Studio Assistants

This is Jin-Jin.  Though she has only been on staff for a few months, she has become an honored member of Nanetta.com.  Jin-Jin is mostly chihuahua, but seems to have a bit of ferret, fox and monkey in her personality.  The chair pictured is immediately to my left.

Jin-Jin is in charge of quality control.  She will express herself by chewing an item to oblivion.  I will find her with a beaded pin shredded, tiny beads like sand on my futon.  Unfortunately, she doesn't know what quality means.  She thinks it is a flavor.  I must find her a new position.

Banjo, after a protracted hiatus of hating me, is now back in the studio.  Nothing like the thought of a younger replacement to make one act a little nicer.  Banjo, a papillon, is my public relations guy.  At a party, he is as much a social butterfly as his wispy ears indicate.  He will even wear a hat.  He has two.  You can imagine the marketing nightmare when your representative swears at you in dog in front of people, then shamelessly promotes his own agenda; attention for himself.  Glad to have you back, Banjo!  

My "staff" and I hope to get back to sharing the studio life.  Uh-oh!  I hear crunching....

Nanetta: Haunted Hats

Nanetta: Haunted Hats: These sweet-creepy hats have been a joy to create. Made of Strathmore Art Again black paper, they are tediously decorated with spiderweb ...

Haunted Hats

These sweet-creepy hats have been a joy to create. Made of Strathmore Art Again black paper, they are tediously decorated with spiderweb sequins, vintage thrift shop tulle, pipe cleaner, tiny poms, jewels, ribbons and cord. The feathers, flowers, spiders and bats are all paper, detailed with iridescent paints, (Jo Sonja). Enjoying my work means slowing down, having fun and accepting a challenge. Cone-shaped hat, I tamed thee.

The cone is tricky, especially with the stiff paper these hats require. I use a paintbrush handle and a bone folder to break the grain of the black card stock. It takes a few repetitions to curl into a cone shape. The cone has to be held in place while the glue sets. Though the paper is conditioned, it takes patience to keep everything in line. After five hats, I use a tiny clothespin to secure the base of the cone. This helps a lot.

I am proud of that big spider on this finished hat. Mag is a 1/3 scale doll and it fits her as a dramatic over-sized hat. She wears it well. Look closely and you can see her eyes are a little unsettling. This hat was designed to be a "fascinator" for a real person. It has two loops on the inside to attach barrettes or hairpins. A fascinator is a miniature hat or embellishment that does not cover the entire head.

Aaaaahhhhh! Infestation! I love these spiders, but they scare the heck out of me when they venture off on their own. And they do. Those little legs stick on my clothes and end up in the strangest of places. I said I would keep track this time - but the spiders think otherwise.

Nanetta: Flower Clips

Nanetta: Flower Clips: "Flower blanks, fresh from cutting with my KNK Digital cutting system, are designed on my computer screen, then sent to the cutter for precis..."

Flower Clips

Flower blanks, fresh from cutting with my KNK Digital cutting system, are designed on my computer screen, then sent to the cutter for precision cutting. Notice the different sizes of the same design. This creates a larger variety of the pieces. I can mix up motifs. I cut many, many pieces before I begin the coloring process. There is something satisfying about a whole stack of blanks.

Color brings the petals and leaves to life. This shot shows some experimentation with metallics, particularly the large fern. The colorant is alcohol ink, applied with a dropper, then finished with a brush to make sure the edges are covered. In the far right is a floral element with a little more detail. These dashed lines are cut into the surface in a "pounce" line. Ink settles in, adding detail. Unlike my cherry blossoms, these florals are fantastical. Once my stack is finished, they assemble by what is in front of me in a kind of ordered chaos. I love the little buds you see poking out here and there. Each flower is finished with a clip. Originally designed for hair ornaments, they are being clipped onto clothing, headbands and hats.

Flower Clips

Flower blanks, fresh from cutting with my KNK Digital cutting system, these floral pieces are designed on my computer screen, then sent to the cutter for precision cutting. Notice the different sizes of the same design. This creates a larger variety of the pieces. I can mix up motifs. I cut many, many pieces before I begin the coloring process. There is something satisfying about a whole stack of blanks.

Color brings the petals and leaves to life. This shot shows some experimentation with metallics, particularly the large fern. The colorant is alcohol ink, applied with a dropper, then finished with a brush to make sure the edges are covered. In the far right is a floral element with a little more detail. These dashed lines are cut into the surface in a "pounce" line. Ink settles in, adding detail. Unlike my cherry blossoms, these florals are fantastical. Once my stack is finished, they assemble by what is in front of me in a kind of ordered chaos. I love the little buds you see poking out here and there. Each flower is finished with a clip. Originally designed for hair ornaments, they are being clipped onto clothing, headbands and hats.

Nanetta: Blue Fairy and Friends

Nanetta: Blue Fairy and Friends: "A fairy blowing a kiss is my newest fanciful being. She is painted with alcohol inks applied with a dropper and finished with a brush. The..."

Blue Fairy and Friends

A fairy blowing a kiss is my newest fanciful being. She is painted with alcohol inks applied with a dropper and finished with a brush. The sheen is Jo Sonya's iridescent blue, following the lines of the ink patterns.

