Hi all, 

       Sorry but apparently while writing this update, I accidently hit the “publish” tab and…well, published nothing…lol!   Here’s what I was going to publish…

 

       I’m plugging along on Mother Goose and enjoying it.  I was going for a kindly, older face…I think I got it. I plan on surrounding her with a few items made famous from her well known tales… three blind mice…(as shown above), the bucket from Jack and Jill’s disastrous excursion up the hill…(YIKES!) and, of course, Baa Baa black sheep is a given…and yes, she’s got plenty of wool…three bags full last I heard…lol!  Anyway, that’s all for now!

                   Happy Doll Making!

Many Blessings…

  

  

 

 

Above are “Mother Goose” update  pictures. Oooh, those legs are giving me “goose flesh” just looking at them…lol!

  Hi all,

      Hope all is well in your neck of the woods! We are getting ready for our first snow fall of this winter season! I’ve almost forgotten what the stuff  looks like!!!  We had a fluke winter storm in October (nearly 20”) but, hey, since that was in the fall, it just doesn’t count…lol!

      I have been busy trying to come up with new workshop ideas and send out workshop proposals to the various conventions, art school retreats and doll clubs….Whew! Praise the Lord (He is sooo good to me!) my calendar is full for this summer and, I’m thrilled to report that  I’m already contracted to teach at the “John C. Campbell Folk School” in North Carolina in 2013!!!   I’ll be teaching my “Art Doll: from concept to completion” workshop (http://www.a-lil-whimsy.com/dollmaking-workshop.html). Anyone interested? You can check it out my post about that  workshop and see pictures of the class in progress when I taught there last summer (just scroll down)…it was a life changing experience!  It was such a  BLAST!!!   

     I am still preparing for my “BASIC doll making” workshop at BOCES next week. They haven’t  told me  yet if they plan to run it….but, I will notify the lovely ladies who have emailed me to inquire about it as soon as I know

      All this “business”  e-paperwork  and emailing to and fro,  still has not kept me from creating.  I am trying to remain true to my post earlier this month…”must find time to create…must find time to create…must find time to create”…you just have to keep repeating it to yourself.  Yes, you WILL run the risk of sounding like a lunatic but I’m sure you’ll end up with one worthwhile, “kick-a**” project to show for it!!! 

                                      Happy Doll Making!

 

    

 

 

2012…Happy New Year!

 

  

    As you’ve already guessed…I’ve started a new doll….this seems to have become almost like a compulsion…I can’t seem to stop!!! I can’t seem to control myself…lol!  I felt sooo inspired to do my own version of….”Mother Goose!” Get a load of the drumstick on her…WOW!!! I expect to have a lot of fun working on her.

    FINDING INSPIRATION…As this new year begins, I am hoping that all of you will give into your creative urges. Sometimes, okay, truth be told, most times, life gets in the way and there’s not much time at the end of the day to be creative…other things are simply just more pressing. But just because we all have to go to work and deal with “grown-up” things doesn’t mean we can’t keep our “inner” child close at hand…make time to play with dolls! If you can’t…here’s a quick fix…pick up the latest doll related magazine; they’re always jammed packed with awesome artists, new and experienced alike, showing their latest creations.

    Perhaps the solution lies just beyond your daily realm: join a doll- making club (check out: http://www.clothdollconnection.com/ for the one nearest you). There, you’ll meet other doll-making enthusiasts who love to gather for the joy of “playing” with dolls as well as sharing ideas. You may even discover a hidden talent! Creative expression, for me, is truly a release of pressure, it’s relaxing and rewarding…you’ll be more refreshed, clearheaded and able to handle life’s little…and not sooo little, emergencies…lol!

What’s inspired me recently?

James Christensen (http://www.jameschristensenart.com/). His fanciful works are sooo amazing!!! “Benediction” or “Flight of the Fablemaker” just to name a few. Check out his site and see for yourself. There are millions of tiny intricate details that you never catch the first time, you need to pour over them slowly and feel yourself smile as the details spring to attention!

Norman Rockwell…yes, the American Illustrator whose prolific work features the “common” man!  I recently picked up a book “Norman Rockwell 332 covers” and have found that I have a strong artistic connection to him.  While I can’t compare my work to his, I, like him am drawn to the normal every day human face and choose that to be inspiration for the body of my work. Many doll makers concentrate on making beautiful dolls. They are amazingly skilled at it and I admire their talents and ability. For me, though, the normal face is far more interesting as they wear the toll of their life’s experiences on their skin’s surface. Each intricate wrinkle, mole, sagging skin (and grey hair) tells a story that is uniquely theirs. I feel that each of my dolls “tells” a story.  That is why each one comes with a personalized “story” tag; I consider the dolls, themselves, to be the “illustrations!”

