Hi there,
what would Mac,the crafty one of the two faunian brothers be without his tools – as he usually spends his day building or repairing things.
In addition, I made him an utility-belt to keep his hammer, knife and such handy. I find it quite nice and practical…wouldn´t mind to have such a thing myself 😉
My next endeavor will be a nice elegant wooden desk for George to write on, and some other little accessoires for both of them.
Yay! Here they are: George and Mac, Faunia´s founders.
It took me quite some time to finish them and get the details right. Now I am especially content with how their skin texture turned out, all healthy & sunkissed, and with a nice “hands-on” air about them ready to roll up their (not yet added) sleeves to do all they can for Faunia´s prospering community. They also look as they are quite able to tackle the demanding task of looking after the two teenagers Elka and Francis , eh? 😉
Concerning the story of Faunia, I am happy to tell you that it evolves more and more. Recently I attended a fantasy-writer´s work-shop and will keep on working on the story, sculpting more of it´s characters in clay / SuperSculpey along the way.
Hi there,
you might have wondered “What is she up to? What is she doing?”
Well, here´s the answer to your question:
The two founders of Faunia: George – intelligent and well-mannered, a thinker and philosopher & his brother Mac, “the maker”, a supercool dude who can repair anything anywhere anytime – not a man of many words though 😉
I´ve been busy finally getting these two guys into a full-body-version in SuperSculpey. Do you remember? So far there were only their heads made from airdrying modelling clay:
George (or his head, to be more precise) was the VERY FIRST creature / character I ever did with modelling clay! I am getting in a nostalgic mood just thinking about that . His look was strongly influenced by the adorable Mr Tumnus played by the equally adorable James McAvoy in the first Narnia-movie. And from then on, I could not be stopped 😉 More and more curious creatures evolved from my mind and there will be more. Well, these two as you can see are still in a raw state and will need quite some more work and time to be completed. And I am still learning by doing which is great fun – I have realised I need smaler sculpting tools to get a better grip of the details for their tiny faces. I also realised having a wire armature in arms and hands needs to be thought over next time – these are the hands I prepared , stage 1 and stage 2 .
I thought I was extra clever and would prevent fingers breaking off…and wondered why others (I watched some tutorials again) rarely or never put any wiring in their maquettes´ hands…I now know why – the stuff comes out at times and places where you don´t want it.
Anyway, I must say I already am in love with Mac, but George also has his charms and I look foreward to keep myself busy with them.
Stay tuned and see what becomes of these nice fellows, I will keep you updated 😉
Finally, after quite some time of sculpting and painting and sewing, here we have the thoughtful and agile assistant of Faunia´s mayor Miles, Louis LeMur.
He always has a good advice and and intelligent remark at hand to keep Miles´s meandering comments at bay.
Louis´ little son Ringo, who is still a bit too small to attend school, loves to accompany him at work, when mom Stella is busy giving her dancing workshops.
Ringo loves to cuddle his red felt teddy bear, to listen to the two grownups and to roll himself into a furr ball when joining Miles for his after-lunch-nap on the comfy office Sofa.
(pics by Th Schramm, view facebook.com/thomasschrammphotography)
😉 And this is how a typical day at the mayor´s office looks like :
Hi , just a very hasty and quick update on how this little fellow is coming along…still some work ahead of me, but the fur is getting fluffier and his face has a bit more detail to it.
I visited his “relatives” in the zoo who inspired me for his character, and I enjoyed watching those cute creatures up close, jumping around and munching their veggies (although I must say I always feel sorry for any animal – especially wild ones – fenced in, no matter how good the intention).
I hope to complete him this weekend, and the paint job sure will be a great pleasure. His cap and some other little props will be added soon, too.
Enjoy the rest of your week !
So this is an exclusive sneak-preview of a new creature of Faunia – Louis, the intellectual assistant of Mayor Miles Mulligan. Louis loves discussions with his boss. Even though these two guys have quite different personalities – Louis a serious thinker and a bit nerdy, Miles with an attitude “live-and-love-the-moment-and-talk-about-it” – they get along perfectly.
As I keep working on him, he will get furrier and of course more details will be added…and I already look forward to the paint-job on his looooooong black-and-white tail. His wife Stella, by the way, is a dancer (her specialty: Tango Argentino) and gives dance workshops in the forest, accompanied by Faunia´s talented musician Jamie Finn playing joyful tunes. Louis and Stella have many many cute children that run around everywhere in Faunia…wait and see some of them in one of the upcoming posts 😉
Here he comes, Faunia´s eager school-dragon, ready for a new day.
Wouldn´t you like your children to have such a friendly and enthusiastic “teacher´s pet” in the classroom? 😉
(pics by Th. Schramm)
Hello dear readers,
here´s a bit of work-in-progress for you, still in an very early stage, but I think the personality of Tripodd, Faunia´s school-dragon already comes across.
