28/365 dolls and toys

It is a long stretch of mind that takes me back.  I had a beautiful baby doll that came in a Christening outfit.
I remember playing Shoots & Ladders, and CandyLand, molding play-doh into animal shapes, using real potatoes for Mr. Potato Head.
Silly Putty in its own case - a plastic egg.  Picking up the impression from the comics section in the Sunday Daily News.
I played with Barbie dolls, along with her friends, Midge and Tressy.  Tressy had a button in her belly that you'd push to lengthn or shorten her hair.  Midge had freckles and somewhat kinky hair.  And Barbie was, of course, Barbie -- impossibly proportioned, and scorned for such in this day and age.  I never looked at her as being an idol type--she was just Barbie.  Always had a Ken doll, too -- he had the worst peach fuzz hair.
Colorforms, and their shinyness -- wonderful color and shapes on a black background.  Hours of fun.
I had a whole family of dolls called the Little Kiddles.  They were mini dolls, with the baby of the family being among the cutest of them all.  Barely the size of a child's thumb.
Monopoly was a great game to play if you could get someone to play with you -- It is a long game unless maybe you hae a few players.  I think I still have a monopoly game put away in the closet.
I watch Logan playing with his toys today -- his Mr Potato Head comes with a plastic potato.  Cleaner, no doubt, but it takes away a certain something.

*A free-write is a type of automatic writing, where you just go with your stream of consciousness non-stop. There's no thought to spelling or grammar, and no editing of words. Supposedly this opens the mind up to greater creativity. They can be 5, 10 or 20 minutes long. Suggestions for freewrites are always welcome. Visit Evie, with whom I freewrite, at the space between colors.

autumn crones

I started on an Autumn Crone for my Equinox project. Very unfortunately, the clay burned and cracked in the oven, even though I had correct temps (verified w/thermometer). Very disappointing.
Well, anyway, she is a very rough figure, I only spent a couple of hours on it. ... clay over a gourd and a mini flower pot turned upside down.
I like her despite her burnt appearance. I don't think she's done though, and I don't know her name yet.

I may start another crone for the project, since this one didn't turn out so well.

evening ramble

The weather has cooled off from the intensive heat and humidity. It is a relief like you wouldn't believe.

I've had two cups of coffee late tonight; just couldn't resist.

It's quiet out for a saturday night. Seems more like Sunday. Look, we are nearly at the Ides of August. The summer moves on more noticably now. Before you know it, the days will turn moody with September, and the hint of the next season.

I keep track of the days now by watching my grand-nephew grow.

I've been writing some on the novel, and have gotten past the 100K mark. I congratulate myself for that, although the writing itself is sorely under par, I believe. Not sure what the main character's epiphany is going to be, but I feel like she must achieve one in order for there to be some point in this novel. What it is, and when she will achieve it, is beyond me at the moment. I want it to end so I can start working on it, if you know what I mean. I guess the more I write the more opportunity I'll have to hatchet it on the first revision. But I've got to finish it first. Who knows how many more words that will take.

I miss making dolls. I haven't been able to replenish my supplies, so there's no clay or anything to work with. I have the main character of my novel making dolls, so I do it vicariously through her... but she is better at it than I am . :)

Come the Fall, I will have to get supplies again.

Fire, Sky, Ocean, and Fertility goddesses

Monday, April 27, 2009

(Looking for the Ocean Goddess? see here)

The day is unusually warm, at 90°. Just the day before yesterday I was shivering under the covers because it was so chilly in the apartment.

The onset of summer shows itself well before actually beginning. The true Spring has been laden with rain and grey skies. Hopefully this heat will pass and let some sunny spring days fill the sky.

I've been working on some stump dolls. One is Fire (or Embers), the others are Ocean and Sky. Here are some pics of them....


















Also, I just started a Fertility Goddess, on a board. I don't know what prompted me to do this, but things develop that way. It's Spring, and fertility seems apropos of the season.




The temperture hit 93°F this afternoon!
I've worked on a vision board. I'm happy with it so far. It takes some time to find pictures/symbols to use on the board, so it's sort of a work in progress. Pics in the future, maybe.

gourd dolls

Wise Woman, and Best Friends

 

 

With The Prosperity doll I also used a gourd.

dances with wolves

In the creation of characters, I sometimes first think of a name, or a purpose.

Like "Agri"... this is a name that came to me once, and it turned out to mean "fire", I believe. I'll have to check that. I had been doing a meditation on my guardian angel, and that's the name that came to me. Her purpose (odd that I should give this angel a feminine persona, when Fire is so male) is to keep watch over me, of course.

Her hair is a molton gold, her eyes are firey blue. She is shaped like a flame, a wisp. She is ephemeral. Perhaps too ephemeral to bring to life.

Sometimes parts of a story nag at you. Could be the story behind a character doll, and then there's a particular type of foot that wants to be made now, with big fat toes, belonging to a pleasant troll who has many friends. I have only made one troll, but in my mind there is a whole lineage following that one, and many others, who have gone beyond the bridges, and are living in forest lands. Few of them steal your gold, though they have been known to do that. Sometimes they just take what you don't need. Anyway... I've seen their feet, and their nose and hands. I've seen what's in their pockets and bags. The wait for my hands to bring them to life... to open their eyes.

