I've only finished two more miniatures since my last post, but I've been very busy. I attended Games Day Baltimore, where my River Troll won a Bronze Trophy at the Golden Demon painting competition.

I also attended the Java One conference in San Francisco, then came back and redesigned my website: MamaGeekMinis.com

Here are the two figures I painted after my last post:





Right now I'm working on a commission, my very first. Yay!

 ( I've completed a few minis since I last posted one. )

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. (Matthew 28:1-6)


 

The governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. (Matthew 27:27-31)

"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body.

"Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."  Matthew 26:26-28


 "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."  Matthew 26:39

Here is my latest painted mini, Reaper's Arthrand Nightblade by Bobby Jackson.  It was just released in Jan of this year, and I managed to be the very first to post a painted version to the Reaper or CMON boards.  Yippie!  Reaper is even using my images as their alternative views in their Figure Finder, which, to those of you not familiar with Reaper, is their online figure catalogue.  In other words, they're using my version to sell the figure.  Pretty cool.  They've never done that with one of my minis before. 

I haven't posted him on my website (MamaGeekMinis.com) yet, because I'm still in the process of downloading my entire site to my new computer, and getting my web management back up and running.  My hard drive died a few weeks ago, and I lost all my family photos from 2009, and all my mini photos and web work.  Fortunately, my older photos were backed up on an external hard drive, and small-sized versions of my family photos are on my website, so it's not a total loss.  Until I get this new figure on my site, though, below are the images I posted to Reaper.

And here is a link to the message board thread about him there, where various forum users post their comments.

Well, the Reaper mini painting contest voting has begun, and I was selected as one of 21 finalists, but it's looking like once again I'll fall just short of placing in the top 3. (Only the top 3 win a prize.) 

I think the figures with elaborate bases do best, so I guess I'll have to create something like that for the next contest.  For mine, I concentrated on the quality of the painting.  That's not to say the figures ahead of me right now aren't painted well.  They are.  They just have that extra something from the base.  Lessons learned, I guess!

In the depths of the winter wood, those of good heart may find refuge in a hidden grove, where spring is eternal, and the dryads provide rest for the weary.

My latest painted mini is another Reaper figure, Lorelei, Dryad, now in my gallery.  I entered her in the Reaper contest also.  They allow multiple entries, but will only select one qualifying finalist entry from each artist.

I tried to make her skin look woody, while at the same time varying from feet to face. To achieve this, I used a rich, reddish brown at her feet and graduated up to a yellow-ish green on her face. The green of the vines have more of a bluish tint to make them stand out from her skin. I painted the hair to look different from the rest of her, but not to draw too much attention away from the face.  I definitely wanted it to be green, though, and experimented with several shades. I spent the longest time working on her face.

My latest completed mini is Reaper's Piotr Irongale, sculpted by Bobby Jackson.  I've entered him into Reaper's Online Winter Painting Contest.  Most winners usually follow some kind of theme, and this one doesn't, so he'll have to compete solely on the merits of the paint job.  I also posted him on CoolMiniOrNot.com.  I don't put all of my figures there, but I've posted a few to see how I might be rated by the mini-painting community.  The best I've ever gotten there is 7.4 out of 10 for my Red Lizardman.  Here are all of my CMON entries.

In other mini painting news, images of several of my painted Reaper figures have been accepted into Reaper's new Inspiration Gallery.  You can see all of them by selecting my name, Joy Schoenberger, from the drop-down list of painters on the right-hand side of the page.

And last, but not least, Happy Birthday to my darling husband Dave, who turned 31 yesterday!

Today we're celebrating the 6th Birthday of my daughter, Rebecca, and mourning the loss of the mother of a dear friend, Susan.  Susan's Mom lost her battle with cancer on Tuesday.

Happy Birthday, String Bean, and Susan, we love you, and wish we could be there to give you a great, big hug in person.

May Bette Miller, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace, Amen.