Dolls as artful muse

Kate Church creates beautiful, nay magnificent, dolls and figures. In addition to her OOAK works, what she calls "sculptural puppetry", she creates licensed figures for Cirque du Soleil. Her website has gorgeous photography. She also has a blog and a growing interest in art ceramics.

Happy Easter

Here are some Easter Bunnies I have recently noticed on Etsy.

Sweet Poppy Cat has added an Upcycled Recycled Sweater Bunny to her collection of plush cats.

Veruca Dolls Land's Chubby Pink Rabbit is entirely hand sewn.

The Porcelain Egg Shaped Bunny offered by Creation Cottage is adorable, plus they have some other bunnies and sweet spring offerings as well.

Golden Needle Creations has some miniature Lop Eared cashmere Bunnies in a basket.

Sara at Devout Dolls has a bunch of Bunny costumes for Blythe dolls that look very cute.

Cute is also the word to describe Kokeshi doll maker Beladonna's wood Easter Bunny.

Bear Creek Design offers a needle felted Bunny Rabbit, as does Kindred Spirits 12, although both are very different bunnies in character and look.

Finally Sillyboodilly has a sweet, stuffed and quilted Bebe the Bunny with hand embroidered eyes.

Enjoy!

Cynjon Noah - tornado survivor

Yikes, sorry I've neglected this blog for a couple of days! But I hope to make it up to you by featuring the work of a wonderful mixed media and doll artist, Cynjon Noah. It is worth visiting his Etsy Store also for a look at the breadth of his interests.

He has just posted on the Egads blog, a call for submissions for his upcoming zine which will feature art dolls. More info from him cynjon_noah@yahoo.com .

Doll Farm

OMG can you cope with the level of cuteness of these gorgeous plush art dolls. Entirely hand sewn by artist Heather Louise. Yet more than cute too - they also have a thought provoking edge.

Sky Girls

Textile and quilt artist Barbara Zuazua is one of this month's featured artists on the Dharma Trading Company website. She has an Etsy store where she sells beautiful cloth dolls which showcase her altered and dyed textiles including vintage embroideries. They also have detailed stories and whimsically sweet personalities.

Happy Birthday Jackie

Ok it's a little silly, but I'm a fan. April 7th is Jackie Chan's birthday. (Also Francis Ford Coppola).

Here's a recent review of a vinyl action figure of a very poseable Jackie Chan. (Looks like a useful review site to browse.)

Here's a handmade "Wax Doll" of him... some might call this a candle...

He has some fan clubs including this kid's fan club. Check out the buddy bear.

Russian dolls in Vogue

Russian Vogue has a feature about designer Matroyshka dolls. Can't read a word of it, but check out the glossy pics.

I followed the link there from Jeanne's Sew Many Things...Sew Little Time blog. Some very cool cloth and mixed media dolls there.

Frankensoque Creatures

Here's a fun Etsy store - Hardyharhar makes completely cool OOAK monsters and critters out of repurposed and recycled clothing with other found objects incorporated, that she calls either Scrap Monsters or Frankensoques. In her profile she says that she specializes in memorial items made from your loved ones effects. Her creatures have personalities big time, and descriptive monikers. And belly buttons.

Carved Wood and a village to visit.

Erika Catellani is a Swiss doll maker who works in wood, carving and painting adorable children from maple. Their clothes are adorable too.

Many of Erika's dolls are available from Little Princess Frocks, an interesting online store that is an outlet for many collectible doll makers, as well as assorted antique and vintage dolls and accessories. Be sure to click on the Village link, and visit some of the locations there. Fun stuff.

Presidential Papers

Dover Publications is offering a "President Obama Paper Dolls" book to augment the earlier pre-election publication of "Obama Paper Dolls".

Dover puts out a lot of art books, including many with public domain images that can be used in collage and mixed media. They put out a monthly newletter which includes downloadable freebies and samples. Scroll down the page to reach the Free Dover Sampler with Paper Dolls link.

Cool Karma

Karma Veranda has a brand new blog, already with inspiring words, but her flikr page of very cool spirit style, mixed media and needle felted art dolls is even more so. Stay tuned ....

