Inspiration is everywhere!

I like to try to post at least twice a week and because of this I post pictures of things in the works. After this doll, I am going to start working on some jewelry. Six months ago I bought everything needed to do a little soldering and I am itching to get started.I just love her little hairdo! I thought it might be cool to see where the inspiration came from. I am reading Kelly Rae Robert's book, "Taking Flight" and she has a painting on the cover and her girls have hair like this.
Also in keeping with the theme of collage from the book, I decided to make the dress out of paper cloth. I was going to do a little painting and stamping on the fabric, but I liked it so much I decided to leave it alone. The collage elements seemed to go together. I will add a little embroidery and maybe some crochet and let it go at that. Keeping it simple. I have decided she will hold three balloons, so now I have to figure out how I will do that. Wire and styrofoam is what I am thinking.

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Folk Art Whimsy

One of my New Years resolutions is to be up and working in the studio by 6:00 am. I am up at that time, but it takes two cups of coffee before I am up and moving around and that means I do not get into the studio until around 8:00. I am a morning person and with that in mind, I need to take advantage of the morning hours. I needed a little whimsy to begin the new year so I made this little fairy and she also has eight sisters who will be joining her if I can just keep up with my early morning resolution.

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Doll

Two days of embellishing and much more to go . She is still changing with each passing day. I am taking these pictures at night, so they are not the best in the world. Today I embellished her hair with beads. In my world the fairies love to wear their finds wrapped in their hair. I also added sea glass going down the front of her dress. I have wrapped beads with wire until my fingers are raw. This is the part I love, yet it also the part that tries my patience. I will have lots of fun with the crown, I can't wait to get started on that. I am getting ready to take a few days and sculpt. I decided to purchase Wendy Froud's sculpting DVD. I saw a little clip of it today and just can not wait for that to arrive. Another doll artist told me about it. I hope everyone has a great weekend. My son is in a surf competition, so I will be on the beach. I have also been invited to attend a doll club in my area, that should be fun! I just received my dolls back from California and will be taking them to share with the group.

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The face has been repainted

I did not accomplish as much as I had hoped. I fixed the face and these colors will look better in the end. She was just too pale looking for the color palette. I had to go on another gathering mission. I an trying to decide if I want her to have feathers. I thought the feathers might be cool as the hair, but I can't seem to make up my mind. I will sleep on it and decide tomorrow. I did do some beading today. It is all the tiny details that take up so much time.

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Doll update

Yesterday I managed to get her to this point. Another layer. The color combination is coming from a necklace I made not to long ago. I wanted to share that, but it could not be found. I'll keep looking. I am realizing with each doll that is made that I need to skinny them up a bit because of so much embellishing. Another thing I am realizing at this point that the face is going to need to be changed and that has to be done now before I go any further. I have also been thinking about future dolls. I need them to have more movement. In my head I know what I want them to be, but am having a hard time making it happen. I have purchased a few new products and will be working on that in the weeks to come. I love paper clay, but I am thinking of switching pack to polymer because of dry time. You can put paper clay in a low temp oven for faster drying, but it can look dry on the outside, but still be wet on the inside, so even though they are put in the oven, they usually sit a week before any painting takes place, just to be sure. I've rambled on enough for today. hopefully I will make more progress. I am still working on the studio and it's starting to come together.I work on the doll and then switch gears and work on the studio.

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Progress of doll

Before talking about the doll, I have some exciting news to share! My dolls will be in the winter issue of Art Doll Quarterly. I already have the magazine and they did a beautiful job with the photography. The cover is a doll by Marilyn Radzat and it is gorgeous! There is a funny side to being in the same magazine with her, because she is the very reason I started doing Art Doll. Before making art dolls, I made soft dolls and bears. I saw her dolls and went out immediately to buy clay. I am a huge fan and just really admire her work. I have her as a link on my sidebar.
Time to embellish! My favorite part! The gathering has taken place.

The first layer is on and can you guess what it is?
Did you guess wrapping paper?

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Some dolls I have to keep and this is one of them. She is a medicine woman to the beach fairies.

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Paperclay-twenty-four inches tall

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This is Seaglass. She is a beach fairy. She is sculpted using creative paperclay. Her face is hand painted. I wanted her to have long eyelashes, so I took a natural hair brush and cut some of the bristles and used them for lashes. She is really embellished. I did a little free form crochet, wire crochet, and beading. I painted and dyed the fabrics she is wearing. The wings are made of wire and fiber. She is embellished with beads and findings.

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A Victorian Seaside Santa

It all started with a head I sculpted years ago
a coat with lots of handwork!
A little more detail
A bag full of goodies

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His boots are made from a vintage pair of gloves
The little bear needed a cover and pillow
A few more toys waiting for their place
A piece of driftwood to steady his load It won't be long now!

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A Victorian Santa

This is a coat that will go on a Victorian Santa. I thought this piece would never get finished. I get so frustrated sometimes because I want to do simple and quick pieces, but one thing leads to another and this is what happens. I started another paper pixie a week ago and the same thing happens, way to much time spent on one item . I will just have to keep trying for less.

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