Pansy

Woohoo! Another doll out of limbo!

This doll ended up stalled because the body fabric totally overwhelmed me.

She is wearing a skinny cashmere dress. Sewed on shoes.

Pansy is the only flower I can think of that could possibly have all these colors!

Hair detail- boiled wool.

Sold

marigold

When I first made the girl dolls in March 2007, I finished 5 of the 8 I started. Finally, at least one of these poor girls is coming out of limbo.

The “sisters” all had flower names so I am calling her Marigold. I always planned on this doll having removable clothes and maybe even a whole wardrobe. Her body was meant to look like she had on underwear.

She has a shirt made from a linen napkin. I kept the edging. Her skirt is made from Liberty of London fabric.

Sweater- cashmere of course!

Her shoes are sewed on, so she will be a sensible shoe kind of girl… forever.

And about Tropical girl and naked dolls and all. I like the idea of a removable grass skirt- sounds like fun to make. A good project for later today. Another event on todays schedule- I am going to give a talk about being an artist to the teen counselors at the local art camp/center. I’ve never done anything like it before- I’ll give you a report on it.

tropical girl

This image from Flickr inspired me.

The sketch-

So what do I think about a naked doll? I was originally planning a fairy with little wings on her back. I changed my mind, thinking of Gauguin’s Tahiti paintings. Of course, just now as I was searching for a link to those paintings, I see that they are nothing like my idea. So, I was thinking about my vague memory of Gauguin’s Tahiti paintings.

I left her body undetailed except for fingers. I figured it would be a case of not knowing when to stop.

I was unsure of this doll last night. I had not cut her “hair” into locks. After looking at her for a while, I decided it looked too Lawrence of Arabia. I was nervous about cutting, but I like it a lot better.

banner

this is a side project I’ve been working on-

It is a banner for shows. To avoid the embarassment of realizing, halfway through the day, that I haven’t got my name anywhere in my show booth… yes, it has happened. Several times.

detail-

This is a carry-around project, a watch a dvd project, a project to do when other projects aren’t going right. I actually have a doll finished. I will probably post her tomorrow. I am still thinking about whether she is done.

fairy photo

A treasure from my studio.

I don’t know what’s up with me these days. Well, actually I do, but…  hmph, anyway. What a summer. I have been having a hard time staying on task and finishing things. I’ve got a bunch of stuff started and several (many) dolls that are in the I’m-really-not-sure-where-this-is-going pile. I decide to do some studio shuffling with the idea of organizing or cleaning but mostly it is making things messier and makes me feel even more unsettled. So, in todays shuffling, I came across this photo. I found a large box of photos in a trash pile once. I found homes for most of them, but kept a few special ones including this one. I always wonder why someone scratched out the belt?

girl with buns

Another girl, another cashmere dress. I have been thinking about a little girl doll with these buns for 1 1/2 years. Finally she got to the front of the line.

I used the cuff of the cashmere sweater as the bodice.

The buns are made of felt beads.

And, since I know everyone wants to see- under the dress-