I had thought about giving him three similar heads, but then found it a bit boring. Tripodd is a very enthusiastic teacher assistant who sees to it that all those clever little fauns, centaurs, waterfairies, waterdragons and other creatures are quiet and attentive. All three heads have supersensitive noses and expendable necks that can (and will!!) snap out when a child was not quick enough to hide his/her sandwich or sweet berries.
Tripodd triggers my inner child like almost no other Faunia-creature so far 😉
Here we have some very early and very quick, rough idea-sketches of Miles Mulligan III, Faunia´s mayor…
…and of Woody, Faunia´s school teacher in his “best” years…
…and finally of waterfairy Ira – and his kid Olivia (Lilly), whom I will sculpt soon , just as her mum Moira.
Have a good day 😉
This is the dashing, talented and passionate harptrumpeteer James Arthur Floyd-Finnegan, or better known as Jamie Finn Softone.
(pics by Th. Schramm)
Let me tell you a bit about him.
Jamie Finn is a really inspirational faun with a strong DIY-attitude. He not only sings, but plays and builds all kinds of instruments you can imagine. He lives in a cozy hutt in the rolling green hills of Faunia (see pic).
Next to his hutt, there also is a spacious studio and workshop. In the back, he has a sunny patio and a huge garden where he grows a great variety of greeneries and has a small coffee-plant. He is an expert in growing coffee beans that make the blackest, strongest and most delicious smelling coffee in whole Faunia. There is also an impressive variety of pumpkins in all shapes and sizes you can imagine. Jamie not only cooks the best pumpkin soup you have ever tasted, but his pumpkins also fulfill another important need – from the dried & hardened shells he builds shapely banjos, guitars, violins and parts of some crossover-instruments you have never heard of.
For some instruments like his harptrumpet or his wonderful drums, he also uses wood as Faunias vast forests offer an unbelievable variety of different trees. The strings for his harp, guitars, violins and banjos are made from a special weed which Jamie finds in the pond (see pic) . There he usually has a thorough philosophical chat about life with waterfairy Ira (and his wife Moira, you will meet her soon).
Often Jamie is visited by travelling musicians, who buy some of his wondrous instruments and enjoy the high quality craftsmanship (and the accompanying bowl of pumpkin soup and nice cup of mindblowing coffee). This is one way for Jamie to hear what is going on beyond the borders of Faunia. Another way for him is to take one of his newest, most intriguing instruments and go off wandering, playing haunting tunes and meeting his audience.
From time to time, Jamie Finn is accompanied by two furry friends that live near him, a linx and a fox, who love to support him vocally (with a hearty purr and soft howl…you will meet them soon). Jamie Finn feels very comfortable with his life, enjoys what he does and would not want it any other way.
P.S.
This awsome character is based on a living person of „our“ world named James Radcliffe. James wholeheartedly agreed to be part of this story and – that is really true – had thought of himself as a faun anyway, should he ever be in the situation of becoming a mythical creature. I do start to believe in synchronicities…
Upcomig posts:
Faunia´s three-headed-dragon and teacher assistant Tripodd, who is keen on keeping the classroom quiet and the pupils attentive. He is a bit foodoriented and – well, let´s say he is not the brightest creature in Faunia. So especially in summer when the little Faunians secretly munch those sunny-sweet blueberries under their desks, Tripodd with his three supersensitive noses will without hesitation smell those goodies and snapp out to get his share. Unfortunately, he is a bit clumsy and greedy and will not only swallow those tempting berries but also the accompanying child. But do not worry, he too is vegeterian and cannot digest a Faunian child. After a short time in Tripodd´s spacious greeny-shady-kaleidoskopic body, the offending child will be spat out, completely unharmed but a bit green and a bit smelly. So there will be no escape from honestly answering the parents´question „have you been good at school?“ as the truth is more than obvious.
So watch this space, there are more creatures to be brought to life…
Have a wonderful Easter holiday!
(pics by Th. Schramm)
Welcome to the office of mayor Miles Mulligan III, fully “garbed” in his best – well – fur, a nice handmade mug with a dipped-in biscuit handy (not in tea, rather a veggie-broth as the whole community of my fantasy realm is vegetarian), a functional stylish (kind of) desk and quite a few meaningful thoughts to share. I imagine him having a nice full far-carrying baritone voice (Richard Armitage-ish) with a slight Scottish accent ;-).
I had a lot of fun scultping & painting him and crafting his office “chair” and “desk”. The latter both are made of styrofoam. For the sofa – yes I name it, can´t really tap around it, eh? He loves his comfy office-sofa – I used felt which I sewed onto the base.
The mug is made from clay, the biscuits are – can you believe it – real, just like the pen and paper. Oh and the carpet is handknitted by me, yeah I know a bit wobbly , but it´s rustic style out there in Faunia.
Hope he makes you smile just like he made me smile on this rainy monday. Please feel free to comment, I look foreward to hearing from you.
Cris´s blog of art & craft 
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