Hand Dying Silk Ribbon with Tea

Okay, so if you know me, you know I love tea and everything to do with tea. 

When I drink my morning tea I use a teapot and a pretty little teacup and saucer along with a creamer. 

When I am in a big rush and need to take my tea with me in the morning I put it in a pretty ceramic travel mug but it’s just not the same.

There are quite a few artists that use recycled teabags in their art.  I was planning on dying some silk ribbon to take with me to AFICC and the Quinlan conference this spring.  So I thought why not use tea?

I took out four canning jars and placed four teabags in each.  I then poured boiling water into each jar and placed the ribbons in the jars to sit for 24 hours.

I used Celestial Seasonings Chamomile tea, Bigelow Red Raspberry tea, Bigelow Jasmine Green tea, and Twinnings Lapsang Souchong tea.

I used only one type of tea in each jar to see what color they would make.  The hardest part of the process was waiting for the ribbon to soak and dry before seeing how they came out.

Of course I had to make some pretty cards to wrap the ribbon around!

This is the ribbon dyed with the Chamomile tea.

This is the ribbon dyed with the Red Raspberry tea.

This is the ribbon dyed with the Jasmine Green tea.

And this is the ribbon dyed with the Lapsang Souchong tea.

I wonder what colors avocados and red cabbage will make?

Until next time…….

Warm hugs,

Marla

Getting Ready for Teaching at AFICC

Moulin Rouge Dancers by Marla L. Niederer

I apologize for not posting in such a long time.  I have been busy working on getting ready to teach a brand new class at AFICC in Columbus Ohio this April.  I will be teaching a three day class on how to make my Moulin Rouge Dancers.

 

Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. Niederer

I had so much fun creating them I thought I would share all of the techniques I used to create them.

 

Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. Niederer

In the class I will be teaching how to use a wire armature to create a lively pose.

 

Creating an Armature for a Cloth doll by Marla L. Niederer

I will also be sharing a variety of advanced and unique needle sculpting techniques.

 

Unique Needle Sculpting Techniques by Marla L. Niederer

Creating two different skin tones with watercolors and how to use watercolor pencils and artist pens to add facial details is also covered in the class.

 

Using Watercolors for skin tones by Marla L. Niederer

Last but not least, needle felting a hairdo and costuming will also be shared.  If we run out of time for any part of the costuming, a step by step tutorial is included in the class kit.

 

Moulin Rouge Dancers by Marla L. Niederer

I’m really looking forward to teaching at AFICC.  I taught the Goddess there two years ago and it was so much fun.

Katherine and I

Cyndy Sieving and her staff really work hard to run a very well organized and exceptionally fun filled Figurative Art conference.  If you are interested in joining me in the fun you can find out more information on the Artistic Figures in Cloth & Clay Conference in Columbus Ohio April 25^th – 28, 2019activities by clicking on the following link.

http://cyndysdolls.com/

Hope to see you there!

 

La Fae Verte and her dragonfly wings by Marla L. Niederer

I am also scheduled to teach a class on how to make dragonfly wings for dolls and bears at the Philadelphia Artist Doll & Teddy Bear Convention May 2^nd -4^th

http://www.quinlanmuseum.com/convention/

 

Bridgette by  Marla L. Niederer

And if you prefer to take your classes in the comfort of your home, I also have several art doll making instant downloadable PDF tutorials for sale in my shop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/OrsinisAngels

Until next time………

Warm hugs,

Marla

If you wish to read about the back story of the Moulin Rouge Dancers you can see it here
https://orsinisangels.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-story-of-moulin-rouge-dancers-and.html

Romance is the Music of Life

Think back to a time when your heart was filled with romance.  A time when all the colors in the world were more vibrant, when you danced in the rain on a whim, when everything was brighter, when waves of laughter were easier to capture, when the world was viewed with wide eyed wonder, and when your heart was filled with song. 

Claudette by Marla L. Niederer

This is the world that Claudette belongs to, the world of romance.  The world in which harsh realities, worries, and cares cease to exist.  A world in which you are invited to enter.

