Category Archives: personal

2008 review

Posted on by

Bear with me- I find this kind of analysis very helpful.

I finished 72 dolls this year-

and some cookies.

There were 23 tattooed men in various modes of fashion-

18 girl dolls-

11 babies

15 ladies-

2 gifts that inspired 24 more tiny world pincushions-

And the other stuff- I went to NYC, London, Portland, OR, and Chicago. I met Diane, Melissa, Jan and Susan in person. The paperbag swag project got finished after a long delay caused by 4 out of the 6 participants having babies- a pretty good excuse I’d say. I grew tomatoes! I did 4 shows. I was mentioned on Design Sponge by guest bloggers in January (Thanks Kath!) and then again in December (Thanks Camilla!). That was a little freaky. And, one of my dolls is Mr. April in the Whip Up calendar. All in all, it was another great year for my artwork and for my own crafty blogging universe.

Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by and visited and left comments or not in 2008. Happy, healthy and creative 2009 to all!

hey, I’m back!

Posted on by

I got sucked into the giant vortex that is Christmas. Now I’m back- phew! I can not wait to get back to work.

Let’s see… since I was here last, we had 2 snowstorms that left us with 17 inches of snow and made driving very exciting, just when I was finally getting around to doing some Christmas shopping. Luckily we live within walking distance of most of the important places- like the grocery store.

The house was full of people and activities. It was great having Eleanor and Julian home. Actually getting Eleanor home was a bit exciting since she arrived in one of those aforementioned snowstorms. Lots of activity centered in the kitchen. The dishwasher was getting a great workout.

The day before Christmas, we went for a family soak in a hot tub in Inman Square. I am hoping it will become a new family tradition. It was wonderful.

Christmas Day was pretty quiet- everyone relaxing.

Then, down to Connecticut for an insanely full day of family and friend visiting. Yesterday, (12/27), Eleanor and Julian left- we miss them already.

Here is one of my handmade presents- a lap blanket, approximately 4 ft x 4 ft. and made out of cashmere knit samples that I got from Jen, one of my Boston Handmade friends. It is now with Julian in Portland, OR.

here is a lighter photo so you can see the details better-

I have at least one more project to show, but it is not finished yet… that is what happens to the loved ones who are at home- their gifts trickle in.

7 things with lots of links

Posted on by

this is my 900th post- wow… that’s a lot for someone who used to consider herself writing phobic.

Kerry tagged me a while back for 7 random things. These will be Very random and a bit rambling.

1. Pie makes me think of Mary. I made that one last night.

2. If I make a doll and it makes me think of one of Rosa’s daughters, I feel like it is a success!

3. This is one of my brothers. And this is another. This is my husband. This is my husbands’ brother. My daughter works here.

4. I bought this book by Ruth Singer from AmazonUK. The exchange rate has flipped and now I feel like I got a great deal by going through a UK site. The book is beautiful. I will probably post more about it on another day.

5. I love the internet. Ebay was my entry drug. The craft/art blog community and Flickr are at the top of my love list. I am liking Twitter but still getting used to it. I am still not clear on how Facebook fits into my life. Etsy works for me.

6. I did one of these memes a while back. That star I mentioned? Here it is-

7. This makes me incredibly sad. I have been involved with blogs- reading, commenting, writing- for about 5 years now. I have read about new houses, sicknesses, babies born, pregnancies lost, marriages and divorces, and sometimes it seems that someone just disappears. This is the first time I have felt connected to someone going into hospice. And the odd thing is, I have been a lurker for all the years I’ve watched her amazing drawings go by. Maybe I commented once. But, I still feel like I know her in a way. Her artwork touched me. I teared up when I read this post.

I will try to tag some people soon- right now I feel exhausted just doing this!

voting day

Posted on by

I voted this morning. There was about a 15 minute wait and lots of excited energy. There were many newbies- people who didn’t know where to go. People in the wrong place. Everyone was cheerful and helpful.

It was a beautiful day today. Ben and I decided to take a vacation day and get away from the election until we might actually be able to hear some results. We drove down to a beach in Rhode Island.

I took off my shoes and walked in the sand. I put my feet in the ocean- brrr! I thought about feet memories versus head memories.

We went over to Quonochontaug Pond where we used to rent a cottage when the kids were little. 

Tonight will be spent watching red and blue patches fill in on media maps. It will be such a relief to have this election finished and decided. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to settle down and get back to work- because that is how I’ve been feeling- unsettled. These girls are waiting for me to finish them up-

My daughter is going to the Obama event in Chicago- I will be very interested to hear her experience- sounds exciting and maybe a little scary!

oh, oh, oh… a very exciting week!

Posted on by

I have had a very exciting week. Lots of great stuff going on that resulted in me not spending enough time in the studio. Although that was more about me being distracted as opposed to being out and about.

You know Craft Magazine? Hee hee- I’m in it!

This is what it actually looks like when I open it-

hence the action shot above. Diane and Rachael did an amazing job on the article- I am so proud to be part of it.

