I thought I ought to post pictures of our tree angel while she was still in one piece.  She took a tumble while we were decorating this year, and the ceramic head broke at the neck.  We managed to repair her, but she’s looking her age. I made her ten years ago.

My favorite part of this angel are the wings, though they are what make the angel hard to store and delicate to handle. I found a package of white bird feathers on sale at the craft store. I trimmed them and glued them to the cardboard form. The base form of the body is made out of cardboard folded into a pentagonal cylinder.  Now they sell cone-shaped angel/doll forms, but in 1998 they didn’t have any.  The head and hands are purchased porcelain doll parts.  She was originally blonde, but I colored her hair brunette with permanant ink.  Like her maker, her hair is lightening at the roots, but that’s fixable.

The dress is made of colored velvet and trim, with beads and gold mesh and satin all glued on.  Her halo is a piece of thin brass, cut to shape.

This is one of my old faeries, one of the first I made with paperclay faces. She’s also one of my favorites.

Everything is made by hand.  I painted the wings, made the hair, made the dress from my own pattern, sculpted the face and hands and feet, painted them, wired them together, etc.  Pretty much the only thing I didn’t do was make my own beads.  It takes hours and hours of work, and I have to dip extensively into my paper and art supplies.  When I sold them at art fairs, I grossed in the very low two figures for them.  This is what made me decide to not make art to sell anymore.  I don’t think people appreciate art, especially if they don’t spend very much for it.  I’d rather give my art away to someone who will love it than sell it for too low a price.

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