Van Craig!!! As you all probably already know, I first encountered his work 25 years ago in Tiffany’s store front windows! His work literally stopped me in my tracks me and catapulted me into the world of doll making…and it continues to inspire me today! Check out his website (http://www.vancraig.com/)…and enjoy!

    I’m sure we can all agree that the lack of inspiration will prevent even the best artist from evolving. You’ll find that new-found influences will affect not only your creativity but that of others, as well. You don’t have to be world renowned to inspire others; it is simply the excitement in the discovery, the thrill in creating, and the joy in sharing that makes you an inspiration!

To “kickstart” your inspiration…check out my latest VODPOD video (on the right of this page and click to enlarge the screen)…you’ll be glad you did!

                 Happy dollmaking!

* For those who are interested in my BOCES Basic doll workshop…please sign up quickly…please do so or the class WILL be cancelled! 

The class will be running again in January, 2012…registration for this class is now open for registration: http://webserver.ouboces.org/AdultEd/AE_ged_learnenglish.cfm  Click winter 2012 course catalog,  page 25,  course #A8335wa-12).  The workshop runs from January 28 to February 11.

Below: The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog…check it out if you like!

 

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,700 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 45 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

 1          2

     A Quick Update…

 I just wanted to share a couple of pictures of the dolls created in my October BOCES workshop. Doll 1 was created by Christine, a professional nurse by day,  inspired doll maker by night! Christine really understood the painting techniques as shown in the wonderful painting job she did in the eyes and the subtle but true shading on the neck and chest. I love the wonderful hair wrap…you go girl!!! To see more of Christine’s work, go to:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/guidance4u/6452566655/

Doll 2 was created by Marisol. Marisol is an art teacher in the N.J area as is evident by the artful way in which she painted her doll…no holds barred! Although Marisol missed one class, she took the directions booklet I provided and went “solo” for the completion of her doll…as you can see…she is one gutsy “Chica”  (Marisol is a fellow “Latina!”) Way to go Marisol!!! To see more of her artwork, visit her blog at: http://www.amarettogirl.com/

 Feeling ispired yet?  If you haven’t yet, why not give doll mkaing a try…you never know, you  may awaken an unknown passion!  Happy Doll Making!

  

 

Hello all,

    Well, here is my completed Cyrano!  I mentioned in my last post that Cyrano was now contemplating the unthinkable…relax, relax… the bottle does not contain poison!!!  No, I figure one doll driven to suicide over a broken heart (my “Abigail” from a recent post) is quite enough…thank you!  The bottle, in this case, contains “Love Potion #9.”  Well, I guess he figures that if he can’t get win her heart in the “true” way, then he’ll win her by sneakier means…hey, desperate times calls for desperate measures! Check out his bejeweled chain belt with hidden key (unfortunately it does not unlock Roxanne’s deepest passions!) and his feathered cap. To get a better view of him …front and back…please go to my website as my web master Brenda Simon (http://www.brendasimon.com/)  will upload him later this week.

   I ‘d like to work on “Abigail” next but with the Christmas season already in full swing  and all the shopping I have left to do…this woman’s work is never done!  Above is a sneak peek at her “before” portrait. I decided to try my hand at painting it…not one of my strengths but I’m happy with the way it came out just the same.  

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before but, I’m very excited to announce that I have decided to apply for ODACA membership!  For those of you who haven’t heard of ODACA (http://odaca.org/) or the Original Doll Artist Council of America it’s one of the two the premier Doll Associations in America. It has been my desire to obtain a membership to this organization, as it is, I’m sure, for many other serious doll makers.   Membership, in my humble opinion, distinguishes one from being a doll maker and cements ones position as Art doll artist! The other premier Doll association  is NIADA  or the National Institute of American Doll Artists (http://www.niada.org/) both memberships are highly sought after and each organization is highly regarded world wide as the pinnacle of doll making achievement…wish me luck!

              Have yourselves a Merry little Christmas! 

                                   Happy Dollmaking!

For anyone interested, my BOCES Basic doll workshop will be running again in January, 2012…registration for this class is now open… 

http://webserver.ouboces.org/AdultEd/AE_ged_learnenglish.cfm  Click winter 2012 course catalog,  page 25,  course #A8335wa-12).  The workshop runs from January 28 to February 11

AND…

Doll Party GALA 2012 (http://clothdollconnection.com/dollgatherers/index.html). This exciting event will be held at the gorgeous Punderson Manor Resort (http://www.pundersonmanorstateparklodge.com/)  in Newbury, Ohio.