 

Claudette by Marla L. Niederer

You are invited to join me in an online class Claudette, a cloth needle sculpted mixed media cage doll,

I was inspired to create Claudette, after waking up with remembered words from a dream.  The words were:  Romance is the Music of Life.  Her creation was also inspired by cage dolls, half dolls, Marie Antoinette fashions, and of course romance.

 

Claudette by Marla L. Niederer

If you wish to find out more about the Claudette online class starting on February 12, 2019 or wish to sign up, you can click on this link to AforArtistic.

https://aforartistic.com/claudette-a-cage-doll-marla-l-niederer-cloth-doll-artist.html

 

Bridgette by Marla L. Niederer

I also have several art doll making instant downloadable PDF tutorials for sale in my shop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/OrsinisAngels

 

Moulin Rouge Dancers by Marla L. Niederer

If you are interested in taking a live doll making class from me I am scheduled to teach my Moulin Rouge Dolls workshop at Artistic Figures in Cloth & Clay in Columbus Ohio April 25^th – 28, 2019

www.CyndysDolls.com

 

La Fae Verte by Marla L. Niederer

I am also scheduled to teach a class on how to make dragonfly wings for dolls and bears at the Philadelphia Artist Doll & Teddy Bear Convention May 2^nd -4^th

http://www.quinlanmuseum.com/convention/

Until next time…….

warm hugs,

Marla

Quick Sketching Practice: Or How to add More Art Time into your Daily Life

In April 2018 I started taking a sketchbook with me everywhere I went.  I wanted to increase my art time and improve my sketching.  One of the things that intimidated me the most was sketching people in action. I tend to take my time with all of my art so I wasn’t sure how quickly sketching people in movement was going to go.  I started out by trying to sketch the water fountain in the Turning Stone Casino.  After doing that I decided to start sketching the people walking by.

 

sketches by Marla L. Niederer

I found this to be fun and wanted to find more places to practice sketching people.  I thought sketching people seated somewhere might give me a bit longer time to sketch them.   So I decided to start sketching while sipping a London Fog tea at Starbucks from time to time.

 

sketches by Marla L. Niederer

About this time the apple tree outside my living room window started to bloom so I decided to add that in my sketching practice too.

 

sketches by Marla L.  Niederer

I went for a trip to California last summer and decided to do some sketching while having lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf.

 

sketches by Marla L. Niederer

I then spent some time at my sister in law’s downstate and took some time to sketch at Starbucks in Suffren NY.  While I was there someone took pictures of me sketching.  I guess that is only fair.

 

sketches by Marla L. Niederer

After my travels I continued my Starbucks sketching in Watertown NY.  I decided that I needed to learn how to sketch a full figure quickly so I started focusing on that.  I’m really enjoying adding more art into my life wherever I go! 

 

sketches by Marla L. Niederer

 

sketches by Marla L. Niederer

I’m also getting ready to teach my online class, Claudette, on A for Artistic starting February 12^th 2019.  You can find out more information about the class and sign up for it by going to the A for Artistic website here.
https://tinyurl.com/yckty5uw

 

Claudette by Marla L. Niederer

I also have several art doll making instant downloadable PDF tutorials for sale in my shop

https://www.etsy.com/shop/OrsinisAngels

 

Bridgette by Marla L Niederer, instant downloadable PDF tutorial

If you are interested in taking a live doll making class from me I am scheduled to teach my Moulin Rouge Dolls workshop at Artistic Figures in Cloth & Clay in Columbus Ohio April 25^th – 28, 2019

www.CyndysDolls.com

 

Moulin Rouge Dancers by Marla L. Niederer

I am also scheduled to teach a class on how to make dragonfly wings for dolls and bears at the Philadelphia Artist Doll & Teddy Bear Convention May 2^nd -4^th

http://www.quinlanmuseum.com/convention/

 

La Fae Verte by Marla L. Niederer 

Until next time…….

warm hugs,

Marla

Photo Studio Upgrade or how to set up an Art Doll Photo Studio on the Cheap

Did I ever tell you how awesome my son Jason is?   Not only has he grown up to be a great bestower of gifts, he also has grown up to be one of the kindest, most thoughtful, generous, and all around awesome man that I have ever met despite my parenting skills!

