Where Sunsets are Longer

Only my second witch of the year! Appalling, isn't it, but soon I'll share the client projects I've had this year and then you'll understand. ;)

This witch is the latest character for 'Good Witches Bad Witches', brought to you by Tall Tales Productions. She's a Russian witch.






Warning - I'm about to gush about a passionate love of Russian culture. Skip past the next paragraph if you're diabetic.

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This Russian witch is second in importance only to my English witch. Most of you know I am an English girl currently residing in Los Angeles, but you didn't know I am also part Russian. I have always had an affinity for the culture. I studied Russian at school (and still believe it's the most attractive language), grew up listening to Red Army Choir, Borodin (The Polovtsian Dances is my favourite piece of music of all time),Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev. I've eaten blini with caviar, paskha and many other Russian dishes through life and celebrate St Nicholas' Day. Dr Zhivago is one of my 'desert island' films and I've always found Александр Годунов jaw-droppingly wonderful. (To digress further, my teenage crush was Андрей Подошьян). In short - I adore Russia and anything Russian. The poetry, the music, the ballet, the architecture, the balalaika.... everything.
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I put a lot of thought and planning into this witch because even though I love Russian folklore and fairy tales, like all my other characters I want to carve out something of my own and not do an homage to Baba Yaga for example.
She wears a quilted shawl (with Kandinsky inspired design), a red silk scarf with bat motif, ushanka hat, bear skins (yeah, pretty sick), and pushes a pram (American English - 'baby cart' / 'stroller') full of Russian blue cats, which are her 'familiars' (witch's pets).

She's designed and sculpted in 1:12 scale by myself using clay over wire and other mixed media. Soon you'll be able to watch a video of me making her at the Tall Tales Productions YouTube Channel, but until then, here are some photos! PS The next witch will be Greek...


A little note to my Russian friends and fans...
Мои русские друзья, это послание для вас...

Если вы умеете читать на английском, то могли знать что я частично русская и абсолютно обожаю русскую культуру. Я настолько люблю все русское, что возможно даже я буду жить в России и заведу там семью вместо Англии! Я создаю персонажы в виде ведьм со всего мира для проекта "Хорошие ведьмы Плохие ведьмы" и я уже создала английскую ведьму, шотландскую, французскую, итальянскую и так далее, и сейчас я создала русскую. Это не Баба Яга, это мой собственный дизайн персонажа к моему собственному фильму который в процессе развития с Tall Tales Productions. Я сделала её руками, используя застывающийся клей и проволоку. Она может показаться немного пугающей, но я надеюсь вы воспримите её с хорошем чувством юмора. Спасибо огромное что проявляете интерес к моей работе, и если вы хотите видеть больше, то пожалуйста загляните на мою страничку в Facebook, Instagram и Twitter и VK, и так же я размещу видео как я делаю эту ведьмочку на моем YouTube канале очень скоро!
Спасибо вам!
Каролин МакФарлейн-Уотс. x

Blog post title quote - “But Sasha was from Russia, where the sunsets are longer, the dawns less sudden and sentences are often left unfinished from doubt as how to best end them.” 
― Virginia Woolf, Orlando

Which Witch Won?

You know how I love to have fan involvement, getting feedback for character design on 'Good Witches Bad Witches' etc. It's great! I encourage your comments here and on the Facebook page and Instagram. I read them all.

Well 2 weeks ago I asked which witch should be next and got so many responses! I said I'd make whichever witch got the most votes, and now the results are in and I'll start on her tomorrow!

Scroll past these previous witches from around the world, and then look at the results below to see which witch won your vote!

English witch (see more here)

Scottish witch (see more here)

Welsh witch (see more here)

Irish witch (see more here)

French witch (see more here)

German witch (see more here)

Italian witch (see more here)

American (Texan) witch (see more here)








The results: - 

Dutch / Netherlands 18 votes ... the WINNER. This will be the next witch made.
Russian 17 votes
Indian 16 votes

Australian 16 votes

Polish 12 votes
Greek 12 votes
Canadian 9 votes
Spanish 9 votes
African 8 votes
Norwegian 8 votes

Swedish 7 votes

Japanese 6 votes

Chinese 5 votes

Asian 5 votes

Mexican 4 votes

Haiti 3 votes

Portuguese 3 votes
American (Pacific Northwest) 3 votes
Swiss 2 votes
Finn 2 votes

Romanian (Transylvanian) 2 votes

Denmark 2 votes

Scottish 2 votes .................already made this witch! 

Hungarian 2 votes
Belgian 2 votes
Italian 2 votes .................already made this witch! 
Kiwi 2 votes
German 1 vote .................already made this witch! 
American (Massachusetts) 1 vote
American (Alaskan) 1 vote
American (Wisconsin) 1 vote
Welsh 1 vote .................already made this witch! 
Turkish 1 vote
Czech 1 vote
Jamaican 1 vote
French 1 vote .................already made this witch! 
Argentinian 1 vote
Bangladeshi 1 vote
Austrian 1 vote
Brazilian 1 vote

So, a huge thank you to you all for participating with your vote comments at the Facebook and Instagram pages. It's great to know that you care about the project 'Good Witches Bad Witches'!

