October

Pumkins on the front stoop

Elf hat for my little pumpkin-to-be

Hooded baby sweater with wooden buttons

Engaged!

Earth Doll in Progress (also Happy Birthday to Me!)

First off, this is the wrapping on the special gift from my parents on my 30th b-day (June 19th). It represents paint for our new house and my father's offer to help get it on the walls! The photo is of my dad in his 20's showing off his muscles =) I thought it was appropriate on this Father's Day to acknowledge one of the many sweet things he does for me all year round.

On another note - these are photos of my doll for the ADO 4 Elements Challenge in progress. Just a reminder: Everyone is welcome to participate, just click on the link in my previous post.
Here she is painted. She is pretty huge. The head alone is 4". I had these lovely glass eyes and I started with that when determining the design, even though I had intended her to have a full body. Now I am reconsidering and trying to devise ways to make it a head, torso and hands composition without compromising the whole idea. Art is all about problem solving!

Here she is with the hair and with a swatch of the yarn I'm going to use to knit her a dress. She represents Earth and she will be holding a bit of sod with a flower growing from it.

The state of things

On the work-table

On living room display

In the potted garden

4 Elements Art Doll Challenge

I'm participating in this challenge - it sounds like fun!

Art Dolls Only is gearing up to host our first blog event!
We challenge you to make a art doll along with us.

*sign up will begin June 19th and the last day to sign up will be Thursday July 16th.

On Friday July 17th participants post their art doll to their blog.
Saturday July 18th and Sunday July 19th begins the fun of seeing all the art dolls that have been created! All participants will be listed in the ADO sidebar for easy visiting.
the theme is the elements, and we challenge you to make a art doll using one, two, three, or all four of the elements as your inspiration.

any artist is welcome to participate, including non members.
Here is your chance to explore the wonderful world of art dolls, first time doll maker, old hat, or have not created in while, all are welcome to join in on the fun!
Details will be posted on the 19th on how to sign up.
use this badge to show everyone you are participating with a link back to the ADO blog.

Finished!

Ta Da!

Ophelia WIP

Here is my Ophelia doll from Hamlet. She is still a work in progress, but I am working hard to have her finished for May 6th because that is the deadline for the ADO Shakespeare challenge. ADO members have all come up with some wonderful, unique interpretations of Shakesperian characters and there are interviews with the artists on the ADO blog.

My answers to the interview questions are thus:

1.What inspired you to undergo the (Shakespeare) Challenge? What character did you chose to create, and why?

I thought this challenge was particularly intriguing because there are so many wonderful characters and images in Shakespeare. Ophelia was the natural choice for me to do because I have been working with images of her and of submersion/emergence since my college days. This is a more literal representation than I usually do, a little less edgy, but still with some pathos.

2. What method(s) and materials did you use to create your characters?

I used Creative Paperclay for the head/hands/feet and wire/soft sculpture for the body. The costume is made from locally grown wool which I spun, felted and colored with plant dyes (it takes a lot of time, but the organic variations of shape and color are worth it!)

3. How long did it take to create your piece? What were the easier aspects of creating it? What were the more challenging parts?

I have no idea. A long time. The easy parts are sculpting the face, painting and fiber-work. Making hands that are sturdy, delicate and matching is torture for me. Oh, I started out with plans to make this a ball jointed doll which turned out to be basically a month of frustration, so I gave up on that!

4. Were you satisfied with the outcome of the art piece? Would you change anything, did you learn anything?

I like her =). She is still a work in progress, but she will be finished by the 6^th, I swear it! As usual, I feel like I made progress and learned things as an artist, but there are improvements I would make on version 2.0. There’s nothing I would like to change, just more embellishment that I might add if I had more time (but we’ll see, I have all weekend to cover her dress and hair in flowers, and that may be enough!)