Women Warriors WisCon40 Stellar Repo

The lead character in the Stellar Repo storyline. Stellar is an intergalactic retriever of swiped stuff. She has an attitude problem which is perfect for breaking and entering and putting the habeus grabus on purloined property. Her tools and - when necessary - her weaponry are bolt cutters and a long crowbar. Her story is space noir.

The plot is based on an odd promotion in my banking life to aircraft loan collection manager. I was such a neophyte - I think the entire commercial loan division shared jokes about the bonehead moves I made early on. One repeated around the office: a man in Kentucky was suspected of using his de Havilland as a crop duster. The bank's loan contract forbade use of private aircraft for commercial purposes. So Boyd Burnett was in violation. He refused my calls, disguised his voice, dodged my investigators. A private airport operator took pity on me and ratted Burnett out. Next time I called, I said, "Mr. Burnett, I know this is you. You are in violation of your agreement with Big Bank, and you leave me no choice but to take the aircraft." <Guffaw> "Mr. Burnett?" When he stopped laughing, he drawled, "Li'l lady. You find that sumbitch, you can have it."

I had no idea where the plane was. I told the B. Burnett story while in a TV studio sound room, and the young engineer said "why don't you write it in space?"

This character is wearing traditional ninja attire, carrying the tools of her trade. Her goggles are SGT Leigh Ann Hester eyewear from Rattlesnake Toys. She is a fully poseable action figure. I just noticed you can't see her goggles. You'll have to trust that they are cool!

I am crazy about Stellar Repo. You can read more about her on this blog. Episode 1. Episode 2.

Stellar will be appearing with her 12 sister scifi warriors at the WisCon 40 Art Show in Madison, WI during Memorial Day weekend.

For those who will not be attending WisCon, a 4x6 art print of Stellar Repo is available in my etsy shop.

Mai Women Warriors WisCon 40

Bieggolmai is the Saami goddess of summer storms and wind. This small action figure radiates fierce. When I was working on her, I had to turn her head to the side because her stare was so daunting. I stopped redesigning her face when she started looking back. Look at her - posing her, she stomped on her nameplate. I left her that way. She came in a group of action figures, and as luck would have it, fit a pair of pants I made that were too narrow for normal 1:6 scale figures.

Mai is anything but normal. She has no assignment in a storyline, but she will be as transient and memorable as a summer storm when she does appear.

Her sword was acquired from an eBayer who recently lost a good job, and has to sell his handmade collection of gear and weaponry. The sword is hand forged, and buyer beware, quite sharp.

Mai will be joining her 12 sister warriors at WisCon 40 Art Show in Madison, WI over Memorial Day weekend

For those who will not be attending WisCon, a 4x6 art print of Mai is available in my etsy shop.

Women Warriors WisCon 40 Kala

This character has no assigned role yet. She is a metabolically modified mermaid who can fly. Kala is the Finnish word for fish.

You can undoubtedly tell she was a Glenn Close 101 Dalmatians doll-one of the few molds based on humans that actually looked like who it was supposed to be. I removed most of her exaggerated make-up and that awful hair. She is hardwired in a skullcap with watch parts and thread.

So. What story doesn't need a metabolically modified mermaid who can fly?

I'm wild about wiring and fusing wings. I see dragons in my future. Storm dragons, underwater dragons...

Kala will be joining her 12 sister warriors at WisCon 40 Art Show in Madison, WI over Memorial Day weekend

For those who will not be attending WisCon, a 4x6 art print of Kala is available in my etsy shop.

Women Warriors WisCon 40 Rock Star

This weary beauty is one of my oldest and a favorite. She has no name yet, but she will surely appear on stage in the Stellar Repo universe. She is an entertainer, and I have some insider information about her I am unwilling to reveal just yet. Entertainers hear many dangerous secrets because audiences forget celebrities have ears. And brains. And histories. And agendas.

This character has a wire armature, a rolled up masking tape head. Her hands are wrapped in thread. Her purple boots are sculpted from clay. The jean jacket and pants are from a favorite pair, threadbare and well loved. The jacket has a fake fur collar. Her turtleneck is from a castoff tshirt. She has doll's hair and human false eyelashes. She is the smallest of her sisters at about 9-1/2 inches high.

She posed herself and I love the way she stands on her own.

One last bow before saying good night.

Rock Star will be joining her 12 sister warriors at the WisCon 40 Art Show in Madison, WI during Memorial Day weekend.

