Gruela VonGrimKiss is Quite Perturbed!

Poor Gruela (pro-nounced "Groo-la"). Stiffed. Jilted. Dumped. And now she's perturbed! More than perturbed really. She's downright irate, furious, livid!

The same old story I'm afraid; all dressed up and nowhere to go. After being left at the alter, Gruela and Max, her fierce familiar, are putting their heads together for a sweet settling of scores. Surely there must be a spell to remedy this most dire of happenstances? Is Gruela destined to remain an old Bag for eternity? We sincerely hope not!

Her gown, sculpted of papier mache, features an over-dress of black (albeit a bit of grave mold), and a blouse and petticoat of cotton-candy pink with a sheer overlay of Queen Anne's lace. In her spindly fingers, she clutches her lover's heart to her chest..... Her hat is also of papier mache and is adorned with a trim of holographic silver lace. Her hair is gray and black pulled wool, and she wears a veil of tattered, tea dyed cloth.

Sculpted of paperclay, her face is beautified with the latest shades of Modern Witch make-up.

Never leaving her side, Max is sculpted of papier mache and wears of bow of black polka dot cotton around his neck.

This piece stands a very tall 16" and is mounted on a wooden base, signed and numbered by me.

Another lovely addition to the VonGrimKiss clan! On Etsy tonite!

Another Peek...

Meet Gruela (pronounced "Groo-la"). She's quite perturbed after being jilted and left at the alter. Her cat is none too pleased either. I wouldn't mess with him.

She's not quite done but I promised a view on Sunday, and Sunday it is! I've got some details to add to both her and her oh-so-friendly familiar. More pics, and better pics, to come.....

A Bit of Progress

Remember the painting I was working on with the dancing skeleton? Finally I have a bit of progress on it. I forgot how much work it takes, at least for me!

I'm liking how it's all working so far. Each color block will be a different Halloween scene, yet tie in together. I'm also adding other elements besides painting. I've got some "altered" art ideas that I'm going to incorporate which should add some visual interest as well.

Hope you enjoy the preview! A lot left to do, so back to painting I go!

Halloween Comes this Night! Papier Mache Box

One of the new finished pieces I've been working on; a cylinder shaped papier mache box. Sort of looks like a pint size ice cream container doesn't it? I wonder what delectable flavor would be inside? How about Black Widow Berry? LOL!

This treasure box measures about 7" tall x about 5" wide. It's adorned with wooden polka dot ball feet, and crowned with a paper clay pumpkin and black widow. Wrapped around it's girth are painted pumpkins, stars, and moons topped with a pen and ink saying, "Moonlight Starbright Halloween Comes this Night!" There's lots of antique washes on this piece, and then it's sealed with a satin varnish.

Signed by me along with the "By Way of Salem" seal of approval! Now for sale on Etsy.

Head for the Hills Sister!!!

Hi y'all! It's been over a week since my last post and I wanted to catch you up on what's goin' on.

I'll be headed off to Tennessee tomorrow to spend some much needed time with my Bag Sister.

It's been ages since we've seen each other so we'll have a lot of catching up to do. Even though we create together, email, call, and all that, it's different than being in person. I can't wait to see her new house, and be carted around the countryside for Fall in TN.

I am still recuperating very slowly from my surgery, so that's another reason I'm headed down south. To get some rest. I haven't had much help around the homestead so I need a break. I will be taking it very easy while I'm there that's for sure. Hopefully my intestines won't blow up from cabin pressure on the plane. Oh that wouldn't be pretty!

As far as By Way of Salem creations go, I have my 2 WIPS that I still have not painted. And I've been working on a couple of ideas as well. One for sure I'm NOT doing! That's the Bag's Bags I spoke of earlier; a kooky collection of bags, purses, etc... Oh heavens! That is just not my thing. I'll leave that to you expert seamstresses out there! I did make something, but it just doesn't reflect BWOS. Check that one off the list!

My other idea is a better fit for By Way of Salem and what we're about, and I'm very excited about them! I can't wait to show you all our "ScaryCats". They're very whimsical and colorful, and if they work out like I'm hoping, we'll be previewing those very soon. And yet another reason I'm headin' for the hills! To go over ideas and patterns with Bag #2. Of course her creative input is much needed. And as I'll be resting, we'll also be doing some sculpting together which I'm really excited about too. And going over plans for redoing her art studio. It's going to be a very creative reunion!

To all our friends, followers and everyone - have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

SootFoot

If a black cat or dog takes up unbidden residence at your door, good fortune will follow!

Here, from an eighteenth century Book of Shadows, are instructions for the training of the cat for magickal purposes:
"To be performed every evening, at the same time, in the same place....Adapt the cat to sit close by you, facing in the same direction you face which shall be the place where the moon will rise. Stroke gently but firmly with love in your hands until its purrs and your breathing are heard as one sound. Now you and the cat possess the same will, your eyes will see as its eyes see, and your thoughts will travel together. The time has come to work spells and cast enchantments for power is doubled through the agency of your familiar."

And so, I present SootFoot; the evil-banishing familiar of Hagatha VonGrimKiss, out for an evening prowl. SootFoot is modeled from paperclay, sealed, then painted with acrylics and detailed with big beautiful orange eyes, and sealed once again. He wears a collar of black organza with little tiny orange pom-poms. He sits mounted on a rustic purple wood base with tiny orange polka dots at the edge. He will be available on our website later this evening.