Yum!

Unbelievable detail, cuteness and the incredible illusion of reality. This blog dedicated to miniature food makers is just really, really fun. And amazing. And tons of links.

Silke Art

Here is a spectacular blog filled with wonderful images of trolls, goblins, fairies and fairytale creatures. Silke Janas-Schloesser's work is just beautiful. And yes there is an Etsy store which includes her 1/12th scale miniatures.

Barbie Redux Call for Entries

I'm not the first person to post about this, but Patricia Anders is calling for entries to a new exhibit at 10 Women Gallery in Venice in honor of Barbie's 50th Anniversary. (Just a few miles from my house! For that matter so is the Mattel corporate HQ and outlet shop.)

The details for participating in Barbie Redux are on her website.

I'm excited about the idea and will be making something and my 9year old daughter who is a huge fan of Patricia's past altered Barbies also plans on joining in. We have a bunch of Barbies set aside for art doll purposes.

Display boxes and stands

Here is a website devoted to caring for your collectibles. Collecting Warehouse a large selection of acrylic display boxes, as well as a glass dome collection that makes me think "miniature diorama". They also carry stands.

I keep seeing commercials for this shoe storage box, that I'm thinking would be a nice storage option for many of my daughter's play and fashion dolls.

At Jack Johnstone's Art Doll guild site, you can find hidden doll stands to give the appearance of free standing dolls.

Green

The Green Dollhouse project has closed, but the book is still available. I wish I had seen the exhibition when it was current. "Creating a Doll's Eye View of a Healthier World". Nice Tagline.

Meanwhile the National Parks Service has free downloadable instructions for making Corn Husk Dolls lurking in a lesson plan.

Orit Dotan's flikr set shows Waldorf dolls of all natural materials - they are all rather lovely.

Planet Pixies are three adorable fairies made of organic cottons, with an ecological message.

Don't forget Earth Hour tonight 8.30-9.30 pm your local time. Lights out!

Paper Cuts

Sorry I wasn't paying closer attention when I got the notice for this in my in box. Closing very soon is Paper Cuts: 200 Years of Black Paper Dolls at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles. There are still a few days to get there before Sunday.

Aesop's Fable

According to Wikipedia, March 26th, 1484 was the day that William Caxton first published Aesop's Fables translated into English. Aesop's best known fable could be The Tortoise and The Hare.

Madame Alexander produced a pretty 8" doll accompanied by a plush hare and tortoise.

Fran Parrigan-Meehan made a tortoise and hare art doll pair in 2007. In a more recent post on her blog, she has listed a bunch of the upcoming doll conference events, many of which she is involved with. I love her painted doll faces.

World Tuberculosis Day

Today was also World TB Day, a disease once called consumption that is highly contagious, and more common that we might think even in the developed world. About 250 people die each year in the United States from tuberculosis.

Florence Nightingale, is just one famous person who died of TB - rather ironic given that she was a the founder of modern nursing.

Techno savvy ladies

Today is Ava Lovelace Day, a day where bloggers all over the world are celebrating women in technology. It is interesting for me, in the context of doll making because it seems to me that the majority of doll designers and artisans seem to be women. Certainly the majority of doll collectors that I know about are women, at least here in the US. My clients so far have all been women. Doll making seems in many ways to be a very feminine art, and many of the collectible dolls, like fashion dolls, seem to be concerned with feminine stuff, like...well...women's fashion.

It seems to me that we doll makers use a lot of technology, and the fruits of technology - sewing machines, polymer clay, cloth from mills, paints and dyes, wire, porcelain clays and kilns, vinyl and molding technologies. Not to mention how we in general have embraced that most modern of technologies the computer and internet to connect, to sell, to teach and to explore.

And yet so often we return to the simplest of technologies, holding needle and thread in our hands.

Meanwhile here is an art doll maker who is not afraid to explore the technology of new materials. Susie McMahon's dolls, figures and sculptures are wonderful. Check out her Redivivus dolls which she has made from recycled material that she has concocted.