For those who will not be attending WisCon, a 4x6 art print of Rock Star is available in my etsy shop.

Women Warriors WisCon40 Quattuor

Quattuor is Number Four in the Dark Tetrad who rule one of the dimensions in the Stellar Repo universe. DT in our reality is a psych profile combo that includes many of the worst possible personality traits a human can have, or have the misfortune to be introduced. Scifi is chockablock with Alliances, Counsels, ruling classes that present as fair and balanced and are not. It's a story arc. In the Stellar Repo universe, characters are named what they do or how they are. Arti Fact (who owns the refueling asteroid Stellar frequents) blathers trivia on any subject that pops into a conversation. Token Guy owns The Bar, Stellar's fav after work hangout. Stellar Repo takes stuff back for hire.

And Quattuor is the fourth in a tetrad that probably is dark.

Quattuor will be an interesting character to write more about. I'm fascinated that 90% of energy in space is dark energy. There's got to be some wicked fun stuff going on in there. Earth and everything around us make up only 5% of energy material and look how busy we all are. And that's just the busyness we know, including goings-on we cannot see. How cool to write about the shenanigans we don't know and cannot see. Limitless opportunities for mayhem scenarios.

This figure is an original sculpture with a wire armature. Her hands are exposed wire. Her boots are made from clay. (Feet of clay, hmmm, if Terry Pratchett hadn't already used that...) Her hat is sculpted from felt. Her face is also made of clay. She has doll hair. The clothing was partly sewn and then glued to the endoskeleton. She combines a skinny suit with monstrous shoulder pads. I miss shoulder pads. Her skeletal profile reminds me of the gangsters in Les Triplettes de Belleville.

She stands on her own. I'm thinking she does that, too, against the other three of her sinister crew in the Dark Tetrad storyline.

Quattuor is fully poseable because her bone structure is intersected wire. You're welcome to try changing the pose she has now. I'd think about the consequence complexity involved with manipulating a Dark Tetrad oppositional character before I'd start scrunching body parts. Maybe. Just a thought.

Quattuor will be joining her 12 sister warriors at the WisCon Art Show in Madison, WI over Memorial Day weekend.

For those who will not be attending WisCon, a 4x6 art print of Quattuor is available in my etsy shop.

Monomyth Women Warriors WisCon40

Monomyth. The leader of Last Standing tribe. She was in the world Ago, a hacker. And a telepath. And a couple of talents to be named later. Of those who might have survived whatever happened, Monomyth was at the top of the recruitment list. Monomyth organized the remaining before those left knew that's what they would be, and moved to a stronghold island in a Great Lake. Ask my friend Rosemary how they get back and forth in winter. She's the "Fastest Woman on the Ice."

Last Standing are the keepers of heirloom seeds and fresh water. Monomyth is the tough genius misanthrope who gets to organize the aftermath because she recognized the need. Is she good at this? Nope. Is she good at other not-people stuff? Totally. Hacker. Remember?

Monomyth action figure is a Sleeping Beauty Princess Barbie. She was more than one toddler's inappropriate toy. Her hands were chewed, her hair a toybox nest. My first rescued Barbie. She had horrendously elevated blue eye shadow and spiky painted eyelashes - I could go on, but she's not that now.

Monomyth was aged with marble dust and repainted. She has one blue eye and one green eye. My sister was the inspiration for that. Her hair was serially braided, with tiny seaglass beads. The chewed, ring-ripped hand has a bloody bandage. Her quiver is made from the same leather glove that Akka's costume uses, and I made the arrows from slivered dowel and fletched them with tiny feathers. Her tunic is the last remnant of a fleece jacket. The little vest came with the Gem doll, and I dyed it with watercolor. I made the bow from heavy gauge wire, and banded wire with floral tape binding.

Tied at her waist with leather cord is a coin purse (the inside of that famous brown glove) with gold and silver coins I hammered from segmented jewelry findings. Netsuke foxes attach the purse to the belt. Monomyth carries a Saami drum. Saami drums were used for dual purposes. As shaman, to transport from one dimension to the other by drumming with a reindeer antler. Second purpose: to advise on which path to pursue here on earth. A frog (an ornamental device or a favorite stone) was bounced on the drum surface and, depending on which image the frog landed, gave the seeker a reading on what to do going forward. This drum has the rune for All Mother (Akka) and several others from the only 17 Saami drums remaining in the world. I tooled the woodburned images onto Monomyth's drum.