…hope to see you there!         

CYRANO the romantic…

   

Hi all,

       I hope you’ve all enjoyed a blessed and delicious Thanksgiving.  We had a great time visiting my husband’s family and once I came back I was raring to go! You probably won’t be surprised to hear that I started a new doll. This doll was actually a doll I started about two years ago. It was meant to be the “Boogie man” with an exposed heart for all to see that he actually had one.  Where a Boogie man is concerned, one is left to wonder if he has a heart at all if he can frighten little children…the big meanie! I thought it would be REALLY cool to have a doll with its heart hanging out of its chest! Fast-forward two years later:  I’ve decided to romanticize the whole idea by changing the Boogie man to Cyrano…’cause, let’s face it…it’s just a better story!

      My Cyrano is still the hapless romantic with the HUGE proboscis who falls hard for Roxanne but is devastated by her rejection of him. His “exposed” heart, in this case, represent his vulnerability as he expresses his love to Roxanne. His story tag will read:

      “After exposing his true feelings to the fair Roxanne, a devastated Cyrano now contemplates the unthinkable”

     You’ll have to tune in later as I finish him to find out what the “Unthinkable” means…lol!   I know I’ve already got several (six total) new dolls started. I’m hoping that now that the Christmas season has started and all the shopping that needs to be done, I’ll actually slow down just enough to get some of them finished! Please visit often as I do plan to post them as I get them done.  I hope you’re all feeling inspired and are giving into the dollmaking urge…they’ll make great Christmas gifts, too! 

                         Happy Doll Making!

 For anyone interested, my BOCES Basic doll workshop will be running again in January, 2012…registration for this class is now open… 

http://webserver.ouboces.org/AdultEd/AE_ged_learnenglish.cfm  Click winter 2012 course catalog,  page 25,  course #A8335wa-12) 

The workshop runs from January 28 to February 11…hope to see you there!         

 

 

The Historical Society of Rockland County

November 20th, 2011

 

 

 

Hey all,

     I was recently contacted by Joanne Potanovic of the Historical Society of Rockland County (www.rocklandhistory.org).  Joanne asked me to participate in their 36th Annual Miniature, Dollhouse and Art Exhibition in New City, NY… of course, I was thrilled!  I’ve loaned them several of my Art dolls and shadow boxes.  While at the reception today, I met several local artists and residents including jewelry artist Stephanie Magdalena, has a few of her cool jewels in exhibit. Her specialty is glasswork…very cool!  There were dioramas (above), shadow boxes, mobiles, quilts and more!

    The Historical Society is a museum small in size but loaded with tons of wonderful little and well known facts about Rockland and several surrounding counties. Make sure to visit the Blauvelt historical house next door. With Thanksgiving approaching and Christmas not too far behind, this makes an ideal spot to bring the kids and visiting relatives and spend a while enjoying the various displays!  If you happen to live in the area (yes Deseria…that means you…lol!)  come on down and take a moment to enjoy the collective display of not just dolls and doll houses but the artwork of many eclectic artists.

The exhibit will continue now through February of 2012. The hours are: Wednesday – Sunday 12pm -4 pm.

     Also, a big thank you goes out to the ladies of my recent BOCES workshop. Several of them mentioned that I should look into the nearby craft school, Peters Valley (www.petersvalley.org ).  Never having heard of it and living only about an hour away, I decided to investigate.  I contacted Jennifer Apgar and,  I’m happy to say, was invited to teach next July! 

    For anyone interested, my BOCES Basic doll workshop will be running again in January, 2012…registration for this class is now open… 

http://webserver.ouboces.org/AdultEd/AE_ged_learnenglish.cfm  Click winter 2012 course catalog,  page 25,  course #A8335wa-12) 

The workshop runs from January 28 to February 11…hope to see you there!         

 

           HAPPY     THANKSGIVING     EVERYONE!!!

    Just a reminder: Anyone in the Ohio area interested in attending the “The Doll Party GALA 2012″… registration is now open! (http://clothdollconnection.com/dollgatherers/index.html).  I’ll be teaching an “Americana” style shadow box class there at the Punderson Manor Resort…GORGEUOS!   (http://www.pundersonmanorstateparklodge.com/)  in Newbury, Ohio.  Hope to see you there!