Crochet for Teddy

It's nice to have some free stuff now and then. Here's a free pattern for some adorable crocheted clothes for teddy bears. I can see how they could be adapted to other dolls too. The whole site looks useful actually.

I don't mean to neglect teddies, really I don't.

Dolls and Daggers

Legends By Valkyrie are vinyl doll character repaints, mostly in the fantasy genre. On her site are a number of tutorials with photos that look like a good introduction to repainting and related crafts, including modifying the face sculpts and material recommendations. Who knew you could shrink a Barbie head by soaking it in acetone?

There is also a Yahoo group for people wanting to learn techniques and discuss creativity.

International Girls

These Karito Kids are some more of my daughter's favorites. She has a Piper vinyl doll (pictured) and a Ling of the plush travellers. I like how each vinyl doll character has a unique face mold. The high quality wigs allow for hair style play. American Girl clothing fits around the body, but is generally too short. (Time to make some new patterns.)

All dolls come with a story book. A portion of the proceeds from every item is donated to one of several international charities. The buyer can go online with their serial number and choose where to direct the contributions, and there are also several online games.

Loopy

Yeah, I just love these dolls with their bizarre faces and twisted stories. I'm waiting for the Loopy Boopy Uma Therman portrait, or perhaps Bette Davis when she was very young. Is it the magic of New Orleans infusing them with their character? I wish I could have been part of the ADO Travelling Doll project, and I'll look forward to seeing the final results of the collaborations. She has a well stocked Etsy store too.

Apple Hill

Apple Hill Dolls are rather lovely. They are made from paper clay and needle felted wool. They have a distinctive otherworldly look. Maybe it's the winter chill in New England.

Paper Mache

I don't speak Spanish, but pictures are an international language. Lotty Weinberg has a Colombian website with many pictures of the decorated paper mache figures and sculptures that she makes - that is I think she makes them. They are lively and colorful and fun to look at anyway. Don't fail to click on each year at the bottom of the page for more figures, mannequins and relief sculptures.

Super

I just like the look of Super Junk. I enjoy the friendly style, and I like the dolls she makes a lot. Japanese style in California.

Limericks

Happy Saint Patrick's Day. Here are some porcelain dolls in Irish traditional costumes, hand made in County Limerick entirely from Irish made parts, including the fabrics.

Lotz of Carved Dolls

Here is a great collector's resource, that could lead to hours of happy reading. Lotz Doll Pages form a comprehensive collection of great information about carved dolls of all kinds, vintage and new and of all nations. I particularly enjoyed reading about Chinese Dolls of Hope which have a sweet quality about them.

Aunt Manny

Not only dolls, but many other decorative crafty objects are available through Aunt Manny's Creations, all primitives with the patina of created age. I enjoy the folk art primitive aesthetic, and now is the time to enjoy her new spring creations, like the pictured Egg Fairy from her visually appealing blog. Lots of personal stories and links to upcoming events there too.

Orphans

I've been a bit busy, and I am going to stay busy for a few days, so I'm going to post a website that is a wonderful browsing opportunity. Mrs. Blathersby's Orphanage for the Unattractive and Mentally Unsound is an online doll club for the makers of the sad, the bizarre and the lonely in dolls. Mrs. B. is acceptant of their quirky creepiness and sometimes twisted stories. From this site you can access the members' Ebay sales and Etsy stores as well as the blogs and the websites of the makers, some of whom have already been featured here.

Mrs. Blatherby herself looks rather stern. I hope she doesn't find it presumptious of me to include her here....

East Coast Art Retreat

Here's an mixed media art conference/retreat with an art doll contest and exhibit attached. Art is You is running October 8-11, 2009 in Cromwell, CT.

Art Alchemy

Chaska Peacock is a very interesting mixed media artist and photographer. She has a colorful and interesting website, with many sections including her art doll gallery. I find her spirit dolls and altars to be deeply personal, unique and very beautiful. I've enjoyed poking around and reading the descriptions of the dolls.