Around her neck is a torc made from a leopardskin jasper doughnut and bent medium gauge copper flat wrapped with copper wire. The boots are hand-sewn felt from an eBay supplier. The tights are from The Sister Who Sews.

Monomyth will join her 12 sister women warriors at Wiscon40 Art Show in Madison, Wisconsin during the Memorial Day weekend.

For those who will not be attending WisCon, a 4x6 art print of Monomyth is available in my etsy shop.

Lore Women Warriors WisCon40

Lore is the history of Last Standing tribe in the Monomyth storyline. She is tattooed from face to feet with the archive of their origin story. The tattoos are memic. Body memory. Touching any line with Lore's permission will reveal the narrative. She is one of the characters I have shared the most time with - I know her better than 5 generations of my family, although she is written from each lifeline in my matriarchal stronghold. She can kick your ass and tuck you into bed with the same aplomb. Lore is ancient. She has cajoled, wheedled, tricked and finessed Monomyth to get someone to take her place so she can step on. At the point we join the story, Lore's career path is pointed to ancestor. She's still feisty (and fashionable) enough to wear fancy togs. She makes them herself, as Monomyth continues to remind those who want the same. Ask Lore.

Lore is a Polynesian Princess Barbie. She's the doll I've had the longest and the first I aged. Her facepaint was removed. It took a year for me to be OK with scrubbing her that way. Then her hair was cut and greyed. And the tattooing started. The tattoos are applied with about 50 extra fine Sharpies. I wrote the Last Standing history, switched it to Elder Fruhtark font in Illustrator, and then transcribed it onto her body. I sure hope I saved the translation because when my old computer croaked, I lost Illustrator.

I cut the hat and molded it from another hat. Her cloak is a CyGirls trenchcoat, and I added the beaded embellishments. She has an original Barbie leotard (with a tiny hole in the abdomen that I did not repair: shabby chic in the future!) and some stockings by The Sister Who Sews on eBay, from whom I buy all my stockings. Her boots are a new acquisition - slumpy felt, possibly hand-built, that had white top stitching I hoped, hoped I could remove. And I did!

I love this figure. She is the character I started this journey alongside, and why I continue to enjoy creating older women figures. Her tribal leader is Monomyth, the next character in this blog trail.

Lore will be joining her 12 sister warriors for sale at the WisCon40 Art Show in Madison, Wisconsin during Memorial Day weekend.

For those who will not be attending WisCon, a 4x6 art print of Lore is available in my etsy shop.

Gem Women Warriors at WisCon40

Gem is the apprentice of Lore in the Monomyth story. She is a tween caught stealing food from the Last Standing tribe's protected farm. Rather than put an arrow through her, Monomyth sees something that brings Gem into the group. Her bandolier carries cartridges of seeds and cuttings (in the story.) Last Standing are the protectors of fresh water and heirloom seeds. As apprentice to Lore, Gem will wear the history of the tribe, as Lore does now. On her arms are the first tattoos: one arm has the seasons, the other the elements air, water, earth, fire. The talking tattoos are the history of the tribe. Gem will be one of the hidden individuals who will carry on the traditions and stories. All are secretly protected and unknown to each other. I'm noodling in my head telling this story as a mythic character piece. Gem would then be a major narrator, rather than the Monomyth. It's a tough mind switch, but will be fun to do. Gem is named for a character in the original Star Trek series. The Empath was written by Joyce Muskat - the only original script she sold to television. Unforgettable writing.

What I envision for this trio of characters is a video game for children. Players will identify edible and medicinal plants, learn trees in all seasons, get points for collecting seeds, and protecting nature. The game can be adjusted to reflect what the child may be doing at home or in school, with downloadable teacher and parent workbooks. It's a good dream to nurture.

This figure came to me with shiny straight, static-electricity-mad hair and the usual glam girl make-up. I dreadlocked her hair, and repainted her face. She has copper eyes. The jeans are a scrap of a favorite pair of mine, and I distressed holes in the same places mine had worn out. The pants close with a snap in the front. Gem has an orange camisole under the jacket. The jacket has a working zipper. She has a knife in the pocket of her jacket. Her boots are plastic. Her body is not articulated, so she has limited posing potential. The knife is plastic.

Gem will be joining her 12 sister warriors at the WisCon40 Art Show in Madison, WI during Memorial Day weekend

For those who will not be attending WisCon, a 4x6 art print of Gem is available in my etsy shop.