"One True King"

The pictures below are of the stage sets for "One True King" at Christian Life Center

The next two photos show how the manger rotates around into King Herod's throne room.

This is Herod's throne room

Below are the Magi in their tower beholding the Star of Bethlehem.

The last photo is of Joseph's house where the Magi eventually meet Jesus.

2008 CLC Christmas Production, "One True King"

The first couple of photos are of the dressing and cast staging area at the church. We had a live feed to help with coordinating actors with scenes.

The Angels

Jesus and the Angels

The Cast of "One True King" (con'td)

The Magi and their servants.



King Herod and the Roman Guards



Gossiping Persian Women

Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus

The student tourists

These are the post-production photos of the 2008 CLC play. Again, lousy camera and lighting, but I'm learning.

The Build Shop at CLC

Once again, CLC was wonderful in providing us with a fairly large paint/build area in the church. This made transporting sets so much easier! For the new Magi Tower set, Greg pre-built the framework at his shop and then transported them over to the church for final texturizing and painting.

Below you can see the walls of the exisiting sets undergoing their flame-retardant coat. While I barely whimpered at the thought of having to repaint the sets back to their original state, many people that came in to visit practically cried at the thought. We also made sure to flame-retard the new stuff that was built.

So here is Joseph's house, now on rolling braces and undergoing the flame-retardant coat...

And here it is undergoing its transformation back to it's original paint scheme. You can see the original set and paint scheme in my very first blog entry.

There is definately a lot of different steps involved in making theatrical sets; research, sketches, plans, framing, texturing, paint, set-up and tear-down. Most people I talk to see the final product and exclaim how they would never be able to do something like that, but when you take a step back from the final product and look at the different layers/steps involved, I firmly believe that anybody can do it. And I have proof! While proclaiming that he was strictly a carpenter, Greg certainly learned that he could do all the artistic stuff too.

Building Costumes

While we are searching for a larger studio space in town, our living room transforms into the costume department. The space is large enough to handle the numerous sewing projects and machines for large productions. I keep the iron hot and two machines threaded and ready to go at all times.

The cutting table fits perfectly and the couches make great holding areas for different costumes. In this photo one couch holds sheer fabric for the angel wings and the love seat holds the satin used in the angel costumes.

As sewn projects were completed, they were placed in the family room to await transportation to the church and final fittings. The red clothing is part of the Roman soldiers costumes. Since they were going to be doing a choreographed fight scene, they wore Braccae (knee pants), for modesty's sake. The photo shows the unfinished waistbands awaiting their soldiers final fit.

Fully completed costumes were labeled and hung together with like colors to prevent accidental color exchange. The majority pieces of the Magian costumes were white so they were hung together, as well as the Magian servants and Jesus' costumes.

Once the costumes had their final fittings and the dress rehearsals and performances began, the costumes were finally hung together in complete character sets.

Artistic H.Q.

Welcome to Marlene's Artistic Headquarters!

This is basically the creative hub of my artistic endeavors. The space often expands or shrinks to fit whatever projects I am working on at the time. This picture shows most of the work being done for the 2008 CLC Christmas program. I have most everything I need here; my computer for the endless hours of research, my desk to hold all the research papers and historical and stagecraft books, the drawing table set up to create and hold sketches and architectural plans, and the inspiration boards from which I pull many ideas from.

You can see all the various visual aids I use when coming up with set and costume ideas. If you look closely you can see the original drawing I had for the Magi Tower, as well as costume ideas for the fighting Romans and angel costumes.

The photo below shows the different types of Persian religious towers I used as references for the Magi tower. You can also see that the sketchbook on the table holds ideas for royal and Magian headwear. While I ran out of time to create them for the 2008 play, I do have aspirations to create them in 2009 for my new stagecraft business, which then will be available for rent or purchase.

I tried to keep track of how many hours I spent each week on research and sketching, but lost count after 52 hours. However, I can say that research, sketches and plans were created over a 12 week period.

The Bad and the Good

The bad news; Ok, I admit it. I'm a horrible blogger. Simply horrible. I had every great intention to try post regular blog entries but I failed.


The good news is that I have been keeping busy! The CLC Christmas play was wonderful! It had some stressful moments, but in the end it all came together. Boy, if it wasn't for that last minute, nothing would get done. LOL


The bad news is that I have some photos, that unfortunately, aren't that great. My camera decided to take a downward spiral and so the shots are disappointing to me.


The good news is my honey bought me a new camera for Valentines Day! Yippee!

...So on my last blog entry I was working on revamping the Egyptian columns. Well as time and budget grew short the executive decision was made to put the columns on the back burner and to focus on adding to the main sets and costumes.

