Saturday 14 May 2011

Happy As a Pig in..........

It is so good when you get commissions that are totally out of your comfort zone - you get to try something completely different and often the challenge sets you off in new and fresh directions creatively.  I must admit I have never felt the inclination to paint a picture of a scarecrow before, but when a friend of mine asked for a painting for her new house which combined a couple of her favourite things, I was up for the challenge.  I think the most difficult thing was to find an image of a scarecrow that wasn't totally terrifying!  This one was quite fun to do, and I really enjoyed painting the field of sunflowers.  It is painted in watercolour and has gone off to a very happy customer today.
I wouldn't have voluntarily picked a pig to knit either, least of all a fully jointed one.  But again, this was an inspiring commission, particularly as I had to not only design the mother pig, but also a tiny piglet, with jointed legs and a wired tail for animation purposes.  And the best bit is.....

...he can have a drink of milk just like a real piglet as the other half of the snap fastener is on the end of his snout!  I have 5 more piglets to make (!) for this commission but I think I will definitely make more child-friendly sets to go in my Etsy shop.

The above are the reason why I very rarely refuse a commission, the answer is usually 'I'll have a go'.

As Blogger has been acting up over the past couple of days, I will extend the end date for the giveaway to Wednesday.

3 comments:

Magpie Magic said...

LOL You always get the best jobs! ;-)

Love the sunflowers. Not sure about the scarecrow. Not the kind of combo I'd have chosen.... however, you did extremely well.

Love the little piggies. Might be nice to do some farm yard sets for Etsy? They're softer and more suitable for smaller children than the wooden/plastic ones and should be a hit. xoxo

Soggibottom said...

I love the sunflowers too. But unlike Magpie Magic I also love the scarecrow, it looks as if he has been specially made for the field.

Well done with the old spots Caroline :-)xxx

Sue said...

How cute. I must knit up a mother dog and pups. Thanks for the inspiration.
Sue