Studio Tour #23 - Into the Realm of Winona Cookie

Preparing for liftoff!

Airship Commanders by Ramona Szczerba

Goggles?....check.... Parachutes?....check

Party invitations?....No? Well, good thing we have the parachutes!

Obediah Theremin, MD by Ramona Szczerba

All Aboard!

Welcome back to another Studio Tour Saturday! This week we're off to the creative kingdom of steampunk artist Ramona Szczerba from WinonaCookie.etsy.com.

Ramona stopped by ArtSnark's on 4/8 for some tea & conversation. She also left prizes for two lucky winners (to be announced on 4/22). Unfortunately my time machine is on the fritz... But if you click here you can read about this whimsical artist plus enter next Thursday's random drawing for a fun steampunk art magnet.

Now promise me you'll be polite ...and do remember to pull the red cord. There is a good chance that if you survive the fall are well behaved, Ramona will have a treat for us. She said something about sponsoring yet another giveaway today. You guys are sooo lucky!

What?... Ok!

The Captain tells me that we are over the target. Ready to Jump? Just remember to pull the red...um... blue... um... red cord... And watch out for the moat. I hear the Giant Squid likes a snack around this time of day...

Marcella and her Conch Carriage by Ramona Szczerba

Ramona Szczerba: Hello and Welcome to my studio tour! If you are one of those people who loves clean, spare, uncluttered rooms, if you prefer vast expanses of empty space with nary a paperclip to mar the uninterrupted vista - you may want to skip this one, or at least fortify yourself with a stiff cocktail. I have a lot of stuff. Everybody all set then? Okay! Have some tea, grab a cookie, and let’s have a look around…

RS: What I have a lot of is books – clip art, vintage books, children’s books that I’ve had since I was a kid, how-to’s and general photo reference – so two whole walls in my studio are bookshelves. They’re also handy for storing paper – if I live to be 130, I’ll still never use all the gorgeous, fascinating and totally seductive paper I have. It’s a bit of an obsession. Also, since I work on many things simultaneously, I find “project boxes” are a good solution to avoid being pinned under an avalanche of art supplies. I get these white cardboard boxes of various sizes at IKEA and put them together – handy for stashing a current project without losing bits when I need to shift gears.

RS: A close up of one of the shelves. This is where I perch completed pieces so that they may glare down at me in a guilt-inducing manner while they await their stories. None of these pieces have stories yet and so haven’t been listed – they’re making their debut just for you! It’s also a handy place to keep rubber stamps, scrabble tiles, postcard books, jars of pebbles and vials of watch gears.

RS: Next to the bookshelves is my computer desk, which is fairly large and too tedious to take a picture of. However, I thought I’d give you a glimpse of what I put up with should I have the misfortune of needing to print something. That’s Waffle, my ill-tempered kitty, and “my” studio is really her domain. If I don’t leave her a spot, she makes one – behind the monitor is a favorite.

RS: This area in the studio houses paint, matte medium, inks, shells, sea sponges, corals and many other supplies. There’s a six drawer bureau at the bottom with more stuff in it – canvases, boxes, wooden bits, glues, stamps – you name it, it’s in there. The top of it is rarely clear as pictured – it’s usually stacked with various works in progress that I shuffle around to get to the paper cutter. Ah, for more room…

RS: A detail shot of the area showing a framed photo of my paternal grandmother (in the bikini! Don’t you just love her?!) – I have many vintage photos of that side of my family and they show up in my work from time to time. As you can see, I’m rather fond of Alice. One of my friends and customers sent me the Lewis Carroll card – he’s watching over the proceedings. There’s a sink to the left, which comes in handy.

RS: Here’s my desk, which really needs to be about three times larger than it is, but it fits so perfectly in its little window nook! I salvaged this piece from an “antique” store – I was looking for an art desk and this was the only white item in a store of dark wood furniture – it was like there was a spotlight on it. I love all the little cubby areas and the shelf up top where I can keep essential items like my vintage Emerald the Witch doll (anybody else remember her? You shake her and her green eyes light up – my kind of girl.) The top of the desk lifts up in 3 sections so I keep stuff in there too. Boron, who I created especially for this tour, is on the desk.

Boron by Ramona Szczerba

RS: Boron measures 8” long and 3” wide from elbow to elbow. He is crafted from paper. His arms and legs move and he has a charming silk tassel you can hang him up by. His head’s made out of pressure cooker, though, so make sure he relaxes on a regular basis.

Boron by Ramona Szczerba

RS: Please leave a comment or say hi and on May 1st Stacey’s Mysterious Winner Generator will pick someone for me to send him to. He will be so thrilled – he hates the cat.

RS: Last but not least, I thought you might like to meet Casey Tallulah, my most common work interruption. Since I have been fiddling around with glue for at LEAST a half hour, SURELY it’s time for a treat or a walk, no? Please, just pet her. She will not leave you alone until you do.

Many Thanks, Ramona! It has been a grand time. And thanks for generously sponsoring another great giveaway!

Also thank you to everyone who stopped by & took the plunge today! To clarify, here are the 2 giveaways from Winona Cookie:

On 4/22, two random winners will receive their choice of art-print magnet from WinonaCookie.etsy.com. To enter this giveaway, click through to the April 8 artist feature about Ramona. There you will find photos of the prize as well as the contest rules. For this particular drawing, you will need to visit Ramona's etsy shop and pick your 2 favorite pieces. You will then list these in the comment section of the 4/8 blog post.

On 5/1 one very lucky winner will be selected to take home the charming paper puppet, Boron The Robot. To enter this giveaway, simply leave a comment on this blog before 1 a.m. (EST) on 5/1. The winner will be picked by random.org.

Both of these giveaways are open to USA / Canada addresses only. Prizes ship free to winners.

Thanks again for traveling with ArtSnark Airlines today. The next Studio Tour will be in 2 weeks. Till then, happy sailing!