ahead of the others in early Spring..

in fact, must be checked daily for new shoots..

 ..and a great "in situ" snack for the Gardener!

Meanwhile...

The Dollmaker had so much luck last year growing peaches

she decided this year that she needed an Orchard!

She has been busy digging holes!!!

So far she has five Rio Grande Peach Trees in her little orchard!

And they are in Early Bloom right now!

Peachy!

Right Ho!

Carry On Spring!