I used some of my little drawings to make some artists trading cards. Email me (mimikatpoboxdotcom) if you’d like to trade. I posted them here on FlickR.
Monthly Archives: July 2005
getting distracted
I have put several in progress dolls aside to work on a wedding present for my niece- a bride and groom doll. I am trying a smaller and modified version of these ladies. I can’t quite figure out why they come out so differently after shrinking the pattern on the Xerox machine.
I’ve been trying to impove her figure- make her slimmer and with more of a neck. The one with legs can be the middle-aged doll-maker aunt, in a china doll form…
and now I’ve gotten even more distracted! I got my patch from Craftlog and am inspired! I have had thoughts of ATC’s and mini- appliques in the back of my mind for some time now. Today I played with inks and paint on fabric- voila!
– Mimi patches!
Now I need to figure out what’s next with them.
more on NIADA part 2
Some more of the artists I met at NIADA-
Floyd Bell is an artist who works in wood… that impresses me right there. There is something about a wooden doll- I can so easily imagine all the slips of a blade that might ruin a piece and so I am amazed at the finished artwork! He did a wonderful slide presentation about his progress in dollmaking.
Tomoko Fukuda is a doll maker from Japan. She works in cloth so I was immediately interested in her work. Pictures of her work are in my NIADA gallery here, here and this is from her display at the showroom. Her work is able to get across complex emotions so clearly- jealousy, sibling rivalry, pride, family relationships.
I bought her book-
and she signed it for me-
Sandra Thomas Oglesby had a piece in the “One Heart, One World” show that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind- I love this guy! Hopefully in this picture you can see the crossed fingers! And the shoes! Okay, I’m gushing….
It was really fun to meet Chomick and Meder and see their work. They were incredibly positive and willing to answer any question for us visiting artists- about suppliers, techniques and were especially great at the critique. I really appreciated the thoughtful comments on my work.
Lastly, for today, Here is some of the stuff I bought for myself!
patches-
and totally cool glass buttons-
New Galleries
I finally made some new photo galleries. Ione, East, and the Workshop doll. I got a bit carried away when I was photographing East. The wind started blowing his hair, and I really liked how it looked.
And in real life news, our car got smacked today- parked out in front of the house. The kind of smack that puts the car in the body shop for an indefinite period of time. ouch.
more on NIADA
I’m going to start posting about dollmakers I met in Philadelphia, in no particular order. I have a pile of business cards, postcards and a few magazines and I’m going to start shuffling through the pile.
These dolls are made by Leslie Molen of Rootie Studio. Here is a much better picture! These dolls just pulled you in- they have such sweet faces and expression. Also beautiful hair and costuming. Well, I could go on and on I guess, but then I’ll never get through!
One of the first people I met when I got to Philadelphia was Maryanne Oldenburg– what a friendly and welcoming person she was. She helped me feel part of the event right from the beginning. And what a sweet pea her little fellow was!
I met several artists who do minature work. This is an area of dollmaking that I had never appreciated before. I don’t think I could have without seeing them in person. There was Gisele Hanson, whose work was next to mine at the critique. She is obviously a very patient person since she never said a word about having to answer all my dumb email questions before getting to Philadelphia- she was one of the contact people for the conference, a job I don’t envy!
There were 2 NIADA artists who do minatures at the Philadelphia show. Jane Davies, who did the demonstration of minature sewing and showed this amazing creation-
The other artist was Susan Scogin who showed this piece-
I never had a chance to talk with her, but was amazed by how much life she could put into something so little!
I can see clearly now….
The new, enhanced me! I finally got bifocals and I love them- I can really see!
NIADA photos
Now that my workshop is finished I can get a few other things done… well actually my list is about a mile long!
I’ve put together an album of my photos from NIADA. I took tons of pictures but somehow came home with none of some amazing work. Luckily I’ve got links to some other peoples photo galleries if I need to remember.
Workshop!
I’ve been working very hard all week to get ready for my first teaching experience- a gourd head doll workshop. I’ve been so nervous!
These are the step-by-step face painting samples for the hand-out sheets.
My gourd head in progress- looking sort of smirky!
Now she has a body-
and all dressed-
Today was the first day of the workshop- working with the gourd. I had 7 students and everyone worked really hard.
Here is the results from today- It looks like a cute kindergarten class to me!
Tomorrow we do the bodies.
NIADA critique
One of the best things that happened in Philadelphia was the critiques I got on my work. All the visiting artists who had scheduled critiques set up their work on tables. We got to walk around and see the artwork of the other visiting artists. The NIADA artists walked around and gave feedback on the artwork in an informal way. After that, I had one-on-one critiques from Donna May Robinson and Shelley Thornton.
The critiques and comments were incredibly useful. People who commented were mostly very positive. The funny thing is, I mostly don’t remember the specific positive things people said- just that they said them; well also that they were informed and intelligent comments on colors use, form, construction, painting technique. I was most interested to hear what areas needed work. Also the direction I could push in- improving the body and clothing construction techniques, for instance. The most difficult part of showing my work was seeing some people just walk by- the work not engaging them at all.
In the end I think I learned the most by looking at the artwork of the members of NIADA. I never understood how excellent the work could be- I have now stretched my own definition of what will make me 100% satisfied with my own work and what I can aspire to.
This is Donna May Robinson and her work at the show-
and Shelley Thornton’s work-
I’m back from NIADA
I’m back from NIADA and Philadelphia; not that I saw any of Philadelphia. I almost never left the hotel! It was fantastic. I am tired after driving all day so I will post about what and who I saw during the next few days. Today I’ll start with my terrific roommate- Ruth Marks. Here is our room in the hotel-
and a better picture of her dolls-