The big time cruncher for us was that we had to take all the previously made sets and fire retard them. Then we had to re-paint them! That was not one of the most joyeous experiences but it was an extremely necessary one. Fortunately, God blessed me with some great help this year, people offered to help with costumes, painting and texturizing sets, moving sets in and out of the auditorium... I'm going to try and remember everyone that pitched in, if I forget a name, please forgive me. Thanks to Sandy and her vision, Pam, Nancy, Diane, Jerry, Joseph, Shawn, Cameron, Keith, Greg, Terry, Jeremy, Joshua, Jordan...

Now,I have to give a special standing ovation to Mr. Greg Vivieros for doing such a spectacular job on building the sets for us this Christmas!!! If it was not for him, I would still be making the sets as I type this. Stand up and take a bow Greg!

Mr. Greg is the happy guy on the right; does he look tired to you too? LOL Jerry, our strongman and Santa Claus,is on the left.

Yes, this is the Magi Tower. Not the finished product I had in mind, but time was of the essence; we had to hurry and so the faux stones for set aside this one and the tower was painted instead. Boy, what that ever and adventure. Nonetheless, it was a spectacular hit!


This was a very large and extremely heavy set. Once put together, this baby wouldn't move in an earthquake. Ok, maybe it would shake a bit. It took 5 guys to move the lower front arch itself. These are pic's of the guys moving it through the foyer and then through the auditorium doorway.




The tower was placed in the far right aisle of the church auditorium. The top floor was for the Magi actors and the audience could move around underneath to their seats. It was pretty darn cool.

(Persian Note: I tried to stay historically correct with Persian architecture and the Magi, taking into account that some people believe the Magi were connected to the Zoroastrian religion, so the tower symbol and clothing reflect this.)

Now Keith Van Houten once again put his creative mind and talents to work and made metal swords for two of our fighting Roman Soldiers. The play had an awesome choreographed fight scene where 4 Roman soldiers battle against each other. (Two fought with swords and two with spears. One soldier protected King Herod.) It was a spectacular! And my oldest son, Jeremy was one of the sword fighters. I don't have a close-up picture of the swords, however Keith has them in safe-keeping so I will get a picture soon. I do have a picture of King Herod with the soldiers below.

Back Row from Left: Jay, Jack, Joshua and Cameron

Front Row from left: Shawn and Jeremy

Well, that's all I have time for today. I will be sure to post more Christmas play photos ASAP.

Set Design and Construction

I have again accepted the role of Set Designer for Christian Life Center's Christmas Play this year. I have done a crash course in Ancient Studies, mainly covering Roman and Egyptian influence in Israel, King Herod and Bethlehem. A lot of online research went into studying about the previous and also the Magi and Persian Empire. I bought few books that really help in studying the architecture of these areas:





Ancient Egypt, Art and Archaeology of the Land of the Pharoahs by Giorgio Agnese and Maurizio Re





Lost Cities from the Ancient World by Maria Teresa Buaitoli and Simone Rambaldi





Our plans are to reuse some of the sets from last time, like Joseph's House and the Inn, but will be repurposing the other sets to add to the stage.

The director, Sandy, and I are very excited as we plan on putting a Magi Tower over an aisle next to the seating area (if the Fire Marshal say's Okey Dokey) and turning the lobby into Bethlehem! We will be using market tents and a couple of other surpises.



A few years ago, I made a couple of Egyptian Columns that were used at a company event. I decided to repurpose them to use for the Christmas play this year. This picture is of one of the columns.

When I made them, I did a crash course in Heiroglyphics, so yes, the columns do say something! What does it say? LOL I can't remember all of it and which column said what, but my name was on one and it also said "Merced is very hot in the summer". LOL Seriously!

In this photo I have stripped the plaster strips off the base and top of the colums to reveal the wire framing, which I then removed.

I have now replastered the columns. I have created new bases and tops for the columns, which were plastered yesterday. I promise to post the completed pictures ASAP. I promise. Really, I promise.

These are painted pieces are to make a 4' x 4' x 2' wall. I forgot to take pictures of the framework. I have added foam, with some stone carving and have muddied the walls. I will be painting them today. Again, I promise to update with pictures soon!

I will also be helping out in the Costuming, making new patterns for new characters. I learned what type of clothing the Magi wore and it is very different from what is in the stock.

It's all very exciting, and because Sandy and I are so excited, I'm going to give you a little peek at the rendering for the Magi Tower. Enjoy!