It is sort of like shamanism... where one finds their power animal and brings it into one's heart... then gives it life by "dancing the animal".

mother earth

The Icon Doll Challenge has now been posted on the WildArtDolls yahoo group site, so I'm able to show it here. I did this a couple of months ago; it's my depiction of "Mother Earth". She is 16" tall. The materials I used are:Yarrow sticks Hawk, Pheasant, and Cardinal feathers,Cave egg (white stone),semi precious,gemstones,buffalo hair,chamois leather,half of a seed pod, and a stone bead.

 

 

 

prosperity doll

Prosperity doll (click on pic to see larger view)

The prosperity doll has copper bracelets hanging from her arms, which hold USD (cash & coins) and Euro's. The states and countries depicted on the coins reflect my love of travel. I chose the US quarters at random, and the states depicted are: California, Oregon, West Virginia and North Dakota, to symbolize travel through the United States. The Euros have the symbols of Italy and Finland on them, to signify European travel. I would like to get more coins from other countries.

She is holding a book which represents reading/learning/writing/book-keeping.
Under one arm she has a rolled up fortune from a fortune cookie, which say: "You will begin a successful new busniness venture."

She has a Herkimer diamond attached to her 3rd eye (hard to see it in the picture).
She is 9 inches high.

Thanks to Stefania Morgante for giving me the inspiration to create a prosperity doll for the new year.

prosperity : the condition of being successful or thriving ; especially : economic well-being

materials used: gourd, polymer clay, paper clay, coins/dollars (USD & Euro), trimmings, paper, Suze Weinberg's Bedazzles, silver leafing, copper wire, cone-shaped thread spool, face mold, fortune cookie fortune, a double terminated Herkimer diamond

doll collage

on scan board (click pic to view larger)

first ladies

The first lady (from around 1999-2000) I made sits behind me on a piece of chapparel. Her head is as big as her boobs, and there's a raw freedom in her disproportion and fingernail markings. A swift creation, taking no more than an hour, she looks right at you, in anticipation of the Ladies who will follow.

The second lady, my Muse.

I was about to take a writing workshop with Emily Hanlon.  Things to bring included something to represent the internal critic, and something to represent the muse.  For my Muse I chose this lady (the one in background).... the same rough qualities of the first, she concentrates her gaze upon her hands and her crystal.  I sit her beside me now, so that I remember what means to have new eyes, unphased by imperfection.... indeed, embracing it, and letting in the real freedom of the creative.

Hunter's Moon

I woke at 5am to the light of the moon shining in my bedroom. It's a full Hunter's moon today, and as glorious as ever, lighting the sky before dawn.

My 2 currents dolls are taking the backseat today, as my creative juices are wanting to flow in another direction. It's good to have half a dozen things going at the same time, I figure. That way, there's always something to pick up when the attention span starts waning on one particular piece.

I expect my photo card reader to arrive in the mail today. Found myself waiting for it yesterday, until I realized it was Columbus day, and there was no mail delivery.

I took a couple of pictures of the gourds that I'll be working on next, and will edit this post to include that as soon as I can get the pics up. They are miniature gourds, and some are the shape and size of a chicken egg. Let's see where they take me. I may try a bit of pyrography on them, but I'm not so versed in that, really. I'll probably cover the egg gourds completely (with clay), and use them as an armature shape for some Ladies of Abundance, which I haven't made since I first started claying 8 or 9 years ago.

The sky is lightening up now, and it looks to be a very gray overcast day, so far. I don't much mind that.

pics soon, I hope

The smart media slot on my computer doesn't work anymore, and I don't have a cable for this little camera that someone gave to me, so I've been unable to post any pics. I ordered an external slot (fits many different types of media cards), and hopefully it will arrive today. I should've started taking pics of the dolls when I first began, but I didn't know I'd be getting the piece necessary to transfer them to my computer. Oh well, I will start now.

threads and gems

The doll is progressing nicely. I don't know what her name is yet. I've painted her whole body, and wrapped her arms in embroidery floss. Today, her "hands" were incrusted with lots of semi-precious gems (little flakes of various gemstones). She is really gaining power.

I had a head sculpted for another doll, but not yet cured, the piece kept losing the head, getting dry and falling off. So, I cut the face off of that head, and I'm using it on this healing spirit doll.... I used gold pearl-ex to enhance the face. I think I want to hang things from her arms... not sure what, though. Beads? Charms of some sort?

dolls at dawn

Today I'm up early; not so unusual. I started working on my doll again. She's a wild art doll, and one of my first real diversions away from all polymer clay. I've been working on her bit by bit, trying to get an idea of who she is, and what she needs to portray her self. She appears to be a healing doll, and the one I made before her seemed to be a healing doll, as well. Both are very different. The first, smaller one, is primarily black and gold (on a filled muslin body form w/paint, beads, polymer clay face). The one I'm working on now is copper and blue and gold and pink and lavender and purple and red ... well you get the picture; a much more diverse play of color. The various beads down her center are a mix of representations... chakra, tan tien, energy centers. She is very light and very female in nature. She is fun and healing.

There is always a long way to go with any art form. A never-ending process of learning. If I'm not seeing something with new eyes each time I look at it, then I'm not seeing it at all.

There are faces, and faux stones, and sculpted bodies curing in the oven.