I have been selected as one of 5 national finalists in the Spreading Smucker’s Traditions contest! The grand prize is an all expense paid trip to Disney World for me, hubby and our five kids, we are uber excited because we have never been! If you would be so kind, my fine Folk Art buddies, I would love to ask everyone to vote for us, once a day, for the next month on the Smuckers Website. Our recipe is:

Audrey’s Strawberry Fluff Pretzel Salad
(Fantastic Holiday Side Dish that my mom always served, recipe on smuckers site)

I am loving making these folk art Angels, I have included punched tin wings on this one, using reclaimed pie tin. I tried to give this Angel a very aged look like a found Santos

We are moving our family of 7 to the rural town of Larkspur, about halfway between Castle Rock and Colorado Springs. I am finally getting my country house on property and will share pictures soon, and hopefully I will have my full studio in order. I am working on a website, it is still under construction, but check back soon at folkyartstudio.com I hope everyone is really well!

New for Hallowe’en
Just take a golden pumpkin
Of quite the largest size,
Cut all ’round the stem, just so,
Scrape out the inside below,
And cut two holes for eyes.
And now fix a nose beneath,
And such a great big mouth with teeth,
And you’ve a jack-o’-lantern!

Whimsical Halloween Bunny and Owl

Halloween Hare, Devilish Fun

April Harres

This bunny below, that I sculpted in 2008, was featured in Contemporary Art Doll Magazine, full details way down blog page. Below represents ten years of my artwork, I love to play with different styles within the Folk Art world, rustic, shabby vintage, etc

Above is my “Dandy Hare” oil painting. An arrogant fellow with a sweet bunny face, how ironic is that?

Here is my “Crows Balloon Day” A very cool fellow. Thats the personality that I wanted to convey in this piece, no matter how high those balloons could fly, nothing could top him.

And lastly of my favorites is “A sophisticated nod to Peter Cotton Tail and his Bunny trail”. I had so much fun with this painting. I used a scrumbling dry brush technique with this oil painting. I like to take popular folk lore characters and give them a modern, almost day to day attitude.

Celebrate the Holidays with this handmade, primitive Santa box. This one of a kind piece holds a special storage place, perfect for storing Christmas wishes. You can also use the top half as a shelf sitter and the bottom part as a nut cup. This special Santa is 7 1/2 inches tall.

After a very tiring pregnancy, I am so amazed to look around at the beautiful children that the Lord has blessed me with, to say I feel unworthy is an understatement. Five children is alot in this day and age but I really have no idea what I would be without them.

Now that I am no longer the size of a yacht (had my baby), I have gotten back to my artwork . The first six below are my newest pieces, made from vintage chocolate molds, and a touch of whimsy. These are the only pieces that I have ever made from molds, but it was so much fun, like touching history . The bottom three are one of a kind Halloween oldies, that Ive made over the years to get you into the Halloween spirit, those ones already have homes.

April Harres

Had my baby and Im back to work! I wanted to introduce you to the newest member of the Harres clan, Timothy Paul Harres. He is just precious and an absolute joy to my heart, his four older siblings adore him, and we are so happy!

I just recieved this email……

“I am writing to let you know that you are scheduled to be in the Gallery in Contemporary Doll Collector magazine August/Sept”

Im so excited!

April Harres