December 17, 2021 By Migglet (Edit)

Individually unique mixed-media figures incorporating the natural beauty of wood.

I am overjoyed to announce that for many months I have been collaborating with my Marvellous HIM and having ‘launched’ them into the world this week, I am absolutely delighted to say that two of my Sculptured Spirits have already found their new homes! 

Life is about challenging ourselves, learning, discovering, not playing it safe, and all of a sudden I wanted to have a go at a new way of creating more arty havoc in my home! (My poor HIM! He soon realised if he couldn’t beat me, he ‘wood’ simply HAVE to join me!!)

The bespoke hand-turned wooden plinths he creates for each of my figurative sculptures are simply superb and I love the way the natural grain adds an extra dimension and texture to each piece, showcasing my little figures in the most beautiful way.

I am creating ‘little spirits’ each with their own emotion. As with my drawing and painting ‘it’s a feeling’ I get when I create, and I am loving it large! To date there are 10 Sculptures, some of which are on driftwood from our local shores but most are on bespoke wooden plinths and housed within glass domes.

My individual 3D sculptures…hopefully contain the essence of life, ‘La Joi De Vivre’ that celebrates the fact that we are here and we ARE alive and kicking! 

These little spirits really are a labour of love and take me many many hours and many many days and many many processes to create. They are made initially of wire armatures and then I add a secret recipe of magic and imagination, a sprinkling of pure fantasy and voila!…my spirits are born. Each one represents just how fragile and delicate we appear, yet how strong we REALLY are within! 

My sculpted spirits are delicate in appearance yet far stronger than they look and deliberately have parts that appear to be coming away or fraying, representing the way we have to ‘unravel’ in order to show who we really are, that we are all a little vulnerable and a little frayed around the edges. 

My little spirits aren’t going to be perfect, they aren’t smooth, they are ‘rough around the edges’ and are all imaginative, completely from my fuzzy little head so it is incredibly exciting for me to see them ’emerging’ into their own little characters as I create them….and as with the majority of my art, I do just love the way the eye and the soul can work out the parts that simply aren’t there.

I love the ‘weathered’ metal statue effect which has taken me so many hours to obtain. My sculpted, weathered little verdigris and rusty souls are all ‘pigments of my imagination’ and I love that! No rules! Anything goes! 

Over time we age and, try as we may, of course we cannot change that, but there is an honest beauty in how we ‘weather’ or age naturally in my opinion. The patina hues acquired through exposure to life are hues of raw beauty, the parts that ‘rust’ and maybe don’t work quite so well as they used to, yet are still there, whether they are visible to the eye or not. 

My Sculptured Spirits are currently on display in the TAAG Christmas Art Exhibition in the Beachcomber opposite Teignmouth Pier. It is their first ever ‘outing’ and I am thrilled that they have been received so well!

I am lucky enough to have some incredibly special angels in my life and even though their rich patina is multi-coloured and maybe also tarnished with dark hues from wear and tear and the challenges that they have faced in life, their hearts of gold are most definitely visible in their kindness and actions and therefore in their spirits so I aim to show hints of that loving ‘golden glow’ here and there in my sculptures.

I have deliberately decided from the off that my little spirits need to be ‘raw’ and faceless, with all their imperfect knobbles and bobbles and wibbles and wobbles.

You may or may not be able to tell just how wibbly wobbly others are.

We humans are very accomplished at hiding our wobbles and I know that more than most, but we must somehow learn to embrace them, both the mental and the physical wobbles, because they are what we are ‘made of’ and we are made of fragments of our life experiences.

Lockdown and all the uncertainty has been such a terrible time for mental wobbles across the world and is still causing a great deal of anxiety on so many levels. I know what rock bottom feels like BUT I also know that weebles wobble but they won’t fall down!
Keep your spirit alive and kicking, my sculptures will be doing just that too!

As always, thank you for following me on my wibbly wobbly arty journey and for supporting me, please do leave a comment and let me know you are ok?

It IS OK not to be ok. The more we can all talk openly about our wobbles together, the straighter we will become!  

So all of you lovely peeps out there, show me your ‘patina’ and be proud of every hue!! 

PS Due to events of the last year or so, it is a long time since I wrote a newsletter here on my site but of course I have been painting almost non-stop, my art and the support of my wonderful family and close friends will always get me through!

You may wish to visit my gallery pages to see what artwork I have been creating since you last heard from me, apart from my new ‘Spirited Sculptures’ featured here, if you don’t already follow me on social media, there is muchly lots for you to see!

I am just back from yet another fabulous Autumn road trip with my marvellous HIM touring Portugal and Spain in our motorhome Rodney and I am slowly but surely settling back in to normal life, whatever ‘normal’ is?! I tried to work on writing this piece whilst we were away but the connections were often so hit and miss, in the end I gave up trying. Most unusual for me as I am known for being awfully trying! 

