Winifred & B-Bub

Winifred has spent her life worrying about what other people thought, and listening to them say witches give off Negative Energy.  But she has finally begun to realize that the negative energy comes from them, not from her. 

 She is learning to recognize her inner beauty and goodness.

 B-Bub, on the other hand, definitely gives off some menacing vibes, despite his declaration of Peace.  But that is only because he is fiercely protective of his mistress.  If you have Goodness in your heart, you've nothing to fear from B-Bub.  But if you don't, if you don't have good intentions, or if your motives are not pure . . . well, then, you better watch out for B-bub! (He is hand sculpted of black polymer clay, with green, slighty irridescent eyes made of polymer clay as well.) 

Like most of my dolls, Winifred's face, hands and shoes are hand sculpted from polymer clay.  Her body is an old spindle, and her arms are made of copper wire.  

Her legs are wire that I found; I'm not sure what it is. 
Folks who don't know Winifred very well, often try to ingratiate themselves with her by using the nickname "Winnie," but she HATES that.  She loves her name.  Select friends, however, are permitted to call her Fredi.

Gerta's best friend, Priscilla

I've had several requests now for more Gertas, especially since I've refused to sell her.  So, I set to work on a new Dish Witch.  As always, the doll I was creating told me I was wrong.  She doesn't want to be a Dish Witch.  In fact, she's informed me that her sign instead of saying, "Dishes are CLEAN. I'm flying with the girls" will say, "FORGET the housework. I have a DATE!"  or something to that effect.  She hasn't decided yet whether she's got "A" date, or his heading out with 'the guys.'   But while she ponders which of her many suitors to spend some time with, she's looking lovely on my kitchen table. 

Dorian

I've been away from my dolling for a while, but finally cleared my plate enough to get back to my Nest and by work table.  First order of business was the ghost someone asked for.  I knew I wanted him to be fully clothed, but wasn't quite sure what kind of clothing I wanted for him.  But when I started tearing fabric to wrap the armature, I found his clothes!  --That's one of the things I love about dolling: the serendipity and the discovery.  And also the scavenger hunt of trying to find just the right thing to become something else entirely.  So, anyway, here's Dorian.  So far.  I've still got to dress up his base; I'm just waiting for my inspiration.  Hubby said to give him a rat or two; son says he needs "a gentleman's cane."  I'm still waiting for Dorian himself to tell me what he wants.

Works in Progress

Two new faces, not yet cured.

And experimentation with birch bark clothing:

Plus a new critter in the works.

Balancing

Sometimes life feels in balance; other times I feel like I've totally dropped over the edge.  Right now I'm over the edge.  I've not dolled in a week or more; my house is looking forlorn and ignored; and my journal is feeling forgotten, I'm sure.  BUT, I'm climbing back on top.  And, in all fairness, I have created a whole new flower bed that's just waiting for my husband to till so I can plant.  Even the plants are purchased and waiting on the back deck.  So maybe I haven't fallen too far off the tightwire.  --Is that one of those things like hand grenades and horseshoes, or being 'a little bit pregnant?'

As I was getting into the car yesterday, headed to an Artisan's Market, I nearly stepped on a sheet of river birch tree bark, about 5x8 inches.  It's beautiful, with a greenish patch in the center.  I've always loved the shaggy bark on our river birch trees, and have always wanted to do something with them.  Well, I immediately grabbed that piece and took it with me.  Throughout the Artisan Market, I had the sheet right in front of me.  Today I plan to see if I can make it into clothing, maybe for the head-on-a-stick that's been waiting for a decision!  This will be a fabulous shaman's robe! 

I've also got to create another Dish Witch and a ghost, by special request.  So we'll see what presents itself!

Gerta the Dish Witch

For ages, I've lived with my husband and son loading dirty dishes into the clean dishes.  Our dishwasher isn't magnetic so I couldn't use one of those "The Dishes Are Clean" magnets, and they seemed to have trouble with the concept of picking up a coffee cup to see if there were still signs of coffee in the bottom.  So when I made a little paper standing sign, half out of frustration, and half in jest, I started wondering if I could design a doll for the purpose. 
Initially, I was imagining something along the lines of a mortis board sign, but I wasn't quite sure what I wanted.  I'm really not even sure what the hold-up was; I guess Gerta just wasn't ready yet.  But finally one night as I lay in bed, I knew it was time to start.  The next day I looked around my Nest trying to decide what to use for her body, something besides wire, something stable enough to withstand being whacked by a cat's tail, or the sleeve of a shirt.  And then I spotted some miniature flower pots.  YEP!  That's it.

Now, at this point, Gerta hadn't given me her name, only that she was ready to be made.  Once I had the flower pot, an image began to form in my mind.  I decided she needed some big sagging bosoms, and used more of my cotton stash that I pilfered from the woods across the street.  Well, they don't really sag as much as I'd intended, and one boob is bigger than the other, which gives her a natural look, right? 

