Doll

I needed to make some more of these school picture atc’s. I’ve been thinking about boys, which I pretty much left out of the last batch, and glasses.

They should be done by tomorrow. I hope to post them and also the 2 moustached tattooed guys to Etsy tomorrow.

A story from when I was in Chicago for Thanksgiving- I was walking around in the neighborhood where my daughter lives. Down a side street, I saw an awning that said Toy Gallery. I got SO excited- a Gallery! for Toys! I rushed over to get a better look. It was a sex toy store… I still cannot believe how disappointed I was! I think in the nanosecond between seeing the sign and figuring out what the place actually was selling, I had developed a whole fantasy of what would be there- my fantasy best ever art gallery. Oh well… it amuses me every time I think about my reaction.

I had the pleasure of visiting Danny Mansmiths studio while I was there. I didn’t take any photos because he is always posting great pics of his studio at his flickrstream. I kept him away from his sewing machine for an hour or so- it was so much fun to see everything close-up and get to see the textures and layers of the fabric and the sewing. And gab.

I also connected with Brandy for a second… she was participating in a craft fair on the day we flew in. I really wanted to meet her so I went over. But, of course, meeting someone when they are at their booth at a craft fair isn’t exactly ideal conditions for craft/blog/get-to-know-someone-better talk. It is great for getting to see a bunch of someone’s artwork though, so that was wonderful!

We have had unusually wintery weather since Thanksgiving.  Right now everything is coated with a glaze of ice.

the boxwood-

and alyssum-

I was so pleased to receive this photo.  What a beautiful baby.  I love to think that a doll I made will be part of her life.

Fall was late to arrive this year, but when the leaves finally started to change color, they were amazing.  I need to collect my photos here and I can remember, now that the trees are bare and the leaves are brown. Of course, we still need to rake them before the snow.

this was in Chicago- Eleanor’s feet-

Well, it’s over… we had our first frost last night.  I’m glad I got the photo of the nasturtiums last week.

This baby has been a hard one- why do I keep thinking of it as the colicky baby.  It is the baby I started with but kept having to put aside.  The base fabric is a rather loosely knit sweater.  It didn’t felt when I washed it, but I still wanted to use it- I like the texture and the color.  It was very hard to work with.  The wool fabric just didn’t hold it’s shape and I felt like I was wrestling it to get the right shape.  In retrospect, I should have used an inner-lining as a stabilizer.  And, actually that was just one of the problems.  Originally, this baby had a brown face.  When I was close to finishing, I stepped back and realized there was not enough contrast.  The brown face disappeared into the pile of leaves- so… face-ectomy (that’s a little gruesome pandering to the whole Halloween week heehee).  And I won’t go into the problems of getting the face right.  But, now it is done-

I loved embroidering the leaves.  Every time I went for a walk, I would bring some leaves home for inspiration.  Now I have a pile on my desk.

Bunny on the bottom-

I took the extra face and made a new body for it, so it has worked out for the best.  I have 2 more babies to finish before moving on.

Two more ladies done. I’ve posted a group shot over on flickr.

I’m rather liking this ruffle-edged suit jacket-

And this lady below has a hat that was inspired by someone I saw when I went to pick up my husband at the subway.

Here is what is next- babies, and random hands and legs for more lady dolls.

And the garden… puff of fluff. Butterfly weed is in the same family as milkweed and it is obvious at this time of year.

These chrysanthemums are the last flowers to bloom in my garden. I think they are called “Clara Curtis”.

Aren’t these beautiful? I picked them up when I was walking to mail some envelopes.

Fall- busy crafting season. I am trying to crank up my production to have inventory for the very limited venues I will be showing in this fall. I have a stack of ladies cut out, ready to put together and embellish.  The first 2 ladies-

The Market was fantastic! I was so lucky- Sunday was a perfect weather day (unlike cold, windy and rainy Saturday) and there were crowds of people. I met and talked to interesting people, handed out many magnets, sold lots of stuff and am all charged up to get back to my studio and make more art!

Here is our booth, first thing in the morning.

I spent some energy last week rethinking my display. For this sale, I used some vintage suitcases as risers, put out fewer dolls and kept my extra inventory out of sight. I think it helped keep the table from looking like such a jumble and if someone was interested in something, I pulled out my similar dolls to show them. It worked out very well.

The day started off with a bang when a man bought 2 Tattooed men and the naked robot! It was only later that I realized that I’d never gotten a group shot of the tattooed men- oh well, I’m not complaining-hehe. I will do separate posts with photos of the other 2 guys.

I have been accepted to show at Craftland in Providence, RI for the month of December. Hurray!

And, a garden peek- this is a pod on my tree peony. Such beautiful colors.

I was looking for some earrings to wear to the selling event last night. I was thinking- I wish I had something that looked like my artwork. So… tada! I made these with my moo stickers!

they have stickers on both sides.

love this-

It is amazing to discover the interesting people that live right in the same town as me. Through an odd series of events, which included helping someone deal with getting rid of a lot of fabric, I met Lilla Rogers. We got together yesterday and had a marathon, 4 hour, gab-fest. It was so much fun to talk to someone else about the web and it’s influences on the art and design world. To see her house and studio. And her art and the art work of some of the artists/designers that she represents. I was so impressed. We talked about blogs and flickr, etsy and the business end of art. I don’t know very many people that I can discuss these topics with- it is like finding someone who speaks the same language.

Who needs fireworks!  This is a beautiful asiatic lily, amazingly not devoured by red lily beetles.

And this is my new tool/toy-  a needle threader from Clover.  I am loving it.  And yes, I can usually make it work with one or two strands of cotton embroidery floss.  Wool crewel, no.

It looks like I will be in Ithaca, New York in 2 weeks.  Anybody out there?  Any recommendations?

How cool is this?! This is a first for me, my artwork in a book-

I am talking about this book- Making Gourd Dolls & Spirit Figures, by Ginger Summit and Jim Widess. I just got my copy and am pleased as punch! I can’t quite figure out why they put someone elses doll (the one the upper left hand page) on a page with my name on it, but… hey, I am very glad to have the photos of my dolls together! The book has a great range of examples and instructions for making dolls from gourds- very interesting.

Other stuff-

Am I the last person to read this post on Yarn Harlot? It resonated with me.

I fell in love over the weekend. I’m going to have to get one of these for my garden- Lady in Red Hydrangea.

I saw on my stats that someone had searched for “m kirchner pottery”. That was how I used to sign my pots. I had this crazy idea, right out of college (actually someone told me!) that it would be better to make my signature gender ambiguous so I would be taken more seriously. That was 1976. I don’t think I fooled anyone. My imagery hasn’t changed much when I switched over to fiber arts.

I’ve killed my website, which never was much of a website anyway. Mostly it was just a front door to my photo galleries. Now if you go to Mimi Kirchner.com, you will be here at the blog. This is where the action’s at anyway. Hopefully this will be an incentive to do some clean up chores and rearrange the furniture around here. I hope this doesn’t mess anything up for anybody.

And, I am working on Amy’s paperbag swag pages. The thing I’ve loved about this project is that it has given me a place to try out some techniques/ideas/materials that never seemed to fit in anywhere else. I have always admired Abby’s scrappy patchwork fabrics and have wanted to try making some.

Mine seems a little more uptight then hers, but it works for me. Next step- pages and some applique-

and then sketches for the next part-

I love my copy machine. I did the drawing and then copied it in several sizes to see how it works on the piece.

Lastly- flower of the day- Butterfly weed-

I am posting these now to get me through the winter.