Josie Ditzler

Some days I just itch to create.

I work fulltime and just about a year and half ago decided I would try to sell my art on ebay. I didn't start out focusing on Halloween but my first offering was a vintage-style pumpkin because it was October. It didn't sell but that did not deter me. I offered all the usual seasonal goodies throughout the year but found I was more prolific and creative with the Halloween related goodies so I decided to put my main focus there.

So I sculpt evenings and weekends and think a good deal about it when I can't. I'm not good at sketching things out, or even writing ideas down so many are lost unless I can act on them quickly, needless to say it results in a half dozen things going on at once.

Many ideas come to me fully formed but rarely (again because I don't sketch anything out) do they end up looking as they appeared initially in my minds eye... but the resulting surprises are half the fun of creating!

Q. How long have you been an artist or doing art?

A. Since I was a little girl. My great Aunt who served as a grandmother to me saved a few pictures that I drew when I was three and four. I remember always being enamored with animals (horses being my absolute favorite thing to draw).

In school I was known for being able to take a photograph and draw a pretty good simile. As I got older I got into fantasy art but didn't really do much sculpting until high school. Now it's my preferred weapon of choice.

Q. What started you in your craft?

A. In the 80's when I was young mother, I'd go to craft shows to window shop. While I couldn't afford the great things displayed there, I could afford the supplies to make my version of what I liked. Since I didn't take pictures or even sketch it out while the memory was fresh, my version ended up being quite different. My friends liked what they saw and asked me to make things for them.

Q. Are there certain things that inspire you to create?

A. The art groups I am in on the online community (such as this wonderful one) help inspire me with Themes and Challenges. It's like being pointed in a direction and saying "Have a go at it!".

I rarely have 'dry patches' anymore, thanks to my groups.

Q. Do you have any tips for other artists who are just starting out?

A. Try everything that looks like it might be fun. You will find your forté. Among my strengths as an artist I count sculpting and woodcarving but I've delved thru a lot of mediums to find them.

Keep your mistakes around to remind you what not to do (LOL...only your art...not your 'life choice' mistakes).

Q. What is your favorite medium or tool used in your art?

A. My favorite medium is airdry clay over gourd. I started out using polymer clay but my husband was concerned about what we were breathing in during the curing process so I abandoned it when I found Paperclay.

The first gourd sculpt I ever did was a vintage-style pumpkin and that is now owned by my eldest daughter. I use gourds in my sculpts about 95% of the time.

My favorite sculpting tools are a set of double-ended dental tools bought at a flea market.

Q. How did you come to be interested in Halloween art?

A. Well, I should say first off that 'cute' doesn't do a thing for me. Silly, whimsical, off-center stuff is what attracts me.

Remember Ed, the demented-looking hyena in The Lion King? He was my favorite character. Bill, the scraggly cat from Opus - - I adore him!

Halloween attracts me because it is perfectly suited to my tastes -- the choices & characters are so broad. With Halloween, I can do my goofy stuff and it fits right in. I love sculpting strong expressions and can't imagine using many of them on a snowman or a Santa.

Email Josie and visit her pages here on HalloweenArtists.com and her ebay auctions (user SkeletonInMycloset).