Well, that's all for now. I have lot's of other plans to draw and an ancient wall to finish painting. Toodles!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation...

Yes, I know, I'm behind on my postings again. I try to keep up but I get carried away with different projects and the time just seems to fly right by me! I had a great summer. It was quiet, yet busy.

The first and most important event of the summer was that our oldest son, Jeremy, graduated from High School!

We are very proud of our little Jay bird.

The other great thing about this summer is that I've been able to finally catch up on a lot of reading! I have acquired quite a number of art and costume books over the last year and a half and have been able to read most of them and browse through the rest for quick references.

The art books I have are:

Realistic Textures by Diane Cardaci - this is a great little reference book that covers everything, and a little more, that I learned in class.

How To Draw Dragons And Other Mythical Creatures by Emmett Elvin - This is a browser, I haven't really taken the time to apply my drawing skills, but I still love it because it has dragons! OH! And now Dick Blick is selling a dragon manikin! I gotta have one! http://www.dickblick.com/zz216/29/

Fairy Art, Artist and Inspirations by Iaian Zaczek - This book is just loaded with different pictures of beautiful fairy paintings through the years.

In the costume craftworks department I have:

Costume Craftwork on a Budget by Tan Huaixiang - This has some really cool directions for making headdresses, prosthetic pieces , crowns.... I can't wait to have the opportunity to make some the samples.

Now in costuming, I have:

Character Costume Figure Drawing by Tax Huaixiang - Now when I first got this book, almost a year and a half ago, the figure drawing threw me off. But then I took a fashion design class and the storyboard class and the little light bulb went on inside my head! It all makes more sense to me now, so I need to give it a second go around.

Costume Construction by Katherine Strand Evans - I like this book but I rarely refer to it for costuming tips. I use it more for tools and supply references.

Stage Costume by Mary T. Kidd - I like this also for figuring out how to transform basic shapes. Plus it has a lot of color photographs, which I love.

Costume Pattern books are:

Patterns for Theatrical Costumes by Katherine Strand Holkeboer - This is a great pattern book, it offers illustrations and patterns of garments, trims and accesssories from Ancient Egypt to 1915.

Patterns for Costume Accessories by Arnold S. Levine and Robin L. McGee - Great book for accessories! I especially love the mid-19th century accessories.

More Costumes for the Stage by Sheila Jackson - Good book for period garb reference, illustrations are a bit too close together though.

For more specific time periods in costume I have:

Everyday Dress of Rural America, 1783 - 1800 by Merideth Wright - I have only browsed through this book but it seems to fit into what I was looking for in 18th century clothing.

Patterns of Fashion 1, Englishwomen's dresses and their construction c. 1660 - 1860 by Janet Arnold- Again I browsed through this book. It is extremely detailed in pattern layout so I need to set aside some serious quiet time to read this to be sure I understand it. It looks very, very promising though!

18th Century Embroidery Techniques by Gail Marsh - Oh this book, I love all the photos and illustrations. I also love all the little history lessons and stories about certain pieces. I even whipped out my hand embroidery and practice a little stitching! Ok, the outcome wasn't great but it made me happy!

Costume Design 101 by Richard La Motte - When I ordered this books I thought it was going to be another step by step instructional on making costumes. WRONG! This is actually a costume business book. I love this book! Mr. La Motte really explains the ins and outs of the business and gives stories and examples of what to do. And what not to do. And most importantly, what to consider in making decisions to get into this type of business. Love this!

Now for sewing I bought:

Couture Sewing Techniques by Claire B. Shaeffer - All I can say is, WOW. I knew couture was hand sewing and very detailed, but geez, I really had absolutely no idea what it all entailed! I love this book and read sections periodically. Great book.

I have 3 more books that I loaned to a friend that I can't wait to read. One is on pattern drafting, one on fabric manipulation and the last is on chemicals and fabrics.

So now you're proably thinking, OK, she's read a lot about sewing and art but has she actually done anything? Well, the answer is yes. Nothing grandious, just some minor sewing projects, mainly alterations.

The photo's below are of a dress I altered for my mom. It was too long and the bodice needed to be taken in at the intersection of Princess Seam and Arm Hole. Plus the front shoulder straps needed to be taken up.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation... (cont'd)

This is Princess Emma, my Great Niece.

She is wearing a lined velveteen cape, head piece and muff that I made her. Both the cape and muff are trimmed in a white twisty trim and accented with mini pearls. The Muff is simply velveteen.

Since the majority of my family consists of mainly nephews, it was quite a welcome change to finally make something pretty for a beautiful little girl.

Below are the trim details for the cape and headpiece.