You can see the difference in this photo. When the ink is overpainted with the iridescence it creates multiple light effects. In bright light, it is light colored. In less light, the brilliance of the blue comes through. These ladies would be great where they would catch the light, but as any art piece, direct sunlight is never a good idea if you want to preserve the original color.

A green fairy is painted with ink only. I will be going over the surface with iridescence, not necessarily the same color.

This fairy allows for beads or flowers to be hung from her hand and from the tiny hole in her wing fronds, evident in the middle photo. The fairies will be made singular and as mobile elements.

Nanetta: Cherry Blossoms

Nanetta: Cherry Blossoms: "Ah, to dream days of cherry blossoms. As a heat wave sears the country, set your thoughts on light breezes and delicate flowers. Above, yo..."

Cherry Blossoms

Ah, to dream days of cherry blossoms. As a heat wave sears the country, set your thoughts on light breezes and delicate flowers.

Above, you can see the shimmer of pearl ink, tinted with pink. Red Iridescent Jo Sonya's velvet matte paint adds detail and additional sheen.

The cherry blossom is a double flower, assembled without glue. It takes a bit of patience to push the centers through all the holes and requires tweezers or a needle tool. The end result is worth it.

These are the pieces that make the blossom. This flower has holes for use in a mobile. The blanks here look mod in white against all the color of the background. The spidery center goes on top of the flower. The double center gets curled up and threaded through all the holes - up to four. Two centers hold everything in place.

This view shows a blank assembled prototype. It is made of synthetic paper called Yupo. I am offering the finished design in blanks and digital files in my Etsy store. You can color them with alcohol inks, watercolor, markers and Sharpies. Blanks come with or without holes in sets of three.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nbananto

Nanetta: Did Someone Say Pink?

Nanetta: Did Someone Say Pink?: "My first installation at Tanya's Soup Kitchen included mobiles and floral hair clips. One of the first comments was, 'Save me a pink one'. ..."

Did Someone Say Pink?

My first installation at Tanya's Soup Kitchen included mobiles and floral hair clips. One of the first comments was, "Save me a pink one". I was not about to announce that there were the brightest reds, the juiciest oranges and the sweetest greens, but alas - no pink.

Just in time, I received new ink colors. The first to be opened were these vibrant shades. I designed a new flower, which utilizes dashed lines to establish detail. The ink settles along these lines. It is especially evident in the center, where the ink has pooled and dried darker.

The photo above illustrates the edge treatment. I saturate a brush with ink and run it over all the edges so the white is covered. Details always make a difference.

The ink in this photo has just been applied. Ranger's alcohol inks and Yupo were made for each other. Yupo is synthetic paper. The inks come in a dropper bottle. It is amazing how far .5 fl. oz. will go! I drop ink onto the cut flower and allow it to set for a variegated, watercolor effect. Other colors will be added to fill in the white. The predominate colors are: Wild Plum and Raspberry.

A unique feature of this combination of media is that once the ink is dry, it is permanent, but if I add more color, alcohol or the blending solution, I can continue to manipulate the surface. The blue shimmer in the background is red/blue mica powder added to a previous flower. I use Yupo beneath my projects, because I don't want to waste a drop of these beautiful inks. I use the sheets for paintings, bookmarks and cards.

Oh, and the pink flowers will be showing up soon at Tanya's Soup Kitchen. In the meantime, there is a burst of twirling colors already there.

http://www.tanyassoupkitchen.com/

Nanetta: Beadwork

Nanetta: Beadwork: "Arabesque is an unusual piece for me, in that it is symmetrical. The glass floret in the center was the seed of the design. It takes prac..."

Beadwork

Arabesque is an unusual piece for me, in that it is symmetrical. The glass floret in the center was the seed of the design. It takes practice to get the tension correct in bead embroidery. In a balanced motif such as this, there can be no errors or it will be painfully obvious. I prefer free-form peyote, because it is intuitive. This necklace required thinking!

Freda has been my muse several times. She dreamed out loud. Her image has become iconic. This necklace features a miniature collage of Freda Kahlo. Gold tulle makes a textural bed for the variety of glass beads and crystals. Turquoise and garnet chips add interest and the vibration of natural stone.

Talking to the Moon is special because it uses the last of some of my favorite beads - the turquoise lined tiny beads from Japan and the sparkling raspberry Delicas. Nestled within the mix are the most challenging beads of all - Maco's. I call them needle bugle beads, because that is a better description. I almost always break a needle when working with them, as the hole is so tiny. Notice the pyramid beads around the moon face - each one has an eye in gold.

Sadly, all the shots were taken on a pile of wood that was once our Redbud tree. Notice the raw jagged white meat of the limb on the Freda shot. That is what the wind did - snapped my favorite tree past redemption.

Show Photos: ROOTS

Roots: Photos by Lincoln Scott

She Dreams in Blue

Roots was a show of mixed-media sculptures at the Unitarian Church Gallery in Wichita, Kansas. They were gracious hosts and the show was quite successful. Thank you.

