The Count-down Begins....

        Getting Ready.......

Time never seems to move quite as fast as it does when preparing for a show, especially "Ghoultide Gathering"!  You would think that a seasoned designer like myself would be more prepared, ah no!  There are so many factors that challenge the idea that I could write volumes about it!  First and foremost though is current trends....what is everyone looking for and what is popular!  Primitive art is always in demand but in what form?  Are witches the biggy this year or is it cats, frogs, mice or the ever popular "zombies'!  Is extreme "prim" making a comeback or is it still the whimsical market that is in the lead.....is soft sculpture still in the running?  So many factors determine what road my creative spirit will travel down.  

This year I have some old favorites like my ever popular "Jack-O-Lanterns" and singing/dancing mice but I've gone into a different direction with some new characters!  I'm actually bringing back some of my more primitive roots with my "raggedy" pumpkinheads.  I thoroughly enjoy these sweet characters and feel that they grasp that "warm fuzzy" Halloween we remember so much as kids!  

Round headed dolls are a dime a dozen out there in the soft sculpture world but I am a true believer, that no matter the shape, it is what you do with it that makes it original and special.  Since the day of the "original idea" has rapidly diminished it is now up to an artist to create from within and make magic happen to a over used idea.  I think my friend Joyce Stahl with her "Enchanted Ones" is a prime example of taking an over used concept and making it original and new!  There is just something inside of a true artist that seems to escape its confines and finds a way of transporting itself into anything we touch...it is what makes our creations a reflection of who we are and what we're about and, yes, original!

I truly love the challenge that "Ghoultide Gathering" gives me every year.  It keeps me young!  I still feel that I'm the under achiever at this amazing event but when I'm there and as I look around me it just ignites that internal fire to keep evolving and become better....what a ride!!!!!