For months I have been meaning to sit down and write about this Commissioned Painting of a Dancer from earlier in the year and to reveal the full painting, so enough procrastinating Migglet… finally… here goes! 

You know, it is somewhat humbling to be contacted by a complete stranger who has only ever seen your work on your website and is willing to put all their faith into commissioning you to create something unique and personal for them.

The whole process is fairly lengthy and complex and involves many waves of emotions from the initial ‘thinking’ stage throughout the creative process and right through to completion, acceptance and finally the enormous relief on delivery!

If you have been following me for a while, you will know I am an instinctive artist and definitely not a planner, so a Commission is always a different process for me where initial planning and a great deal of thought simply have to be used!

There are numerous lengthy emails back and forth as communication is key. It is imperative that I can ‘get inside the head’ of the client. I need to completely understand the brief before I can even begin to think of creating the piece.

Size, subject, medium (i.e. Acrylic on canvas in this instance) colours of background, final position of piece and colour scheme of the room it is intended for etc etc, there are so many factors to consider.

Finding out which of my paintings the client prefers on my website, narrowing down a great many choices, getting to know the client’s taste and personality as much as is possible…..all these things are necessary for BOTH of us to feel we are on the same wavelength and are about to move in the same direction.

A final phone call and discussion of all the client’s requirements and everything about this commission fell into place in my head, thanks to a wonderfully clear description of the beautiful bedroom and colour scheme where the finished piece was to be hung.

Suddenly I could picture the finished painting…and…ALL (!?!) I needed to do was source and purchase the right sized canvas and create a beautiful, traditional, bespoke ballerina! …….Sorted! 

I communicated with the client via email during the process once I had started working on the piece so that she knew what stage I was at because I am sure it must be quite a nerve wracking process for the client too?! After all, nobody can climb inside MY head which is probably just as well as it is rather cluttered in there!

This ballerina was created from different sources, not just one reference photograph but many, so she only exists purely on that one canvas and from my imagination, which was a very new and exciting challenge for me!

It was such a HUGE relief once the painting was safely delivered to the client, unpacked from it’s many layers of packaging ( I was absolutely determined that dancer would not be able to escape!) and I received such a joyful email from the client to let me know how delighted she was with the finished piece! Nothing ever beats a happy joyful client! 

And when I read that the client was happy for me to use the scanned image to be able to produce Prints from my Original Commissioned Ballerina Painting… quote ‘as it would be such a shame for her NOT to be seen by others’ I was delighted and most appreciative as I was more than a little proud of the finished painting.

I decided to give her the title ‘Serenity’ and I hope you enjoy this following little video clip!

If you wish to purchase an Art Print or Canvas Print of this painting of a dancer titled ‘Serenity’ please click on the direct link below. Of course, bespoke sizes are always available too, don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any queries!

Finally, thank you so much for following me and my arty path, for me it is one long journey of excitement and surprises, not so much a yellow brick road, but a colour me very happy one!  xx

How do you describe the feeling when creating art? I honestly don’t know. I could babble on with oodles of adjectives and arty farty waffle but it simply IS a feeling and it comes in waves, whether they may be joyful waves or melancholy thoughts, art is always an emotional and very personal journey.

There are most definitely times when art is the only therapy, the heart seems to guide the brushes & the ‘place you are in’ at the time of creating is most evident in the work you produce.

I’m ignoring my imaginary art critics…

As always… ( yep, no change here!) …nothing is ever planned with my art, but one thing I DO know is that I am heading into 2020 with more clarity about my artwork than I had this time last year, and wherever ‘the feeling’ takes me, that’s where my creations will lie.

For me there is a fine line between sweating the small stuff in accuracy and fine detail whilst capturing that spontaneous feeling without overworking a piece. Leaving the viewer to fill in my work with their own imagination is something I seem to love doing best and it is so evident in all my latest pieces. I do genuinely believe that if you ENJOY your art, you will produce the best work you can possibly do, and who can ask for more of you than that?!

I know some of my creations are like marmite and you may either love them or loathe them but that’s fine with me, you don’t have to like all of it or any of it. I now finally feel confident that I am creating from within and the fact that some of you lovely peeps love some of my work enough to want to share it, support it and purchase it, still blows me away!

Hello 2020

So here I am, starting the year 2020 with some emotive and fairly large pieces on canvas and I have some exciting art exhibitions to look forward to in February, March and May (plus more in the…’fingers crossed’ …pipeline!)

Please do keep in touch if you wish to find out where and when further exhibitions will be ( I post regularly as ArtyMigglet on Facebook and Instagram ) but in the meantime please follow the link below for a list of Art Exhibitions in 2020 I already know I am lucky enough to be a part of during the next few months, starting in February in the beautiful Spanish Barn, Torre Abbey, Torquay.

Art Exhibitions 2020

I hope you will enjoy following me as I carry on with this colourful journey and wish you all the luck and love in the world for 2020, wherever the path may lead you. X