From there, I went to work on her head, and once that was finished, I had fallen in love.  It was the next morning, just as I was waking up, that she told me her name.  Gerta.  I like it, kind of German sounding, or Dutch? 

Somewhere along the line, I decided she needed feet as well.  Initially, I was thinking of big shoes, but for some reason that just didn't feel right, so i went for feet instead.  Where that came from I've no idea, since I've never tried to make feet or hands before.  That must have been Gerta whispering in my ear.  So, she got big feet.  And with big feet, she HAD to have some hands as well.  So much for my vow that I'd never attempt hands or feet!

Time to dress her.  Initially, I tried some fancy beautiful brown tafeta fabric with rouching for her dress.  But not only did I butcher the dress, but it was WAY too fancy for a barefoot dishwasher.  So, instead, I gave her a simple ecru dress with trim.  She loved that fabric choice.  And then I decided she needed a big rump to go with her big bosom.  Once that was finished, all that was left was her sign:  The DISHES ARE CLEAN. I'm flying with the girls!"  Today I'm going to give her a sign on the back side that says, "Don't bug me.  I've got DIRTY DISHES to wash!" 

Hope you enjoy!

The Standing One

A rainy weekend, so I've enjoyed working in my Nest.  I'm not sure why I love rainy days, but I've always suspected it has to do with my mom.  She's an artist, and when I was a kid, she used art projects to keep her three daughters occupied on rainy days.  I still have the rock paperweight I made once with a tiger decal on it.  And then there's the thunder and lightening that I LOVE.  I love to sit on the front porch and just enjoy the winds and the voices of the sky.

For the past week, maybe two, I've been honoring my physical spirit by working out every day, and my emotional spirit by reconnecting with my journal.  This has been good.  One day a couple of weeks ago, on a walk at the edge of the woods, I found a piece of bark that spoke to me.  I brought it home and gave it a place of honor on my wobbly work table.  Several times I picked it up thinking to use it, but could never figure out what to do with it.  And then today, it stepped forward and said, "it's time."  The result is The Standing One, pictured here.  I wish she had more of a Native American looking face, but I don't mean to question my Spirit Guide. Now I'm trying to figure out how to make her stand, or should she just hang on the wall?  I'm considering attaching her to a stone, combining the Standing One with one of the Stone People.  We'll see if one presents itself. 

 

Works In Progress

Hmmm.  What to do? What to do?  I baked five faces over the weekend, and am still waiting for them to tell me what they want to be.  I've finished the Earth Goddess plant stick, though I'm thinking I may give her something to hold in her hand.  Or maybe not.  Depends on whether the right thing presents itself.
And then there's the evil-looking guy who makes me think of Little Richard.  Right now he just scowls at me and hasn't been very forthcoming about who/what he wants to be.  So I'll patiently let him watch over my work until he decides to be more cooperative. 
My favorite, though (so far) is less complete.  Right now she's just a 'head on a stick.'  I'm thinking she'll end up being a witch, but she's also whispering to me that she might decide to be a Native American wise woman.  So, she likewise is supervising my work while I wait for a clearer message from her. 
The other two faces are just waiting for their turn.  I haven't even thought yet about what they'll be.

I've read many other doll artists who say you need to have a plan before you ever start on your doll, but that's not been how I;m dong things.  I wouldn't be surprised if at some time I shift to being more proactive :).  But right now this is better.  My mom used to tell me that the only thing stopping me from being an Artist was my perfectionism.  An artist, she told me, cannot be a perfectionist.  And I've never been able to let go of that perfectionism. Even in Creative Writing, I'd abandon my work because it wasn't worthy of Faulkner or Dostoevsky.  But the beauty of creating my dolls without a plan is that perfectionism is irrelevant.  Because I have no plan, there's nothing to perfect.  THEY tell me what they want to be, and I'm just obeying.

Earth Goddess/Party Girl

Little Richard/Witch Doctor

Witch? or Wise Woman?

T'Kunga doll, based on Ruth Morris's deisgn

Hmmm.  And as I looked over at my Little Richard guy just now, he suggested he might like to be a Witch Doctor.  So, I must go obey his command!

Cloth & Clay Flower Doll Swap

I decided to challenge myself by participating in Cloth And Clay's Flower Swap.  Here are the flowers I ended up creating:
1. Cotton Queen - using the cotton I found growing at the edge of the woods across the street.

2. Spider Lily - just because I love spider lilies.  And spiders.

3. Pink Lotus Flower - chinese symbol of peace

4 White Lotus Flower

5. The Wonderful Lunchbox - inspired by a Post Cereal book from 1914 with illustrations by Shirley Kite.  I rescued the book in my Great-grandmother's abandoned house.

