Two Cloth Dolls

Spring is really in the air after a particularly mild winter - my fruit trees are in blossom about three weeks early and bulbs are flowering everywhere. Time to come out of hibernation and get into the garden! I am usually quite productive over winter, and this year is no exception.

One of my winter projects was the making of these two all-cloth dolls. They are a bit experimental in how I made the heads. They were needle-sculpted in wool first and then given an overlay of knit cotton fabric, which was catch-stitched to the form underneath. It was a lovely way to work. Both dolls are around fourteen inches high and finished with all the usual hand-made detail.

 

Putting It All Together...........and other things

 I finally got this big girl put together - this is the biggest doll I've made in a long time, but of course, she had to be sized to fit those beautiful antique boots. She's around 23.5 inches tall (60 cms) The permanent wig will probably add a little to her final height.

I've dressed her temporarily in a vintage baby dress I had and plunked the wigging material on her head for this photoshoot while I think about her clothing. 

The next job will be hand-knotting the wig and styling it appropriately. I'm using this blonde lincoln wool, because it is the only thing I can find that's long enough to make a wig for this big girl. It's not as lustrous as mohair, but it should make a lovely wig. As you can see, the antique baby boots fit her perfectly! I also need to add more painted detail to her hands and feet. Very happy with progress.

I've had a couple of other projects on the go that I've recently completed. Firstly, in late 2022, I bought a vintage "Sasha" doll that I spotted on a stall at a fair. She dates from about 1974, which is about when I noticed these lovely dolls and really wanted one. At the time, with a young family, money was pretty tight and I couldn't really justify the expense of one of these dolls. 

They were quite pricey. Only had to wait fifty years to get one!

I got this one naked and with a bit of an amateur haircut (which was salvageable) for a reasonable price. She's sat around naked for quite a while, but a few weeks ago, I got the urge to give her some clothes. Which I did - tried to make them appropriate to her era - smocked gingham dress, knitted cardi and hat in kid mohair, knitted socks and red leather buckled shoes. I've named her "Lucienne".

Then I thought Lucienne needed a playmate, so I designed a doll based loosely on the proportions of the original "Sasha" dolls. I didn't want to make a replica, but I made a more simply sculpted head than I usually do, with a neck joint. This doll is also jointed at the shoulders and hips. The wig is hand-knotted suri alpaca hair. I dressed her in a similar way to my Sasha doll, with a smocked dress, angora knitted hat and cardigan and knitted socks with leather sandals. She was fun to make!

Some New Work

Although my doll-making has tailed off a bit due to the commitment I have made to renovating my house and garden, I'm still constantly making them, albeit more slowly.

Firstly, I have this brother and sister pair in their winter woollies. They are both about ten inches (25 cms)

Most recently, I completed this little child - she about eight and a half inches tall (22 cms) with jointed shoulders and hips and needle-sculpted fingers, toes and knees. In a departure (or maybe a return) I painted this doll's head with oils. I do love the different, translucent look of oils over acrylics. It is somehow more subtle and sympathetic. I'd almost forgotten how much I loved to look. 

It was looking at the recent work of Susan Fosnot an American cloth doll maker who makes exquisite oil-painted dolls that inspired me to re-visit oil-painting my dolls. More to come, I think.

Here she is - so much fun to make!

It's been a long time!

It's been way too long since I last wrote here on my blog. The noise and shallow chatter of Facebook seems to get in the way of the writing of more considered posts here on my blog. I have therefore resolved to make sure I post at least weekly, as I used to, because I find I can express myself more clearly when I'm not dashing off a quick FB post or reacting to some political rubbish that I probably shouldn't even bother with. It's such a waste of time and effort! Even if nobody ever looks at my posts, I still enjoy blogging.

At the moment I am in a mad dash to the line to get the last pieces completed for the "IMAGES" exhibition in Hobart (Long Gallery in Salamanca Place) It opens at 8 am on December 19th for any of you based in the South of the state and inclined for an early morning art experience........and CHAMPAGNE!

Here's a sneak peek at some of my pieces for that show....

Naming A Doll

Naming a finished doll can be difficult - I seem to run out of names I like, so sometimes I leave the naming to the new owner, as in the case of this recently-completed doll, Claire-Louise. I really like the name and it might have been one I chose myself! This is the first doll for 2019........she is a one-of-a-kind cloth doll. She has a linen fabric body with painted lower limbs and jointed hips. The upper arms are loosely filled and jointed to the body in such a way as to allow a great deal of natural arm positioning. Her legs are firmly stuffed, so she is able to stand easily. The head is also jointed to the shoulder-plate so there is neck mobility. Her wig is wispy-fine blonde Suri alpaca hair, hand-knotted and her clothes are linen, cotton with merino wool yarn for the knits. She has little custom-made leather sandals. I hand-smocked the front of her linen dress.

Meet Claire-Louise:

 

Assembling the Unassembled

When I start a mixed media assemblage piece, I usually start with a rough sketch with just enough information so that I don't lose the idea, because sometimes it takes me a while to get around to actually making it. Here is the sketch for my latest piece: "Artemisia's Chest #2"

 

I then start assembling all the pieces I need to make the piece - a combination of found objects and sculpted parts, usually. I play around with these bits and pieces before committing to the final arrangement.

 

It is then a process of permanently joining all the parts together into a cohesive whole. Usually, because there is a great disparity between the materials, I use layers of colour to harmonize everything and make it look like it all actually belongs together!

 

 In this piece, I sculpted one foot, two hands and a head. I made a stiffened felt conical hat and everything else was found: empty silkworm cocoons, fabrics, driftwood, rusted, flattened hose wrapping, a tiny jar, snake bones, a pulley, a box and some plywood.........a whole bunch of very discrete things pulled together into a cohesive whole. I have been fascinated by some of the interesting feedback I have had about this piece - some see it as a statement about lost childhood, which is something that had not entered my mind! Mostly, I work fairly intuitively when I'm making something like this.....I like meaning to be hinted at, but not spelled out. After all, those looking at it have to do SOME work!

The doors are hinged, so the cam be closed.