New projects are in the works. I have recently started learning soft sculpture and bear making using German mohair fabrics and I am obsessed. This all came about due to the loss of a very special dog friend. My friend asked me if I could make her a miniature version of her beloved dog Daisy.  I had made one previously, for another friend, from wool felt. Daisy dog had a wirey furry look that I couldn't achieve with just the wool felt and I wanted the toy to look as much like her as possible. So, I decided to order some mohair fabric to achieve the look.  Daisy came out beautifully and here she is...

I will be selling my paper bears & paintings at the Cabot Art Barn this year. Located at the rear of the historic Victorian Wiswell House on Main Street in Cabot, VT. View the gallery and learn more about the other participating artists visit the online gallery at www.cabotartbarn.com.

Here's a little something I have been up to recently... small paintings.
Enjoy!

Here's a couple of bears... A bear couple. Tiny portraits in Gouache.

Knitted from the book Knit Your Own Dog: The Second Litter by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne.
The real Beagle is Maxwell, my current adopted little guy, who has been with me for a 1 year and 3mo.

My art teacher from high school, who is now retired, offered a local watercolor class last summer. I took it for fun and the work on my watercolor skills.  Visit ruthkaldor.com to see Ruth's beautiful artwork.
Here are some of my results and practice.

Some of my floral drawings from December. These were done for holiday gifts. Done on heavyweight mixed media paper with black pen, cut and mounted against black paper.

Basic knitted mittens, No. 211 Bernhard Ulmann Co. vintage pattern... Knitted in Myak Baby Yak Medium, size 6 needles.

I've always loved Origami. I wish I was a crazy paper folding master. I think I am pretty much a pro at making a paper crane, I could make one with my eyes closed, but I figured I should branch out and actually try something other and paper cranes.  The Kangaroo and Horse are from Jo Nakashima tutorials on YouTube.  The other motifs are from various books and an Origami-A-Day calendar.

I needed to take a knitting break and I needed to use up some yarn. I came across this free pattern for the Lost Souls Shawl by Maryetta Roy on Ravelry.com.  It's a very cool pattern and much easier than it looks. It's noted as average difficulty, but I think a novice could totally handle this. It's comprised of single crochet, double and half double stitches. There are some really good video tutorials on YouTube to help you along if you need it. The links are noted in the pattern.
Link to the free pattern is : https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lost-souls-skull-shawl
This pattern calls for worsted yarn, but I have about 1700 yards of Madeline Tosh Prairie Lace that I need to use up. Due to the smaller gauge and the amount of yardage I have to work with, the shawl will not be as large as pictured in the pattern. I think I will end up with a decent sized scarf, rather than a shawl. Which is fine.
The pattern looks really great in the lace weight yarn... I kind of want to try this in a fingering weight too.
I did forget how long it takes to work in lace! Also, it was a little finicky to start... but it's moving right along now.
Here is my progress so far... I encourage anyone to try this pattern it's a lot of fun.

Crochet / Madeline Tosh Prairie Lace 100% Merino Wool / Color Beta / Needle Size No.2 1.50mm