A vintage amigurumi...

I started crocheting miniatures about 40 years ago, long before I ever heard the word amigurumi. Besides my tiny cups and saucers, I made this doll and something about him made me think of Christopher Columbus. So I put a bead in his hand to represent the globe. He's about 7 inches tall and now resides with my friend Kari in Alert Bay, Canada.

Driftwood Jewelry

These pins were also in my endless pile of slides; they are a bit out of focus, but at least I have pictures of them. I must have sold them all because I don't have them anymore. They are made of small pieces of driftwood, copper tape, and various beads. I like them...maybe I will make some more one of these days when I can get my hands on some driftwood.

The Gourds

I've been scanning all my old slides, and found a bunch of pictures of the gourd containers I used to make. They were finished with paper and painted on the inside, and the outside painted with designs and finished with polyurethane. I sold them in various craft stores in Seattle, but I had forgotten how many I actually made. Some have stems for handles, some have tassels, and some sit on small velvet cushions to keep them balanced. This is just a very small sampling...

This one was a custom design for someone in the music industry, there are several views to show all the figures.

One of my craziest endeavors

Years ago, I took a class in Scientific Illustration and I loved it, partly because it was the antithesis of everything I learned from my "abstract is the only art" professors in college. The point is to draw the item exactly as you see it, in actual size, every detail lovingly rendered, with no interpretation. This assignment was to work on scratchboard*, and I chose as my subject a elbow-length silk knitted fingerless glove from the 1900s. As soon as I started I knew it was an insane idea, but I'd seen people do larger and more complicated works in scratchboard, so I carried on. As much as I love scratchboard and scientific illustration, I doubt I will ever do anything this labor-intensive again.

*Scratchboard is a thin board covered in a layer of smooth white clay, then a layer of black ink, and a pointed tool is used to carefully scratch away the black ink and reveal the white underneath.

New Earrings

For the winter celebration, of which there are many...when I lived in Seattle I learned the importance of celebrating the winter solstice; after months of dreary, short days and cold nights, the winter solstice means the days will be getting longer. The hope of that little slice of light (though, in Seattle, not necessarily sun) is enough to raise the spirits and hope for the spring.

 Teeny-tiny trees

 

Snowflakes (Venus not to scale)

Available at my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/tarazara

Cards

I made some cards out of old prints - sold a few of this series, which were made with a carved eraser stamp, many years ago. I still have the stamp...

More sold prints

After some digging, I came up with pix of some of the other pieces I sold at the show.

Paper Doll - collagraph with watercolor
6" x 3"

This has always been one of my favorites (I say that about everything) and I'm glad someone finally bought it. I just might have to print a few more, though since it's a collagraph (from the word collage) and it's made of mat board, there's only so many times I can print it.

Blue Nude - monoprint
  6" x 8".

I do a lot of nudes, even though they are generally hard to sell. 

Printmakers Show

Every November, the Printmaking Society of Honolulu holds a benefit sale, and each member can display and sell their work. Since I haven't printed in over a year, I had nothing new to show, so I dug down into my old prints. I sold some prints, and most of them were over 20 years old. I guess my work has to take time to ferment. Click on the images to see them larger.

Forgotten Landscape - etching

This is one of the very first etchings I did in my very first etching class, during my very short stay at University of Georgia in 1984. I learned so much in that class, and the teacher was wonderful. At the time I thought this piece was a bit trite, but I liked it anyway. It was a stage in another print, so there are only one or two of this version.

Carp Dream, lithograph

From my first (and only) lithography class at University of Georgia. The teacher hated it and said awful things to me, but everyone else who has seen it likes it. 

"...and the wind blew the sky into her hair..." - etching

One of my poetic titles. Sometimes the title can sell the piece; as in this case, the woman who bought it told me she loved it for the title.This work is at least 20 years old.

Fashion sketching

A little insight into my fashion sketching...

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Flowers and squiggles