 The BOCES Workshop

November 10th

  

 

        As you all know,  I just taught my new BASIC doll making workshop at my local BOCES.  I am not a cloth doll artist but wanted to design a workshop that was as simple as possible to include all levels…beginner to intermediate. In doing so, I didn’t want to push the envelope, as the saying goes, but as the class progressed and I saw the ladies abilities and their desire for more challenging information,  I decided to do a little tweaking. Thanks to your great feedback and wonderful encouragement ladies, I managed to get a few of the kinks out and expanded my instruction booklet to include the picture details I later emailed to all of you.

      Throwing caution to the wind, I reworked my paper pattern. Using some of their suggestions, I lengthened the fingers and arms.  When I showed the gals the new hands, there was a great deal of chatter and sharing…very cool to learn from those you are teaching…very cool!!!! The first hand I made was fingerless …remember, I was going for simple here…lol!  The new hands now include simple, yet movable fingers…yes, they are a bit challenging, but if you’re up to the task you’ll be very pleased with your results!  I then moved on to lengthen the legs and enlarged the feet…you know how much I LOVElarge feet on my dolls!   Above is the doll I started in the class alongside the ladies and later finished at home…she is somewhat more stylized than I had intended…long and lean… and yet I love her overall elongated look!  She will be the newmodel for this Basic workshop!  If  you happen to live in the Goshen, NY area and would like to give doll making a try…sign up! Check it out at the BOCES website ( http://webserver.ouboces.org/AdultEd/AE_ged_learnenglish.cfm  Click winter 2012 course catalog,  page 25,  course #A8335wa-12)  The workshop runs from January 28^th to February 11^th …hope to see you there!         

                                                         Happy Doll Making!

 

 

November 6th

Hello All,

     Today was the last day of the “Basic Doll” workshop I’ve been conducting at my local BOCES. I’ve had the pleasure of sharing my love of doll making with six lovely ladies each with different levels of ability. For some it was the first time making a doll…period! Others, although being hardcore crafters for years, ventured out to try their hand at doll making. One woman made a fabulous white rabbit; another made a wonderful old crone! Each doll was truly unique to its creator as each of the ladies followed the “flow” of their own idea …in the end, all the dolls were very successful!

     This workshop focused on the art of simple doll making. It was geared as an introduction for beginners to help them acquire the skills needed to fashion a basic body crafted out of muslin. Students learned to sculpt a basic face out of paper clay. Neatness in stitching and appearance, although important, were not the focus of this project.  Our main objective was to learn the craft and have fun in the process!  The dolls comes alive in the costuming and embellishments each creator chooses to complete her doll after the workshop is over…thus making her a true one-of-a-kind piece!

     Because the workshop was limited to three 3 hour sessions, each days focus was divided into three sections; much of the doll was created outside the classroom. Each student was provided with illustrated instructions to work at their own pace while at home.

Day 1: Construct the body and complete by next session

 Day 2: Construct the face and complete by next session

 Day 3: Paint facial details and complete the workshop

    The schedule was tight, the pace was fast, and the bonding was great!  We all had a fun time and enjoyed each other’s company…and came away with a great doll to boot! Thank you, ladies, for your interest in my workshop and for allowing me to share my dollmaking experience with you! I not only taught the workshop but I learned a great deal as well!  I regret that I was not able to get all of the ladies’ dolls individually…I think I was talking too much and forgot…lol!  See a few of the results above!  

On a different note:

      Since I’ve decided  to “Glamorize”my blog, I’ve experimenting with fonts and color…as I’m sure you’ve noticed…lol! So please bear with me as I make monthly adjustments…or mistakes…lol! If you live in the Warwick, NY area and you’re interested in taking my workshop at the Goshen, NY BOCES, they will be offered again starting Saturday, January 28^th 2012. Look for it in the BOCES WINTER catalog or contact me directly and I can notify BOCES of your interest.                           Happy Doll Making!

The Latest

 

 

 

 

Gracie                                                                                  Pansy

The Bledsoe Sister’s

 

Here are the latest pictures of my trio singers. Lead singer “Gracie,” the most soulful of the three, is always calm, cool and collected … and breaks into song whenever the mood strikes her!

Pansy, passionate with a deep, rich voice, is full of “Sass and Attitude!” Girl, you know she’s all that…and more!!!

Stay tuned for Sue, the youngest of the three coming soon at a later date.

   Abigail

Also, here’s the latest picture of Abigail. She looks quite ghastly but, after all, that was the look I was going for…lol!

Visit again soon…Happy Dollmaking!