I went down to the Cape to see Salley and her amazing artwork!
I’ve seen enough of Salley’s artwork to know it would be worth the drive to see this piece in person- it was amazing! She blogged about the visit here.
We sat in her studio and chatted, we walked in the woods, we visited the show, we had lunch… and it was a perfect Autumn day. Salley’s studio is so beautiful- I always enjoy visiting and seeing what she is up to. Lots of work-in-progress!
Today is the target day for the Land Of Nod Holiday catalogs to arrive in peoples’ homes- So now I can shout out the news!
A target date means that some people already have them and others not quite yet. Luckily I received a special delivery catalog so I’ve seen my dolls on paper and also at the website.
As you can see, they are producing a fox couple, a kitty couple and a bunny couple. The dolls are being made in India. At the top of the page is a sweet elephant designed by Hilary and on the left are some fantastic Cotton Monster creatures. I will confess that when I was in Chicago in September, I visited the Land Of Nod offices and the Cotton Monster hedgehogs were the ones I wanted to sneak into my bag and take home!
It is hard to understand the scale from these photos, but they are smaller than the ones I make and sell. Here is a photo I took (a YEAR ago!) when I was working on the prototypes-
In the course of the project, various bits and pieces changed because of child safety or problems with getting the right materials. The finished foxes have not got scarves, shawls, purses… but, if you wanted to, you could make your own, right?
There are also 4 babies- what I call swaddled babies and they are calling Bundle Babies (Love that name!) The Land Of Nod version has an awake side and an asleep side and is also smaller than my art pieces. Here is a photo of the prototypes (asleep side) they sent me for approval last Spring.
Here is a link to the catalog pages- lime, yellow, orange, red
If you click over to Wee Wonderfuls, you can read how Hilary went to a Land Of Nod store and was able to see a few things in person. She sent me this photo of the doll and also the tag- how exciting is that!
It has been a long process- more than a year. This introduction is just one more step in a journey that has been all new to me. I am now going to watch with curiosity, excitement, anticipation, how these babies make their way into the world!
Well it used to be anyway.
I finally admitted to myself that my nice old linen jacket was looking bedraggled and didn’t really fit right any more. And one of the buttons had broken. It was time to recycle it. I think it makes a pretty great little fox jacket!
I am imagining that the squarer eye shape looks a little like glasses.
I love the bunny fabric. I bought it in San Francisco this past summer.
Here is what is hiding in her school bag-
She has a little pocket hanky- a scrap from one of my Dad’s old shirts.
The dress closes with a snap in the back-
She is ready for the fluctuating weather of Autumn. One minute it is hot, the next you need a little shawl!
Another finished lady.
I put a tiny button on her back- so cute!
When you start down a path, you just never know where you will end up. Who would have ever thought when I started making dolls,
that I’d end up here!
What an amazing world!
yes, I was inspired by the lady at Honk with the flowers in her hair.
I pulled out my partially finished dolls and have them spread out on every surface of my studio right now. Dolls ahead!
Ladies on the desk-
Foxes and more ladies on the table-
Men on the ironing board-
and not quite sure what behind the sewing machine.
And, I have to confess, this isn’t even everything. I have other bins with partially started projects including dogs, kitties, lumberjacks, fish… time to get to work and find out who some of these characters are!
I ended up at Honk last weekend. I’ve never been before. I knew it was going to happen, thought about going, figured I had way too much work I should be focusing on and forgot about it. But, I was out and about and decided to stop into a restaurant I’d want to try out and suddenly I was in the middle of it- Hurray for serendipity! I had no idea what I’d been missing!
Ben and I wandered around Davis Sq. for several hours on Saturday, watching a number of the bands perform. It was all so much sensory stimulation- I was exhausted! We returned for the parade on Sunday and this time I brought my camera.
All ages and all colors! Love the guy in plaid.
I am not sure I’ve ever seen so much hula hoop action in my life! This was just one of several groups.
Lots of politics mixed with music.
Even some really amazing embroidery!
I couldn’t get a good photo of this embroidery unfortunately-
Amazing art clothes-
Art instruments- can you see that that “thing” is made out of circular saw blades?
And amazing people- Definitely doll inspiration! I love her jacket and hair. She was beautiful.
I will try not to miss it again! We had so much fun and it was one of those events where I felt like I live in a wonderful place. Hurray for Honk!
I was in Stamford, CT and the Maker Faire was less than an hour away- how could I not go. Especially when I knew Sonya was there!
And all her dresses!
I saw some other things too of course although I only had about 3 hours total to be there.
New York in toothpicks-
Scribble makers-
A man dressed in Metro Cards-
and a life-size mouse trap!
Next year, my husband and I will probably come and spend the weekend. There was so much to see, so much energy and so many people having a great time! I’m glad we made the quick trip and got a taste.
I went to the NIADA conference in Stamford, CT. I saw some amazing artwork.
I love Neva‘s work- the craftsmanship is amazing and her humor has stayed with me- every time I think back, I am amused again!
Nancy Wiley‘s beautiful work. She now has 2 children’s book- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Red Riding Hood. I bought myself the Red Riding Hood book. She did a presentation and described the process of illustrating the book and self-publishing.
I love seeing Shelley Thornton‘s work. I wish there might be more but even one is a treat.
I saw other dolls (Anna Zueva) that I missed getting photos of and met some wonderful people (Lillian Alberti). There were hours and hours of presentations.
The talk I needed to hear was by Robert Tonner who is currently celebrating 20 years of his doll company. He spoke at the first NIADA conference I went to in 2005- I still remember things he said from that first talk. This is what he said that I wrote down and will post in my studio- If you want to grow, let it go. I need to hear that- over, and over, and over… yes, I admit it. I can go nuts if things aren’t just so- especially if they have my name on them… reminder to self- let it go.
And now I will probably burn any bridges that might have existed with the NIADA part of the doll world. Wow- I just checked out the doll websites for the above artists and several others too. Most of them have not gotten the message about the internet. Please- update your sites! Put some of your new dolls up there. Get rid of the black backgrounds. How many clicks does it take to see what you do? Sigh.
And here is a story that will be what I remember from this trip. If I ever get worried that I am getting a fat head when exciting things happen, I will come back over here, reread this and laugh one more time!
background- On Saturday morning there was a program where visiting artists’ could sign up to show 10 images of their work- they called it 10 x 12 (based on this). I hadn’t submitted my images because I thought that, heh, I’m all over the internet. People have seen my work and I should give other people a chance. (silly me!) When I asked the organizer of the program, she told me only 7 people had submitted work so I joined the fun after all. I presented and survived- it was the first time I have ever spoken into a microphone! At the end I mentioned the licensing contract with Land of Nod. I then spent the rest of the day answering the question- how did LON find me. I don’t actually know the answer to that but tried to suggest ways that hopefully didn’t make me sound like a jerk. That evening was the banquet and again someone asked- how did they find me? Maybe I’d used up all my patience but I said- they probably saw my work on line. I’m pretty well known on the internet. And the woman sitting next to me asks, For what?
I am still laughing. It was all so absurd. Yes, I was at a doll conference. No, almost no one there knew my work or was even interested. I apparently don’t fit their definition? Luckily I am at a place with my work that I find it funny and not discouraging. And, next year I will think about going to Comic Con where I think I might fit in a little better.