Cody Goodin - The artistic and spiritual journey of Cody Goodin

In the words of the immortal Dumbledore from Harry Potter, "Another year come and gone." Yes, I find myself at the edge of time and space once again. It is funny how at this time in particular that we consider our place in time and space. Here I am standing at the edge looking back to the year that was and peering into the mists of the year ahead. What will I experience in this as yet unwritten history of my life. I thought this particular picture rather appropriate in that respect. It is courtesy of the Photofunia people. As an artist and a person I ponder my mortality and what I will leave behind. I have learned many new things this year and found many new truths about myself and my place in the universe. That is my greatest achievement this year. I can only hope to do better, be better and live in my bliss each moment. Look for the postive in life instead of the negative. Find the good and light in poeple instead of the bad and dark. I want to be a better artist....

Christmas has come and gone, but we are still in the holiday mode at my house. I had to create a giftie for a friend coming by today for a little artists gathering. So, here is my latest sea goblin. He is residing in a shell that a friend gave me for Christmas. He is holding a rare golden pearl. Yes it is a real pearl. It is his only treasure that he has and is willing to share it. It brings the light of wisdom to the person who adopts him. I want to wish all my friends out in blog land a happy and prosperous new year.

Here is my last Christmas exchange piece for this year. At least I am not planning to do any new pieces for gifts this year. I created this for my regional manager at the art store where I work. She has been a good friend as well for many years and actually has a number of my artworks from the past years. The luck of the name draw gave me her name again. Originally I was going to create a tongue in cheek ornie about scrooge with certain company overtones. But, as I began, a bigger spirit took over my hands. Thus this piece became more than I anticipated. That happens to me occasionally. I have learned over the years to just step back and let the spirit move so to speak. This is a healing piece for my boss but, more importantly for my friend. He is called "E.Z. Scrooge" the goblin of torment. The idea behind this piece is that he will receive from the recipient, all that torments their soul. But, the catch is that they have to be freely given to him. He will not ...

I am posting a new piece that I created for a Christmas exchange. This will be offered in my local doll clubs annual holiday party gift exchange. This years theme was surprise bag goodies. I created 20 surprise bags filled with all sorts of random stuff. The goal was to create a doll incorporating as much of the stuff in the bag as you could. There were no rules since I was chastised for that in another challenge. If one wanted, they could alter the items any way they wanted. Anyway, here is my offering. She is the "Goblin Queen of the Clifton Kingdom ". I will admit right here and now that she is rare for me now days. She is a doll, and I do not make dolls much any more. Only for commissions and rare occasions like this one. So, what was in my bag you may ask? Here is the list of things I used. The materials for the skirts, ribbon for the arms, acorn, tassel , belt, beads for necklace and the lace for the collar. The head and hands were all sculpted by m...

So, I want to share with you all the last two ornies I made for this years shows. These are monster themed. This first guy is "One Horned One Eyed Flying Purple People Eater" inpsired by the song. I was flirting with colors and such and this one just popped into existance. He as all of the monsters are such fun to make. Here is the people eater from the back side. His wings and horn are painted with an iredecent paint. He is polymer clay over a wooden armature. and is about 4 inches tall. This little guy is the fire monster. He isn't telling me his name as most don't. They leave that honor to the person who adopts them. If I decide to adopt him I guess I'll find out. But, he as well as his purple friend are going to the final night of the Essex Studios holiday art walk and studio tour. The fire monster from behind. He is polymer clay over a wood armature as well. I love making these guys. The first night of the studio tour/open house was pretty good fo...

This weekend marks the last studio tour and art walk at the studios where my humble abode for creating is located. So, if you are in the Cincinnati Ohio area please stop on by It runs from 6-11 pm both Friday and Saturday. There will be over 150 artists and performers showing and making merry. Lots of cool art and goodies to indulge yourself in. I am busy making stuff to show as I sold a goodly amount last weekend. Have a great weekend everyone. Hopefully I will get to post my last two monster onries that I made for this show. They are the last two of the year.