The next with will be Dutch, as per your votes. Stay tuned...!

Trick or Trick...

If you send your children off trick-or-treating and they call on the address of a witch, then you'd better be wary of who is being tricked. These children in Texas didn't fare so well.

Here's a promotional image from the in-development film 'Good Witches Bad Witches'! It's almost Halloween so it seemed appropriate!

Also, I know how people who enjoy my work like to see how things are made, so you can see some work-in-progress photos below. You may have noticed I don't post as many work-in-progress photos as I used to, but this is simply because I am holding back some content for the book. Still, there's plenty to see and don't forget you can see more on these other platforms -
the website, Facebook page, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter.

For more photos of this Texan witch, see the last post all about her here.

Moonstruck

Now that I've finished chasing white rabbits for the time being (Alice in Wonderland project here) I can resume work on 'Good Witches Bad Witches'. This project is in development as a book and a short film, so if you're interested in witches, miniatures and filmmaking you'll want to watch this space!

Today's witch is Italian. She's 'la strega Italiana.' She's about 5 3/4 inches tall. I drew a little inspiration from an '80s film called 'Moonstruck', in which the gorgeous Cher plays a big-haired Italian American. I loved making this witch's hair big like that, and even have a mouse nesting in it. Her familiar is a rat. I thought about classic Roman sculpture and design when I made her golden cauldron which has a gargoyle-esque face on it. The octopus climbing out and tangled in spaghetti is something I've had in my head for years and I'm glad I was finally able to put it to paper clay. See my sketch below and then photos of the 'making of' this witch and the final witch herself. You'll see fewer 'making of' photos this time as many more will make their way into a tutorial book instead.

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Just a little word to my Italian friends...

Cari amici Italiani, vi presento…la strega Italiana! 

Lei fa parte del mio “ Streghe da tutto il mondo - Streghe buone, streghe cattive”, titolo del mio imminente libro per bambini e di un cortometraggio realizzato con miniature.

Proprio come le altre streghe, lei e’ uno stereotipo divertente e simpatico della cultura Italiana ( per carita’, non voglio offendere nessuno. Vi prego di prenderla nella maniera giusta).

E’ una mia creazione personale ed e’ alta circa 15cm.

Se siete interessati al progetto, potete trovare altre streghe sul mio blog e sito personale all’indirizzo seguente: www.tall-tales.com

In caso vogliate sostenere i miei progetti, siete pregati di farlo attraverso Facebook o Instagram usando il seguente link

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Find out more about 'Good Witches Bad Witches' here at the Tall Tales Productions website.

Or click over to past blog posts about witches... 
English witch here, 
Scottish witch here, 
Welsh witch here,
Irish witch here,
French witch here,
German witch here


Follow the project on Instagram here and at Facebook here! Stay tuned for the next witch......!

In other news... since I last blogged I had a quick trip to Las Vegas and took some inspiration form the exciting and imaginative displays at The Bellagio. This is me with the new 'under the sea' lobby.










I also attended another fantastic screening at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, hosted by Cinespia. 3,500 of us sat under the stars and watched Hitchcock's Psycho. LA - this is why I love you!

And before I forget, it's been so insanely hot here in LA and I found a great way to beat the heat is to make your own Strawberry Margaritas. Recipe below from MyRecipes.

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups strawberries

2 1/2 cups crushed ice

1/2 cup tequila 

1/2 cup fresh lime juice 

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons Cointreau

Prep:

Combine strawberries, ice, tequila, lime juice, sugar, and liqueur in a blender, and process until the mixture is smooth. Pour the margaritas into 4 large glasses. Serve immediately

Under my Umbrella

On this day - the day of Tiw, last week, I posted a witch (here). Seven days later and I have another one for you, which I just completed today. She is an English witch.

For my 'Witches' project (building the world for 'Good Witches Bad Witches') I am creating witches from around the world. Being English I have started with a good old English witch. I decided to dust off an old stereotype and put her under an umbrella. Whenever I meet Americans, after clarifying that I am English and not Australian, the second question is invariably "it rains everyday in London, right?!" Gosh, that does irritate, yet I can no longer be bothered to point out that London is among the driest of Europe's capitals, and has considerably less rainfall per annum than Paris, Rome, Sydney or New York. Sources (as well as personal experience) tell me that England has half the rainfall of New Zealand as well. But still, I wanted a funny scene, so I created an English witch dressed for wet weather and holding an umbrella! Soon I will create the setting for her, but until then just take a look at the witch character herself and tell me what you think.

This English witch is equipped with English staples - a duffel coat, gumboots, bulldog and my take on a Fox's umbrella.

She is 1:12 scale and modelled in clay over armature wire. You can see the process in the photos below.

Don't miss last week's witch, and stay tuned (like the FB page) so you don't miss the next witch...!

The Boxtrolls, miniature model maker, miniaturist, stop-motion miniature artist