 Over the holidays he gifted me with two professional studio lamps with light bulbs and diffusers.    

Up until now whenever I did my photography for my online classes or photos of my art dolls I have used a make shift photo studio dependent upon how much light is filtering in through my studio windows.

Originally I used a grey mat-board to set behind whatever I was photographing in order to have my photos focus on the art doll rather than what was behind it.  Last year I broke down and bought some professional photo studio background paper to use as a backdrop for my photography.  I tried to tape it to the ceiling and the table I was using but it really didn’t work that well.  I wound up ruining quite a bit of the paper as a result.

 

curtain rod clips holding photo background paper

If you can see in the photo, Jason gave me the idea, to just attach some hooks to the ceiling to hold a curtain rod for the paper.  I used some curtain rod clips to clip the top of the paper on which works really well. 

In order to get that curved consistent background for the photos I did wind up taping down the bottom part of the paper to my table.

background paper held down with tape

My husband, Bob, brought me up some clips from his workshop to use instead of the tape.  I haven’t tried them yet but bet they will work like a dream.

On a really dark overcast day I tried to do some photography using the lights.  Before having the lights I wouldn’t be able to do any of my photography during overcast dark days, much less in the evening hours.  

Light with diffuser

When I put the light on behind me It was bright enough to get a suntan in the room but using the diffuser over the light kept the subject of the photo from being washed out which is what typically happened when I used room lights for my photos.  So I tried to take some photos with one light set up behind me while I worked on some photos for the Moulin Rouge class I will be teaching at AFICC in Ohio this April. 

light used as a reflector

I took the second light and used it as a reflector to keep shadows at bay while taking photos.  It worked like a dream! 

Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. Niederer

Here are some pictures I took on an overcast day with my new photo studio set up.

Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. Niederer

Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. NIederer

Until next time……….

warm hugs,

Marla

Moulin Rouge Dancers by Marla L. Niederer

P.S.  You can sign up for my live Moulin Rouge Dancers class at AFICC in Columbus, Ohio on April 25-28, 2019 by going to the AFICC website here:

www.CyndysDolls.com

Wishing you a Wonderful New Year

I can’t believe another year has just about ended.  It seems like it just fluttered by so quickly!  I don’t really make New Year resolutions but like to take some time to reflect upon the past year and think about changes I would like to see in the coming New Year. 

When I look back over the year I find myself quite thankful.  I continue to be blessed with the comfort of family and friends whose company I enjoy.

 

Bob & I

Vola & Jason

My doll making has resulted in some travel this past year. I really enjoyed seeing new places, visiting with friends made on previous trips, and making new friends as a result.

California seaside

 

Kathryn & Julie

I started to paint and sketch wherever I go.  This has become such a joyful part of my life and helps me grow as an artist.

My paintbox and painting of flowers while downstate NY

 

Indianapolis University Quartet

I was able to have a second critique done on my art dolls by three amazing NIADA artists, Donna May Robinson, Sandra Oglesby, and Tanya Buckley Marriott.  If you never had a formal NIADA critique done on your work, it is an absolutely wonderful experience.  It’s like having a private class focused specifically on improving your own work by the most talented doll artists in the world.  It doesn’t get better than that!

 

Moulin Rouge Dancers by Marla Niederer

I’ve learned how to slow my pace a bit more this past year and take the time to enjoy all that surrounds me. 

 

Outside my living room window

I have accomplished some goals this past year and look forward to working on some new ones in the New Year.

 

Sketchbook page by Marla L. Niederer

I hope your New Year is filled with much laughter, love, good health, a comfortable home in which you may rest, and many art supplies to keep your creativity flowing!

Until next time………

warm hugs,

Marla