I made his head floppy and turning to the side. I pulled out all my rust and discolored bits, but that wasn’t good enough so I had to do some research into making metal look old. What fun- home chemistry! Then, gears-Â I needed some gears… shout out for donations on my local community mailing list- the next day, a bag of gears on my doorstep. Have I mentioned that I love the internet?! I was finished with him on Wednesday… but then I wasn’t. I made him new legs and feet. Better. And a few more bits of hardware. I now declare him finished.
the “Idea” was a robot, found decomposing in a forest, a milleneum after his last step… but I think he looks more like he’s had a few too many and didn’t make it home. Whatever.
I’m all over the place these days.
At the beginning of last week I was working on little boys in plaid. Got frustrated. Went over to the robots in plaid. Finished 3 robots. Got frustrated with the 4th. Went back and finished this little cutie. Hopefully I will get robot #4 finished today… Then maybe some more of these little boys.
this one is a retake of this guy. Maybe he is cold?
He was the first robot I cut out this time- testing my new design for the hips, legs and knees.
But nothing is going smoothly lately and each one has been a struggle to get right.
Here is the pair. The new robot is the dork robot. It is all about the plaid. The one on the left has plaid pants (uncool), high-waisted (hmm), bow-tie (dorky), pocket with pocket protector (oh please!), well, you know… Now the robot on the right, who looks as if he fears that by sitting too close he will catch something- he’s got a plaid jacket (so debonair), slim gray trousers to show-off his long roboty legs, brass buttons, a smirk, and a snazzy pocket square shaped pressure indicator on his chest… isn’t he so handsome.
Maybe I have been reading too much Mr. Peacock. Should a middle-aged, fashion challenged, Boston (frumpiest city in America) lady even be reading that blog!? There is a lot of fantastic plaid over there. But, the fascination with plaid started before I started reading a fashion site for men… There was the plaid blanket I finished in January. And my brother scanned a load of childhood photos and sent me a disc- I swear it was all plaid, all the time from the 1950’s through the 1970’s. All that input had to spill out somewhere!
So here is robot #2 in this series. The Dork.
long and spidery but not as much as robot 1.
I often redo faces. I make a doll, sit back, maybe even wait a day and then decide that I am not satisfied. Off with the old face and try something new. Yesterday’s face- right before I snipped it off-
I started out on one robot to confirm that my new hip and leg design would work. I got into doing the finish work and did what I always do when I only have one doll to work on- I completely overdid it! Step away from the robot… cut out 3 more, sew and stuff them. Once I have 4 going, I can think and see more clearly. Then it is always a surprise to see which one get done first.
I am slightly reluctant to post him because he is part of a pair (in my head anyway)- but, what the heck! Introducing, the robot version of Mr. Handsome–
It is always a challenge to get a sense of scale. I took a number of photos on objects that hopefully will give an idea of how big he is- almost 28″ tall with his long spidery legs.
His hip joints work beautifully and he is lots of fun to pose.
I will tell more of his story when I get the other robot done- it is all about the plaid.
manufacturing, right?
Lots of pieces, all lined up on the worktable-
stitches-
I think I use that title a lot.
I have been all over the place for the last week. I’ve had visitors to my studio from Portugal and New York. I started some new boy dolls but have put them aside. The Purl girl generated a ton of emails and comments which left me feeling sort of discombobulated- well, unable to focus at any rate. I think I am back on track now though- I’m working on some robots… haven’t been there for a while.
Survey results- That was so much fun- I will have to do more surveys! Tiny world was the clear winner. Which is great because the pattern is mostly done already! This week I plan (hope) to get the photos done.
And, I spent some time this weekend going through old photo albums. I needed to find some childhood photos for the handmade portrait project. It was a challenge to find any family photos of 5 little kids where everyone looked semi-human, the photo was in focus, and the light was decent. This one is obviously post-childhood, but I thought it was the cutest one I found-
1979- Childrens Museum in Boston
Ten years ago today, the studio building where I had worked for 11 1/2 years- the Kendall Center for the Arts, burned down. The fire has been one of those markers in my life- before the fire when I did pottery, and after the fire. Right after the fire was a very difficult time for me- no surprise. It happened right in the midst of my art midlife crisis. Losing my studio and community, my sketchbooks, photos and notebooks, changed where I even considered going next. I have thought a lot about how the loss propelled me into new directions in a way that might have never happened otherwise. You know- all those phoenix rising analogies. It was after the fire that I got onto the internet. That’s right- before mid-1999, I was a computer illiterate. And why did I get onto the internet? I wanted to replace the books I’d lost. And I found Ebay- which turned out to be the gateway drug to the wide world of the internet for me! Wow- and did that ever start me off on an interesting path.
So, this is one of those tales- bad things happen and you never know where you’ll be 10 years later. I know I have been lucky.
wow, wow, wow!!! I am so thrilled by the response to the pattern on Purl Bee– from now on she will be referred to as purl girl. This is totally inspiring me to do my own pattern. A couple of things about me- I get overwhelmed and so thinking about doing a pattern suddenly seems enormous with too many decisions to make. And, I get easily discouraged- if I make a pattern and it’s a flop, I probably won’t try again.
So- I thought it’d be fun to do a survey. What pattern should I try first. The choices are- tiny world, kitty, tiki pillow, or sweater baby.
all of these would be doable by someone with basic sewing skills- nothing fancy.
