Gothic Little Red Riding Hood

She's finished!

Crazy Life

I've been crazy busy lately. I finished the Woman at the Well ages ago...well 2 months ago, but I need to take some good pictures. I'm not very good at taking pictures.
I've been working on a whole new doll. It's Little Red Riding Hood done in Gothic style. She carries a basket holding the head of the wolf. Her look is very sweet, but there are a few details to show that she's not one to be trifled with! She's almost finished. I have some finishing touches to make, and when they're done I'll post pictures of her. I tried a new technique, cloth over clay, which I really like. I used the tutorial that Susie McMahon was kind enough to post in her picture trail. You can view that here:
http://picturetrail.com/susiedolls
I am a great fan of her art.
I am currently working on a kimono. It's a costume for a ballerina, and expect to finish that by Monday. So Little Re dis on hold, but I'll show to teaser pics.
She will be fore sale in my Etsy shop, and I will post a link to her when she's ready.

A Gothic Bride doll

A friend of mine asked me to make her a doll that was inspired by her wedding. Her colors are very reminiscent of Halloween; black, white, orange and purple. She sent me a picture of a Blackeyed Suzie doll. I love the work of this artist, but our styles are really different. She told me she would be wearing a mini top hat, and that she wanted the doll to be holding an umbrella or bird cage. She likes the Gothic look. My cell phone pictures are very poor, but they give you an idea of what she looks like.
I used feathers for her hair. I am pleased with the effect. The bird cage is made from paper clips and clay.

Testing Testing

Colleen Babcock asked me to test her newest pattern, "Fathoms a Deep Sea Mermaid."
The original was made in blacks. I thought it would be fun to make her in whites. So here she is. I've used some techniques that I've not used before. It was fun.

A little diversion

A few weeks ago I'd heard that a family at my church lost their newborn preemie after he's lived for only 10 days. I felt heart broken that all this family had to remember this baby was a few cell phone pictures. And in mos of those he was covered in tubes and wired and surgical tape. And so, I asked her if it would be okay for me to sculpt a doll for them. She through many tears said yes. Yesterday they picked up the baby doll I'd made for them and wondered at the details of the doll that were so much like their son. His father made exclamations at how alike the eyes, ears and nose were. I am happy to have made a good representation of their baby. I didn't charge them for the work, and when they asked if they could pay me for it, I told them they could reimburse me for the cost of the clay.

Woman at the Well

I've finished the head for the woman at the well. I am very pleased at how this has turned out. I can see my sculpting skills getting better with each doll I make. I researched her make up. The wig is made from rare black sheep's wool. I found it online at Etsy. It came all the way from the UK. I am very pleased with the effect and will be buying from them again. I am working on sculpting the hands for this doll now. I don't enjoy it as much as the head, but it's an important part of the personality of the doll.

So what now?

After doing some research on E-bay, I've decided to make a piece to sell there and see what happens. Hopefully this will give me an idea of how much to price my works, and whether people want the kind of stuff I make.
Last week I was fooling around with a lump of clay, and sculpted the head of a little fairy boy. The piece that I am working on evolved from there. I asked myself who is this and what is he doing. I imagined a scene of a little boy, peeking from behind mushrooms. After sculpting the boy, and the mushrooms, painting them and setting them up on the stand, I decided that he needed a playmate.
I find it interesting that some artists come up with their compositions all at once. They make a drawing and then go from there. My art work evolves, and grows. As it has with this piece. My eight year old son, Jonny, asked me why I've never made a black girl. I told him that I would with this one. So little Danny (he's dressed like a Dandelion) is playing with Susan (who will be dressed as a Black Eyed Susan).

Commissioned dress

This is the dress that I was commissioned to make. The original dress that this one is based on was cute, but I think that with the small modifications I've made, and the nicer fabric, mine turned out better. But, I guess that's for the client to decide.
I bought the burn out fabric at 60% off after Halloween. The dress is built on a camisole. The burn out fabric is lined in white satin. The binding around the top skirt took two days to hand sew.

Jesus doll

I've finished the Jesus doll for the Woman at the well scene. He's telling about the Living waters and gesturing to the well...that has yet to be made.

A good start I think

I've started on a new set of dolls for my mother. She's requested "The Woman at the Well."
This is the start of the Jesus doll. I wanted him to look more Middle Eastern than European, which is how he's usually portrayed. I think I have a good start.
I need to find a solution to the weak chest plate. They keep on cracking/breaking on me. I may have to use some kind of wire mesh under the slay as an armature. Looks like I'll be taking a trip to the hardware store to buy some tin snips and wire mesh soon.

Tabitha from Joppa

I have a friend who really likes the story of Tabitha in the Bible. You will find her story in the book of Acts, chapter 9 verses 36 to 42. She made clothes for the poor, and when Peter came to visit Joppa, the people came to him and asked him to come with them. They arrived at a house where she lay, dead. The women showed Peter all of the clothes she had made, and he raised her from the dead.
My friend asked me to make a Tabitha doll for her husband to buy for her birthday.
I looked at some pictures of young women for this sculpt, and just couldn't picture her as a young women. I decided to use the picture of my grandmother. She is now 84 years old, but I made Tabitha a bit younger. I loved the process of studying my beloved grandmother's face, and translating it to clay.
I even called her and asked if she'd ever wanted to be a model. She said, "No!" I then told her that she was an unwilling participant!
Anyway, here's the result of my efforts.

Mary Playing with Her Baby

David and I have a tradition that was started when we were first married to give one another nativities for Christmas. I wanted to give him something special this year. I only had time to make Mary and Jesus this year. He'll get Joseph next year. This doll portrays Mary playing "Airplane" with her baby. She is laughing. It's been difficult getting a good picture of this doll. She looks like she's about to eat the baby!
I had so many challenges and disappointments while making this doll. There was a lot of cracking of the clay when it was fired, and pieces that would break off when assembling her. The first time I finished a head sculpt, I forgot to check the temperature of the oven after making dinner, and burned it black. The oven was set for 400 degrees. It should have been 275! I was really upset and took the evening off, and started new the next day. Her ears kept on breaking off, and I got cracks in her hands when I attached them to her arms. I ended up covering the broken off ears with her hair, and mended the cracks in the hands with more sculpey and refired it. It was a challenge to get Mary to keep her arms raised, and I ended up using invisible thread sewn to the baby's diaper and then wrapped around Mary's neck to accomplish this. She's definitely not a perfect doll, but I learned a lot that I am now applying while making the next one. When I finished her, I told dave that I wanted to cry. He told me he did too and that she was beautiful! I sure do love that man!

I made Craftster Best of 2009...twice!

My Edward Scissorshands doll and the jingle bell slippers both made Best of Craftster 2009. I am thrilled, and honored!