Here is the finished sculpt that I was working on as a demo at Winterfair this past weekend. He is the "Old Goblin of Winter". Even though he is old and loves winter he wanted to be sitting on something a little more flashy. He wants to show the world that he is with it you know. This is a polymer clay sculpt over a cotton egg armature. Now, I know that my photography has a bit to be desired. But, in my defense I am legally blind and rely on the auto focus on my camera. So, I apologize for any that are a little out of focus. I am also experimenting with different settings too. These were all taken using the portrait setting. I thought I'd show a few different angles. His base it made from the bottom of a broken star jar and a wooden plaque. I finally got to use the glitter paint I bought a few years back. Well, I guess you can tell I really like this little guy. He will be making his debut at the Christmas open house at my studio this coming weekend. I am hop...

I thought I'd give you a teaser as to what I have been doing. This weekend I am working the booth for our doll club Rivercity Dollmakers and as one of the conditions for getting the space, we have to demo. So, I spent yesterday and today sculpting. Here is the goblin I worked on today. He is all baked and ready for his paint job. I am thinking he is going to be old man winter goblin or something like that. My first thought was to make him my Christmas exchange that I am doing at work. But, this wasn't what I originally had in mind for that. So, we shall see how it goes. This is another angle of him. One of my booth mates said he looked a lot like me. You know it is said that doll makers make dolls that resemble themselves. I don't think he looked like me though. He is polymer clay over a cotton egg shape and foil armature. I use super Sculpey as that is my clay of choice at the moment and his norns are translucent Fimo. He has iridescent glass eyes. His heigh...

I thought I'd show you one of the pieces I am trying to finish up for the Winterfair show. His name Foster and he is a garbage pail goblin. He loves to scrounge through trash cans and dumpsters for interesting human cast offs. He thinks of them as treasures. I wouldn't argue with him. He is rather protective of them. I tried following one of these guys and they are elusive. The above is a front on shot. I still need to add his base and a few little bits. You know I just love polymer clay. I have tried paper clay which is fine. Also have tried Apoxie Sculpt which is fine as well. But, I finally figured out that I love polymer clay. I have been creating my own custom mixes to create the perfect texture and translucency. I am not sure why the translucency is so important since I paint most of the pieces I make. But, it is the texture and detail I get with polymer clay that I love. I can tool the surface easily that adds great texture to the skin. I just wish it we...

Well, I can finally show my art pieces I created for the "Secret Artworks" charity event for Artworks Cincinnati. They host this event each year to raise money for their summer art programs that give teens and artists jobs. Artists are asked to create a 5x7 work of art and only sign it on the back. Then they have this big party where the art is sold. They go for $75 each. This first piece is titled "Monster Holding Tube Sock". This years event was successful at least it looked to me. There were hundreds of people and lots of the art were being sold. This one is called "Monster That Caught the Man In the Moon". Finally we have the queen herself. "Queen of the Goblins", such a fun piece to make and unlike the other two had some mixed media going on in it. I would love to do some larger versions at some point. Well, another good year for Artworks. I hope to post a new sculpt this weekend if I get him finished. I am trying to get at least t...

I am sure you will be shocked to know, that I am venturing into some wearable art pieces. Actually you may not be all that shocked as I did make a few personal goblins last year. In addition to those a few wearable sea goblins too. The story of this fellow came about by an inspired moment at the annual show and sale my club puts on. I had seen this piece made by a friend based on a lion head pendant designed by Christi Friesen . Her work is so inspiring to me and she is a master at polymer clay manipulation. So, without any idea of how I would go about it, I made this wild thing inspired goblin head pendent complete with mane. He has white marble eyes that were hand painted by me. This is the first a prototype of sorts. I wanted to see how hard they are to make first off. Then to see if they would look nice and finished enough to sell. Obviously I need to figure out a string to hang it with. Maybe a layered cord/fiber sort of thing. Let me know what you think? Don't b...

