Mermaid and Pirate "Faire Coins"

I'm posting Mermaids and Pirates together because they just seem to go hand-in-hand in my opinion...but also because I have mingled some mermaid designs into my Pirate themed coins.

Now, like the Faery coins I also dust my Mermaid coins with colorful pearlescent pigments and glitters...though I do try to keep more greens and blues with the Mermaids.
My Pirate coins are spray painted in a variety of metal colors from silver and gold to copper and bronze. And then I just do an aged blackened patina on them...though, I have done a few with a turquoise looking water-rust effect, which was pretty cool looking, too. :)

And the few pics are the Renaissance themed coins. Now these are done with a little more of a realistic flair with designs that are familiar to the Renaissance/Medieval period. They are not as aged as the Pirate coins are, but do still have a little bit of a tarnished patina on them.      

Like the Faery coins and the Renaissance coins, I am planning to eventually create themed photos for each series of coins.  I have plans for better staged photos for both the Mermaid and Pirate coins. But for now, this is what I've got.  
Oh, and eventually I will be making the Mermaid coins waterproof for Mermaid performers/entertainers. :)

 -Two mermaids with a Pirate ship between their tails.

 -Here's a mix of Mermaid and Pirate coins. I included holes at the tops of coins when it is requested, so they can be worn on a necklace or as a favor.

 -A lone mermaid looking out at a ship on the waves.

 -A Renaissance Jester coin at the bottom here.

 -Just Pirate coins here.

 -The Renaissance coins.

If you are interested in purchasing some coins for yourself, feel free to contact me through my shop on Etsy:

www.etsy.com/shop/MidsummersNightMasq

Thanks! :)

Faery Coin photos

In my last post I gave a little bit of a backstory on the creation of my "Faire Coins".  But I didn't really go over what uses they may have...         as I had explained, I had initially created them for myself and my Faery Cast to pass out to children at the Renaissance Festival we were working, and as I said - they were a big hit. Everyone loved them. :)       A couple years later I thought that I should make more and offer them for sale in large batches to performers/entertainers at events such as Renaissance and Fantasy Festivals.  Then I realized that I needed to offer themes other than just Faery.   And so I came up with the Mermaid, Pirate, and Renaissance themes...each theme offering a variety of designs.

So here are some pics of my more recent Faery coins.....I make them with unicorns, fairys, Greenmen, art nouveau women's faces, Troll faces, Dryads, and my newest design, a Fairy Knight.   Each coin is cast from a hand-made mold of my making. And once fully cured and hardened, I spray them in either gold, silver, bronze, or copper and then age them with a blackened patina, and then I decorate each one, individually, with colorful pearlescent pigments and glitters, before sealing them in with a polyurethane sealant.
Sadly, photos don't do these beautiful coins justice.     And each coin is 2-sided with a different design on each side. :)

 -My latest design, the Fairy Knight.

 -A unicorn, Greenman, and a Fairy.

 -Another Greenman

 -The following shots are of a few different Fairy Knight coins I did. I'm very pleased with how well their coloring turned out. The top one here was photographed under natural sunlight and the ones below were taken with a flash while outside.

These next ones are older photos showing off more of my Faery coin designs.

 -A Faery coin photo-shoot I attempted outside. The idea behind this photoshoot was that a Fairy wandering through the woods had dropped her bag of "glamoured" Faery coins and they had spilled out onto the mossy ground.

 -Kissing Dryads.

 -A Troll face to the left here. I thought these guys turned out pretty cool for what I was going for. 

 -the pigment dusting job on this copper Greenman turned out beautifully and is one of my favorites. Sadly, he has since been sold off.

 -an art nouveau Iris fairy and a Greenman.

Next I'll be showing the Mermaid and Pirate coins. :)

If you're interested in purchasing any of my coins, these are currently 'made-to-order' listings 'till I get more stock built up... you can check out my Etsy shop for more info:
www.etsy.com/shop/MidsummersNightMasq

Updates and Faery Coins

I realize it's been over a year since I last posted anything in here. To be honest, not been sure how many people are actually paying attention to my blog.  But regardless, I enjoy blogging every now and then and I enjoy sharing my art, so here I am. Back for more blogging. :D

I've moved again recently...into a larger and brighter apt....much happier now.   I've been working on various little projects here and there with varied results...and some excellent news, which I will be sharing soon. :)


A brief preface, as an artist first and foremost my passion has always been mask-making...but like a lot of artists, I like to play around with other ideas and themes and mediums -see what else I can do. Also, when I find myself in a position where I cannot easily work on my mask-making, I turn to other ideas.   But even that all aside, my theme of choice has always been Fantasy -primarily, Faery.

With that said.... here's what I've been working on lately.... Something I've come up with which I call "Faire Coins" and I make them in 4 different themes (currently)....Faery, Mermaid, Pirate, and Renaissance.
-I make these out of an air-dry clay which I make at home in my kitchen over the stove.

I first made these as Faery coins back in 2013 when I was working at a small Renaissance Festival in Casper, WY as their Faery Queen. I wanted something special and unique to hand out to the children rather than the usual small glass flat marbles most Fairy entertainers pass out at these events.     And finally I was inspired by a passage in Brian Froud and Alan Lee's book "Fairies" wherein Faery money was described....the Fairies would put a glamour on leaves and pebbles to make it look like the money of that area which the Fairies would spend at the market in town, but at the end of the day, when the merchants were counting their tills, rather than finding money, they'd find the leaves and pebbles where the glamour had worn off.      I thought that this was perfect!  After much brainstorming and a total break-through of inspiration in the shower one day, I came up with my own Faery coins.   Aged looking coins with fairy designs on them and finished in colorful pearlescent pigments and glitter, for that extra magical feel. :)

They were a big hit both with the Ren Faire's Committee but also with the children at the Faire.  I had written a brief little blurb about the Faery Coins, which was included in the Ren Faire's pamphlet. And I happened to be in earshot at an opportune moment to hear a father telling his child about the Faery coins and the magic cast on them by the Fairies. And that you have to continue believing in the magic and the Fairies so the glamour doesn't wear off of the coins and turn back into rocks and leaves. -Just like I explained in the pamphlet!  It was a really cool experience and really made me feel like all the time and effort had been well worth it. :)
I started out with a few designs and an awkward looking coin, but over time, with practice and experience, I have come up with a better looking coin and more designs and have expanded from just Faery coins to Pirate coins, Mermaid coins, and the more realistic looking Renaissance coins.
I actually sell these in large batches through my Etsy shop. :D

I'll post more photos of the various themes and designs in my follow-up posts.

If you're interested in purchasing coins, check out my Etsy shop:  www.etsy.com/shop/MidsummersNightMasq