Another exciting thing… I got a request for some hi-res images for a project (one more exciting thing that I will tell you about when there is more information) and that made me realize how totally inadequate my camera is for many fun things I’d like to do. I spent tons of time on Amazon, looking at many, many cameras. I went from thinking I’d buy this one (Canon A590IS) for $115 plus or minus to knowing I NEEDED this one (Canon G10) for $500. How does this happen?! I went down to Harvard Square this morning to see if I could find a copy of Craft Magazine. While I was there, I thought I’d go to a camera store and see if they had a G10 in stock that I could touch. Well, sure enough, they not only had it, it was on sale. I’ve got a new Baby! I’m just doing my part to help with the US economic crisis- hee!

a third exciting thing- new threads-

Yesterday I spent more hours then I thought possible picking out beautiful threads. These are danish flower cotton and I also got crewel embroidery wool. I am so grateful to receive such bounty. When I am given a gift like this, I feel it is my duty to make something beautiful from it- my way of saying thank you. This was my haul 2 years ago. I have enjoyed my bounty every time I have opened my drawer full of color!

There is other stuff too… not ready to be posted about though.  So many distractions! I will leave you with a flower photo taken with my new camera.

black eye

Posted on by

I’m not totally sure where this one came from. It was in the brain somewhere and I was taking a walk and saw a boy in the distance that I thought had a black eye. And then I did a sketch.

Somehow the idea of a wool bruise. I had to do it.

He doesn’t look like a fighting kind of guy. Probably more like me. I can remember having a black eye twice in my childhood. They were both the result of balls hitting me in the face. Geesh, I hated games where people were throwing (dodgeball) or kicking (kickball) balls that might and sometimes did hit me in the face- since I seemed to be totally unable to catch them.

I’m going to make another with a few tweaks. This is my first boy (versus man) doll.

the story thing…

Posted on by

I am going to explain why I don’t write stories for my dolls, but first-

sometimes I go away for a day or two and it’s hard to get back to the blog. I am in the middle of an ocean of wip’s right now, so nothing really to post. Just a lot of potential…

The post has to have a photo though- I received an email last week asking if I was the M. Kirchner who made the mugs in the photo attached to said email. Asking if I was still making them. Her mom collected them and she wanted to continue the collection- it was wonderful to know that the old work is cherished.

Many people have suggested that I write stories or bios for my dolls. Many other doll artists do this and do it very well. This is why I don’t.

1. When I was a senior in art school, I was finishing up a ceramic sculpture. Someone came over to look at it and started describing what they thought was going on in the piece, what they thought the story was. I was amazed at the richness of their narrative- much better then I could do. I realized that, left to their own imagination, viewers would come up with much more interesting stories then I every could and they enjoyed doing it.

2. When I made functional pottery, I pictured the user contemplating the images on their coffee cup or cereal bowl. The image might draw them into their own fantasy world (away from the real world) and inspire different stories each morning. I hoped to make a world in bowl- or at least a little vignette.

3. A few years ago I bought a doll from someone who wrote rich and wonderful bios of her creations. I did not see the bio before I received the doll. When I read it, I was taken aback. I’m not quite sure how to say this- I didn’t like her (the doll) from her description… I mean, I liked the doll itself- just not how she was described in the story… I thought- I would never be friends with this person- she would totally intimidate me in real life. She was smarter, more popular, more accomplished… I don’t know- the kind of person that I feel completely overwhelmed by. That certainly clarified the issue for me-no stories.  Resolve is easy when you don’t want to do it anyway!

I want to make characters that will inspire peoples imaginations- viewers will come up with their own stories. The dolls will be a catalyst for the imagination. No static story lines. I absolutely LOVE when people tell me who they think my dolls are- it always makes me feel successful when my work creates a spark.

I don’t want to sound like I have anything against other people writing up stories for their work- it just isn’t what I want to do.

this and that…

Posted on by

I’ve been having a very social week- unusual for me. It is connected to the new school year although no one in my house is affected by that- first time in more years then I can remember. It is just one of those new month/year things- I need to connect with people I haven’t seen in a while.

I went over to see a friend to talk about studio design… I am probably going to be moving my studio so I am working on the fantasy planning stage- ie looking at other peoples’ spaces, online and in person. She has a lot of my art from the old pottery days. It was fun to see it hanging at her house-

She also had this amazing bit of advertising ephemera. It is a TIME magazine ad from November 1955 for Simplicity patterns. Can you imagine a sewing pattern company advertising in such a mainstream magazine now? Anyway- great Steinberg drawing, so funny text. If you can’t read it, you can check it out here on Flickr- click all sizes.

Last night I went up to Portsmouth, NH with Abby, for the opening of the Teeny Tiny Art Show at the Three Graces Gallery. Wow! Portsmouth is a happening place on the first Friday opening night. Here are Abby’s beautiful birds-

We also got to see Elsa‘s amazing paper cuts. I don’t think there is any way I could get an idea of the delicacy of these pieces without seeing them in person. I’m in awe.

Today, we are waiting for Tropical Storm Hanna to visit. It is very humid.

Thanks everybody!

Posted on by

Thanks to everyone who joined in on my Happy Birthday giveaway- you all made my birthday, and the week leading up to it, so full of fun for me!

I wrote down all the entries in the order they came in -68 in all. A random number generator chose #60 and that was KnitSonya! Hurray!

And for my birthday- I took myself on a thrift store and antique mall shopping expedition. I found these-

And I know just what I’m going to do with them.