Here are some better pictures of my newest tableau. It is called "Goblin Holiday". It was created for the fabric challenge that my doll club gave the members and were on display at our annual show and sale this past weekend. I unfortunately did not win this year. There were some fine examples of dolls that made better use of the fabric than I. But, my family certainly got lots of fun complements. I did better at the show though than I expected. So, that is a good thing. A big thanks to those that attended, showed and purchase all the fabulous Above is a shot of the entire piece. This is a close up of mother and son. I am sorry I cute the little goblin boys feet off in the picture. I just love his expression. This is dad sitting there just trying to enjoy the sun. I am not sure, but I think I may want to add a few bits to this piece still. I was trying to finish it enough in time to show. But, as I look at it, I think it needs more. A big thanks to all you who are...

I admit it, this is a crappy picture of my new piece. But, in my defense, I wanted to get it up before todays doll show. It is called "The Goblin Holiday" and features three goblins. They are spending Goblin days at the beach this year. The little guy isn't too keen on being with good ol' mom and dad. This was created for a fabric challenge contest for the show. Yes, there will be a prize. So, viewers will vote on their favorite piece. The idea was to take a piece of fabric that each club member received for Christmas last year from the club and use it to make an art piece or doll. I don't do fabric based dolls so I used the fabric a bit more creatively. The blanket the boy is on, the umbrella and dads towel hanging on the arm of the chair are all made from the fabric. I will try and get a better view and picture of it this weekend. This piece took me over 18 hours to complete. It was great fun. Have a great weekend you all.

Thank you to all who entered my blog giveaway. It was great fun and I appreciate you all following what I am up to in the creative department. Without further ado, the winner is Christie Davidson as chosen by the random number generator. Have a great week everyone.

I wanted to let all my blogging friends, artists and doll people out there know about my local doll making guilds annual show. It is being held at The Newport on the Levee in Newport Kentucky on November 14th and 15th. The show runs 11 am - 5 pm on Saturday and 12-5 pm on Sunday. SO, if you live in the Northern Kentucky or Greater Cincinnati area please stop by and see me and a number of other fine doll makers. We will have some special challenge and viewers choice exhibits as well as a fun little make and take. Today is the last day to get in on my giveaway. A big thank you to those of you who are following my artistic endeavors. Good luck to those of you participating. I can't wait to see who the winner will be. I plan on using the random number generator to determine the winner. I don't trust those pesky goblins to do it right. Have a great weekend everyone.

Wow! The response to my pending giveaway has been awesome. So, in celebration of surpassing 75 followers of my humble blog I am announcing a giveaway. Pictured above is one of my Sea Goblins. He is excited about traveling to a new home. So, if you want to be in the running here is what you need to do. 1. Become or already be a follower of my blog. 2. Leave a comment on this post. 3. Make sure you leave some way for me to contact you if you win. I will be drawing the lucky winners name on Saturday November 7 th . Don't worry if you do not see me post a comment to this post as I am trying to not clutter it with responses. Thank you again to all of my faithful followers and friends who visit my wacky world. You are most appreciated. Good luck.

Happy Halloween out there in blog land. To all my artists friends and admirers of art and fun, BOO! Hope your day is filled with treats and a trick or two. Well, I would like to introduce you to a new line of crazy creatures I call Diabolical Diatoms.. These are the nasty guys that reek havoc in your body sometimes. Depending of course if are unfortunate enough to ingest any of them. They are polymer clay over a wooden armature. These are made as ornaments. I am planning a few more detailed versions of them as larger sculpts.. Above is number four. He is the tallest of the four I have made so far and stands around four inches. Sorry about the photography. I did these in a hurry again. Here is number three. I haven't given them names yet. But hope to after I settle down from Halloween stuff. Number two looking really innocent. Finally number one. is wondering why I took his picture. There you have it. Hope you enjoy these new guys. On another note, I realized tha...

