My Gothic Fairies


Jeran and Nemanda

So I had an itch in my brain that I had to scratch. I wanted to make some collages. I had seen a lot of altered cabinet cards in the artsy, craftsy magazines lately, and I thought to myself, “That looks like fun.” But I didn’t want to do what they had all done. I wanted my altered images to be a little different, a little strange. I played around with some scans in Photoshop, and viola!, I created some strange little people to use in my art. I wanted fairies, but not too pretty. Gothic fairies. Gothic fairies with insect wings. A little dark around the edges. A little mysterious. Little gothic fairy children who befriend gargoyles.

After I had made a few, I showed them to my sister. She does not like them at all. She said, “What do you think is causing you to make all this weird art lately?” Just my mood, I guess. But I have fallen in love with these little people. I give them a name. I give them a teeny bit of history, and then I set them free on eBay, and watch what happens (or doesn’t, as the case may be.) It’s all okay. I know that someone out there is going to look at Jaren and Nemanda, or Mizzy, Flora, and Little Vell (my favorites so far) and love them as much as I do.

I wanted my auction to look just right, so I wanted to make my own background and html formatting. I looked around at some of the free ebay selling assistants and decided on Auctiva. I felt like I had to learn something new all over again. So I spent about three sleepness nights emailing customer support, asking questions on the forums, tweaking and untweaking my template until it was just (almost) the way I wanted it. I spent ONE WHOLE DAY just trying to figure out how to get the background image I wanted to show up. And then when I finally figured it out, of course it was something so tiny and simple that I almost broke down and cried when I discovered it. Isn’t that just the way with the web? It can suck the life out of you and can almost make you break down and cry.


Mizzy, Flora, and Little Vell

10 thoughts on “My Gothic Fairies

  1. Karen,

    I love your little “outside the box” people! They’re a little scarey and mysterious, but so are real kids! And i applaud you for always forging ahead into new territories! You are definitely an inspiration! Leaving the comfort zone can be wo rewarding! Thanks for sharing!

  2. I am enthralled!!!!!!!! I totally cracked up laughing when I read what your sister said because I can imagine being told the same thing sometimes. I LOVE your goth faeries and most especially I adore Jeran and Nemanda. Your art is wonderful and just my “cup of tea” thanks for your inspiration and I hope you don’t mind that I linked your blog to mine…..I must share the eye candy.

  3. You are an inspiration and i think your work is so good..i have to keep coming back to look again..
    I am just starting out on the book altering lark(yet to actually start…more like thinking about starting!)If i could be1/4 as unique and interesting as you then i will be very happy!
    Thankyou, for being ‘differant’!
    willow xx

  4. I like your work. Mine is a bit more dark,,most dont like it when you stray off the cutesy stuff. YOur work is great,,keep it up.

  5. Hi,very colorful article in this nice website. I will come here usaually to support you.So beautiful photoes of these lovely flowers. So is this article here,and. I will often come. Pls keep it.

  6. Your works are awesome and I’m sure it could open up doors to those who want to follow your footsteps! These are not the usual “little things” that you can expect from fairies but what can you expect? You can expect the unexpected and as far as my opinion is concerned, I think that these are the closest resemblances to real fairies! Great job! Oh, by the way, would you like to put these images on your own fairy checks? Yes, you can! My mother bought her own personalized Westie checks with pictures of our own Westie dog, name’s Tucker…

  7. I actually think so too=P I have been poking around the web for a while today, and its kinda hard to find anything entertaining to read on blogs:P Maybe thats because there are too much of those around =) But your place actually keeps catching my attention=P Great stories, and kawai design ^__^. Ill be sure to give it more visits from now on 😛

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