She has a store, and also offers online classes including one starting very soon, March 15, 2009 on Vision Boards and one in April that is a "Healing Doll" - not the one pictured, I just liked the look of her.

Baby Ike

There is a little baby in Austin TX who is need of a lot of expensive medical attention and whose family is giving the people in their community the wonderful gift of the opportunity to help.

Many crafters are donating proceeds from sales at their Etsy or other stores toward helping "Ike-asaurus". Here is one, FaerieRebecca who describes the sweet and pretty Waldorf inspired faun doll she is selling for the cause.

Other crafters who would like to help can read how at Average Jane Crafter's blog, where there are also links to participating Etsy crafters.

Action packed reviews

I have found a cool site of interest to collectors of vinyl toys and most particularly character action figures. Michael Crawford publishes very detailed reviews - I mean really getting into the minutiae of quality and design issues - about new collectible action figures and cool licensed characters. His reviews are also very heavy on pictures, which are fun, and the site has lots of relevant links and news. He sometimes has guest reviewers also. I enjoyed browsing there.

Inspired

Ulla Milbrath maintains an absolutely elegant inspiration blog, that includes home decor, assemblages and dolls and figures by many different artists, including herself! It has romantic, sometimes shabby chic vintage aesthetic, but all the photography is just beautiful. You can almost smell the Lily-of-the-Valley and Gardenia, with the occasional hint of Jasmine. Visit often and be transported.

All Wood

How adorable are these? Pecanpals. They are made from painted wood with articulated limbs, in very limited editions, and hail from Carrara Island in the Pacific Ocean, a place of some mystery. They all have names and stories, oh yes they do.

Chinese Puppetry

With many performances in New York and Washington D.C. in upcoming months, Chinese Theatre Works presents traditional styles of theater box puppetry from China and Taiwan, amongst other types of Chinese performing art forms. These are some glove puppets from the Taiwanese tradition.

Khatiti Fine Art

Angela Briggs is a doll maker working with traditional African folk art forms in cloth, wood and other natural materials. I'm sorry to be missing her children's doll making workshop at the Huntington Gardens today.

Lady Artisan

Lady Artisan Dolls, on Etsy features dolls and anthro figures made from air dry clay, paper clay and epoxy with embellishments. They have distinctive faces, big eyes and trippy personalities with nice stories.

Gothic

For lovers of the beautifully macabre, here is Bleeding Hearts, a portal to several different BeGoth gothic doll lines including limited edition 12 inch and 7 inch fashion dolls and plush dolls. There is also a club fans can join, the Crypt Club (with club exclusive dolls!), newsletter sign up, forums and assorted books and stuff available.

EGADS team blog

There's an Etsy team for dollmakers - the Etsy Guild for Art Dolls and Such or EGADS. We have a Yahoo group and a nice blog, where we can post our newest works. They are a very supportive and loving group as well as extremely creative working in a wide cross section of media and doll styles. For someone looking to buy some art dolls for their collection, a visit to some of the EGADS members' stores (linked from the blog) would be great fun.

Jointed Felt dolls

Sue McFadden makes truly sweet and pretty lifelike child dolls from felt. They have felt over paper clay faces and are jointed and costumed charmingly in high quality fabrics with an olden days traditional folk costume feel. From her website she also sells kits and supplies.

Kallima Art

Kallima Art Gallery is the portal to the art of Erika L Prater, mixed media and found object doll artist. Her figures, many made with glass bottles, are like spirit or journal dolls.

Girl's Day March 3rd

March 3rd is "Girls Day" or Hina-Matsuri in Japan, a festival popular since the Edo period that involves creating codeified displays of beautiful dolls dressed in traditional clothing in homes to celebrate the young daughters of a household. Some people buy new dolls, other people have collected and preserved antique dolls over many generations.

Other older versions of Hina-Matsuri involve using a paper or straw doll for purification, casting the doll into a river along with your sins or worries.

Fanciful

ODACA member Christine Shively has a beautiful website showcasing her painted and embellished cloth dolls, including those for sale at prices that look pretty darn reasonable. She also offers workshops for particular dolls and travels to art fairs and conferences.