She Dreams in Blue is my favorite. I like the blue staining and her stance. The wood base is antiqued with stains. The turquoise color is a permanent ink pad, swiftly swiped over the surface.

This collection features polymer clay root people. The faces are sculpted first, then the arms and legs. All of the roots were formed in batches. The clay was conditioned, (kneaded), and rolled into snakes of various widths. I rolled the clay further until it wiggled into corkskrews, pinched the end and made a hole for stitching into place.

I rummaged through my rust, fabric and lace collections to find just the right pieces. Bead embroidery is the glue of the designs.

Root King Dreams, a relief sculpt, led me to a new discovery. The aged coloring is deceptively simple. I sculpted in white, stained with caramel alcohol ink dropped from the bottle onto the face surface, then rubbed it off. The heavier the ink, the darker it stained. It is finished with a wash of blue/black acrylic paint, which is also removed with a soft cloth.

The fiber is wool, rayon and chenille. Brass leaf stampings repeat for a forest floor rhythm. Tiny cup forms are made of pearl polymer clay.

Nanetta: Paper Houses

Nanetta: Paper Houses: "It looks like someone is having a garage sale or a fight. The disarray makes me giggle. This photo shows the collection of miniature furnit..."

Paper Houses

It looks like someone is having a garage sale or a fight. The disarray makes me giggle. This photo shows the collection of miniature furniture that has built up over the weekend. Each item is cut many times until it is easy to fold and glue.

See the wagon? It has striped wheels. This is my adaption of Mr. Cloud's free toy.

The little table on the right needs more work. In this scale, the tabs have disappeared. Make them too large and they overlap the space in the legs. Most of these tabs are kept in place with the tip of an x-acto knife while the glue sets.

Note: The Aileen's Tacky Glue Pen, which I reviewed earlier this year, proves to be invaluable for this kind of work. As I have used the pen, the glue has thickened slightly and does dry quickly. The fine tip lays down the tiniest glue line or dot. The cap is easy to keep track of. The precision is complimented by the pen-style application.

Ah yes, simpler times, before the neighborhood got over run-(Friday). Here are two houses in different scales. The bed is still not small enough to go in the green house. It may end up as a playhouse or something. All of these houses began with the cottage lantern from my book, Silhouette Style. I changed the peak, the windows and added a floor and moldings for the windows. I discovered a setting on my Klic-n-Kut cutter that makes these adorable pounce (fold) lines in an appropriate size. The folds are crisp.

The bed is one piece with a bedspread and pillow. The pillow is a miniature version of the one in my book. The pillow puffs up just like the big ones. I glued the pillow in place. The hardest part of working in this scale is holding on to the pieces. I lost a spade one night and didn't find it until I felt something odd on the sleeve of my shirt. If they hit the floor, they're finished.

The divan! This gives you perspective on size. The houses include a set of furniture. The doors open and close. There is a butterfly from another project sticking out from under a layer of scrap paper. It builds up to a certain point beneath my work lamp, gets excavated and goes into the vault of the shoebox.

Nanetta: Inspiration: C. Carey Cloud

Nanetta: Inspiration: C. Carey Cloud: "The Cracker Jack prize was always exciting to me. The miniature mystery in the little thin paper package brought me joy, just like millions..."

Inspiration: C. Carey Cloud

The Cracker Jack prize was always exciting to me. The miniature mystery in the little thin paper package brought me joy, just like millions of other kids. From the 1930's through the 1960's, C. Carey Cloud designed, created and delivered 700 million toys to the Cracker Jack company.

His other clients included Pillsbury, Brach's Candy, CoCo Wheats and more. He designed toys; paper toys, plastic toys, moving toys, theme toys. Many of the paper toys use simple mechanisms to make them move or jump. Above is one of his "action toys". Look at all the details in this pirate. Do you think you could have a kid's toy pirate sitting on a keg of rum today? Probably not. Maybe he would have had to remove the X's.

His lines are simple and convey a complete vignette with subtle, but complete detail. Notice the soft scales on the fish, the sweep of lines on the fins, the sketch of a coral. You could get an assortment of 20 for $1.00 by mail order. Mr. Cloud inspecting a batch of plastic figures. He sculpted much larger than the final size. He had an endless imagination and the skills of several men. He was called the "Year-'Round Santa Claus" and it is easy to see why. His toys had a sophistication to them. It seemed there was a lot of child in his spirit.

Here is a punch-out for a wagon. It is perforated in two places and folds up to look like the mini drawing on the background. His instructions are easy, concise and complete.

Can you believe tin prizes? This is only one in a series of toys for Cracker Jack made from lithographed tin. Carey Cloud found that the Ball Brothers, of canning jar fame, had tons of scrap tin from lids selling for $25 a ton. He was able to produce over 80 million toys before the Ball Brothers found out what he was doing and raised the price to $125 a ton. That was the end of the metal toys in Cracker Jacks.

C. CAREY CLOUD - Google him to learn more.

Nanetta: Soiled Dove Puppet

Nanetta: Soiled Dove Puppet: "This puppet is made of Yupo, with Yupo Octopus for the dress. The dress is three pieces: dress, neck ruffle and sleeve ruffles. The Octopu..."