Listening

I haven't been 'dolling' all week, but I worked some yesterday.  I wasn't really happy with anything I did, and was just about to shut down for the night when, for some reason, I suddenly decided to pull a book of poetry called Sacred Fire, by Nancy Wood.  Each poem is accompanied by a beautiful painting by Frank Howell, of a Native American.  I ended up selecting one of the images, and tried to duplicate it in clay.  My creation bears little resemblance to the painting, though to be fair, I was also trying a totally different technique from what I usually do.  It was an experiment all the way around.  But what was amazing was the experience.  At times, I wanted to cry; at other times I could have sworn one corner of his mouth turned turn up in a smile.  I plan to return to the experiment, this time using my usual sculpting technique, and will see what happens.  Whether the outcome resembles the painting or not, there's a spiritual experience that is more important.  SOMETHING beautiful will come of it, whether it's an amazing face or not. 

DOLL DREAMING

I remembered recently that I had a dream, probably four or more years ago, about stopping at an old colonial farm house. While everyone else was touring the house, I sat outside with a girl who was making dolls.  Somehow, in the dream, the dolls were very important.  I'm pretty sure I journaled that dream, so I need to look it up.  I find it interesting that now I've fallen into doll-making.  Maybe my spirit guides were trying to point me in this direction way back then.  There was another dream maybe a year or so before that, about me making and painting dishes.  In that dream, I understood that the message was to stop working for someone else and start Creating, and creating for ME and not for someone else.  So, now we've established that I'm a slow learner.  Or a slow listener, but my spirit guides are persistent.

But, here are my latest incarnations of the dolls of my dreams. I love the little gal with a flower in her hair.  I imagine her soft-spoken and demure, with a childish streak.
This time I painted their eyes instead of using beads for eyes.  I like the result, but I need a) fresher paints.  Mine were so dried out it was hard to mix, and hard to avoid gloppy work.  And b) a tiny paint brush.  I used the smallest one I had on hand, but it wasn't small enough.  Another excuse to go to Hobby Lobby!

Flower Doll

I committed to making five Flower Dolls for the ning I've joined.  This is a departure from my wire dolls, but I figured I'd challenge myself to expand a bit.  The inspiration for this one was a little paperback book I found in my great-grandmother's abandoned house.  It's called The Wonderful Lunch Boxes and was published by "Postum Cereal" in 1925 with illustrations by Shirley Kite.  I just love the illustrations, particularly one page that shows the little seed -- baby heads -- beneath the ground.  And thus my first flower doll, though next time I think I'll not attempt the wheat flowers :)

Every year I have a Halloween party with hand-made invitations that are almost as much fun for me as preparing for the party. One year's invitation was a bat mobile, another year was shrunken heads. Year before last, I made giant papier mache spiders that dropped down from their webs when the recipients opened their front doors. As I made my way down the street dragging my little red wagon full of spiders and a step-stool, I could hear the screams of neighbors who unsuspectingly opened their front doors :)

Last year I made witches using materials I had on hand: wire, sea glass, and Sculpey polymer clay. I always enjoy making my invitations, but these were such fun that when I finished the 30-odd invitations, I kept working. I made witches for my mother, my aunt, each of my three nephews, my sister-in-law . . . until my husband stressed that the party was fast approaching.

After Halloween, friends asked me to consider making something for Christmas, so I created my elves and Santas. An O&M Specialist asked me if I could make a blind elf, and I ended up making 30 blind elves and Santas for her.

I'm new at this, with no training, either formal or informal. But it's fun and I love doing it. I love watching the personality emerge! I don't create these little people; they develop and emerge in front of me. By the time I'm finished, we have a relationship. I just love it. Now I've got to find a way to keep going. At some point, I'm going to have to find people who are interested in buying my witches and elves, if only because they're taking over the guest bedroom where I work.

The room isn't large, and I refuse to remove my great-grandfather's old iron bed. I really love the connection to the past that the bed offers. For some reason, old things feel to me like they offer a stronger connection to the Earth, and I like that. My Santas' hair and beards come from raw cotton that I found growing in my neighborhood (the land was once a plantation). I used my great-grandmother's old cotton combs to pull the cotton before giving it to the Santas.

For that reason, I also like using sea glass for the bodies. I've made some dolls using plastic or glass beads, but I really prefer natural stone and crystals. They're more expensive, but they feel truer to what I'm doing. So, I am on a continuing quest for stone beads with holes big enough to accommodate two pieces of wire -- not an easy task!

I'm creating this blog as a sort of album of my creations. It'll be fun for me to watch the progress of my witches, elves, Santas (and whatever else comes along), and I'd love to get feedback from folks! In any case, I hope you enjoy