Monthly Archives: August 2006

that blogging thing

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In real face to face life, I am with a lot of non-bloggers. People who don’t understand what a blog is, why or how someone would do it. Sharon of In a Minute Ago, has been thinking about it and explaining it clearly since she started blogging 2 1/2 years ago. Her most recent post on the subject is here and she talks about the community building aspect of blogging (among other things). If you are curious about the whole why and how, just read everything she’s posted under blogging– and the comments. It is all very interesting reading.

If any of this inspires you to read more blogs, check out this post about managing your blog reading.

And then, if you decide to jump in and start one, there is a great article on Whip Up about starting a craft blog. If you are not feeling like it is working out the way you had expected, read this other Whip Up article full of excellent craft blog advise.

Good luck!

and now…

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This is what I brought home from NIADA-

church hat

It is called “Church Hat”, is about 6″ tall with the pedestal, and is by Annie Wahl. If you are interested in seeing some more photos from NIADA- much better then mine- Deb Wood posted her’s here.

Since I’ve been home my mind has been spinning with ideas. I am inspired to do another gourd doll… a bit late for the NIADA show, but I don’t do well when I feel I am trying to fit my work into a challenge prompt. I cleaned a bunch of gourds and who knows, I might get around to painting them…

gourds

I had several things on my list of things to do, even before I left town. I had promised my sister a “make-do” pin cushion. She picked out the glass and the colors when she was visiting me last month.

pin cushion 1

I got it finished today. Here it is in bondage, no I mean being glued in place-

pin cushion 2

and now another Red Riding Hood. I’ve got to work through some of the bits I’m not satisfied with on the first one-

hood 2

I was so excited to see that my first Red Riding Hood was on Whip Up! Welcome anyone that has found me through Kath’s fantastic blog!

and then Chicago

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Well, actually, this sign was from the Minneapolis Airport. We don’t have signs like this in Boston-

sign

I was a day late getting to Chicago. My plane got so delayed leaving, that I spent another night in Minneapolis. I had one full day in Chicago with Eleanor- what a great way to spend my birthday! We did her errands, then went to Fabric Stores- 2121 21st St and Vogue Fabrics. I used the birthday excuse to buy myself some really special wool/angora(? or was it cashmere, I should have written it down) blend in my favorite acid green color. Then downtown to the Chicago Cultural Center and Millennium Park. Thanks Brandy for the fantastic suggestions. I’ve got a few left that I’ll have to do next time I’m in Chicago.

So here is the bean, of course… had to take a picture of that-

bean1

bean2

I don’t know how I managed to get those pictures with no one else around- there were crowds of people everywhere…

and this amazing fountain-

fountain1

it was hot as anything and I was very tempted to jump in with everyone else-

fountain2

fountain3

On Thursday morning, before flying home, I went out to Redmoon with Eleanor and she gave me a tour of the shop. Wow! They are doing some amazing stuff and it all looks like it would be so much fun to work on. Another life maybe.

NIADA report 3- wrap-up

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On Monday, after the conference was officially over, there were some master classes. I took one in the morning with Shelley Thornton on pattern making- doll clothes. It was great to be able to see her doll undressed. She showed us how she uses draping and paper towels to make patterns. I have heard of people using paper towels before, but couldn’t really understand the benefit over any paper- well, that is because I wasn’t buying good enough paper towels! The ones Shelley was using are almost like fabric, but easier to tape together- enlightenment!

shelley class

shelley class 2

In the afternoon I took a color class with Charles Batte. He had a duffle bag full of fabric pieces- mostly silk. We worked on putting colors together for a doll palette and then critiqued each others choices. It was very interesting. I’m thinking of making some postcards out of my choices- to see if I can really make the colors work together.

charles class

colors

I came away with lots to think about. Processing….

NIADA report 2

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One event where dolls from the visiting artists are displayed, is the critiques. This is optional- well actually you have to pay extra for it. I didn’t participate in the critiques this year. I didn’t really want to hear someone elses “constructive criticism”- I have enough of that in my own head! These were my faves- These 2 dolls are all felt. They are made by a Russian artist, Alina Tatarskaya. I wasn’t able to talk to her because of the language barrier.

felt girl

blue man

The next day, people displayed the dolls they had made for the gourd doll challenge. This one is by Akira Blount– so beautiful-

akira

Saturday evening was the banquet and we received our souvenir doll. She was done by Shelley Thornton this year. I’ve got her posed here in the hotel with my other dolls-

window

The last conference event is the show and sale for the NIADA artists. That is where you can see the most incredible collection of high end doll and figurative artwork. Here are way too many photos- some pretty bad- and some people are missing. This is what I ended up having on my camera and as always, am missing photos of some work that I really liked.

This is Leslie Molen the newest member of NIADA.

molen

and here is Annie Wahl’s table. She had some busts- she called them “Church Hats”. I bought one… I’ll post a photo later.

wahl

Ankie Daanen

ankie1

ankie2

Charles Batte– I took an excellent color class with him on Monday.

batte

Donna May Robinson

donna may

This was the one piece that Forest Rogers showed at the gallery night and the sale.

forest

tiny babies by Dorothy Hoskins

hoskins

Ima Naroditskaya

ima1

ima2

Tatiana Baeva

tatiana

Shelley Thornton– I took a pattern making class (draping) with her.

thornton

Tine Kamerbeek

tine

and a detail of the foot on this incredible piece-

tinefoot

phew- that’s all for now…

NIADA report 1

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The first event at the NIADA conference is a Gallery night where all the members display one special piece. These are some of my favorites in no special order-

Elizabeth Brandon-

Kathryn Walmsley

2 kitties

Tine Kamerbeek

Ima Naroditskaya

Shelley Thornton

Annie Wahl

I very carefully picked up business cards from lots of the artists’ so I’d be sure to have the correct contact information, but somehow managed to misplace them. I will update links if I find anymore artists websites. There is contact information for all the artist at the NIADA page.