As promised for Halloween here are my finished Coffee Creatures the first two guys here. The last three are the first set of monster onries I have made. These are all polymer clay sculpts and one of a kinds. The second Coffee Creature. Monster ornie one. Monster ornie two. Monster ornie three and I will have several new characters to debut tonight or tomorrow. Until then have a great day and thank you for stopping by.

Well, I finally am able to share at least some in progress pictures of a few things I have been working on in addition to the charity projects. It has been a busy fall season so far. As weekends go this one was quite hectic. I went to the pumpkin festival in Circleville Ohio on Friday and as always it was such fun. Saturday was spent working on sculptures for the last few shows of the year. Of which I am showing the in progress here. Sunday was spent celebrating a good friends birthday at a brunch and then heading over to the Bricks Along The Journey bricks for breast cancer auction. In case you don't know, the idea was to take a recycled brick and transform it into a work of art. These are donated to be auctioned off to help breast cancer patients here in Cincinnati receive care and assistance. My brick was the monster head with the small figure of a woman on it's head. The top bid was around $300 which made me really happy. It is such a great event and I am proud ...

Hope all are having a fabulous week so far. I wanted to share a picture of the wonderful surprise package that came in the mail today. It was from my Aussie friend Lorell Lehman of Not all Fae Are Beautiful . She sent me one of her Eerie Fae. He is so cool, along with some cards and an awesome bookmark. It is such fun having friends in far away places. It's nice to send little surprises to each other. I had sent her a Halloween surprise box a week or so ago and know that it got there safe and sound. Please check out her blog at earlier link to see some of her fun and awesome art. Have a great Thursday and Friday everyone.

Ok, I know it seems like forever since I posted. It's a busy time of year for me as lots of irons in the fire. But, i wanted to show a bit of fluff. Here are the window displays at the art store where I work in Cincinnati. It is Plaza Art Lances in the University of Cincinnati area. October is national art month and so we were encouraged to create windows depicting our creative side. Also, we are entering it in a national contest with other art retailers to win a party for our store. So here is window number one. Another view of window one and the front door with our sign the reads "Artober the Month of Art". I know it is silly but, my coworkers know I like puns. This is the second window. I wanted to do something that included my favorite holiday too so I decided on simple silhouettes. Well, there you have it. Hopefully I will have some new work to show by this weekend. I finished art for the local Secret Art project for Artworks Cincinnati. It's a chari...

Today's post is one of deep reflection, a prayer for healing and hope. A dear friend of mine has been diagnosed with the big C yet again. The fear and uncertainty is flooding back into her life. But, I am also reminded of hope. The hope that all things are possible if we believe in them, no matter how impossible the outcome may seem. The above image is the healing doll that I created for my dear wonderful friend when she first faced the big C over nine years ago. I meant it as a beckon of light and hope. A reminder of the eternal love the universe gives and shares with us all. So now, I renew this prayer, this wish of hope with her. Love is the greatest magic, healing power we can imagine. It heals disease, war, famine and hate. Three magic words, one powerful mantra the ultimate prayer "I LOVE YOU." Yet we dismiss it so easily as silly sentiment. Remember to tell those you love you do love them, often. Bring yourself to love and mean it to those you don'...

Well, it was another successful studio open house this past weekend at The Essex Studios. That is where I have a studio that I share with two other artists. This event is always full of surprises and fun times. This weekend was no exception. Friday night was packed with people and lots of great feedback for all three of us. Each of us sold a bit and that is always nice. I personally use these events to gauge wheither or not the public will be receptive to my work at big art shows. This is a picture of my display inside the studio. We have an outside wall that we share too. I was pleased with it this time. But, unfortunately I have to pack a lot into a small space and it is hard for people to focus on the work. Here is a shot of the front wall that is shared by my partner Buck and coworker Kajy. Buck makes beautiful stained glass and is an accomplished photographer. Kajy creates awesome narrative charcole drawings that are simply stunning. Here is one shot of Buck's stai...