Kidnap

I will never really understand people..... This art healing doll I made and called "Hurt" carries a bit of my soul obviously. Yes, I would have sold him, but instead he's been taken and that doesn't feel right. I hope he'll get wrapped up nicely and put under a Xmas tree somewhere, to help someone else get a bit of healing. Still.....I never got to hand him over and give his little "birth" story to the new owner ....

Old Bird

  

Here is an "old bird" I made a few weeks ago, but I never did anything with her photos yet. And since I am EMPTY !!!! and frustrated I thought to share her with you today. After two weeks of busy kids art classes during the sachool holidays I got drained of energy and did not get much creating time myself, then yesterday I thought, yeah ! just me in my studio.....I'll go and make something nice today, and guess what ? I messed up again and again and nothing looked good and I threw everything I sketched in the bin and scraped off all the encaustics I attempted and now I feel lost

♫ Tralalalala ♫

I have a quick little happy and musical post here. 

Firstly I am happy because my son made it to the finals in the school's talentquest {he plays guitar *} so this makes me a very proud Mummie. Secondly I am doing 'Suns and Moons' with the art classes this week, so I see happy sunny faces every day  *} 

 

 And then I finished another little art doll this time with legs (ha !) and the legs I made out of fabric with musical print , so I called her 'Shiri' which means 'song', I can just visualize her sitting on a piano with her legs dangling down *}

 

Some good ol' legs

Finished FAirY

Rather fitting as my own knee locked up a few times again and doesn't feel so good {softly said} at the moment. Nothing a bit of Counterpain cream and knee band cannot fix - hopefully, it's an old injury come-back :( - Well nevermind this, the good message I want to share is: a little while ago I thrifted 4 beaut old tablelegs 
aren't they just delish ?

the leGs !

  Anyway, I have started to turn them into dolls :) ONE is finished so far, a Cloth +Clay Gritty kind of TabLeleG-FloweR-fAirY, Another one's head is waiting to dry and 2 others are in the earlier wip stages. They are fun to make, take more time than I thought {but what art/craft doesn't ?} but all worth it in the end for me :)

have a look and if you feel like it, make one too !!!

 

head and petals on

first paint stage

aging

Kakariki

Kakariki means "green" in te reo Māori and since I live here and this little doll is mainly green, nature like and earthy, I thought about naming her Jade or something like that, but Kakariki sounds so much more like her with her long curly lock on her left shoulder and her (allthough they are vague) curly fern-tip like details here and there. So here she is, I like her to bits ♥ she is in my shop if you love her too

Gone soft for dolls ♥

 

 This is kind of a long post with lots of pictures (I like pictures) and links about kind of smallish creatures...... ;)

I want to share this other soft spot of mine, my other desire, a possible challenge ? something I really want to give a serious go a little more at some stage. I started the odd project over the years and some of those are still waiting patiently (as if they have a choice ? - see pics of them below-) to be finished .... if I ever will, because by the time I make some time for them I have other ideas about them already. Now, with having the school holiday kids program in my Art studio for the last 2 weeks, I had been looking for something "simple" to do myself and I made up some super simple calico shapes and stuffed them and started painting little faces. The first two born the other day, I gave wings and they became little angels

 

(a little like my Matryoshka dolls I did a few years ago)

  

the last one is a free little spirit and I really dig her!

 

But seriously, I have been admiring very special dolls for quite a while now. I would love to make some of these really really GR8 and amazingly beautiful dolls. I am in love with the out-of-this-world-oh-so-super-gorgeousilistic dolls by Nefer Kane  

and the tender, fine faces by Paulette Goodreau

   

 but also the grungier folky-arty cloth dolls by some dollmakers like Gritty Jane, and the Steampunky ones by Paula Nerhus and there are so many more. 

Tim Burton - dollmaker extraordinaire

  Of course I understand that it takes time and practise and YEARS of improvement, just like painting and sketching and everything else for that matter.  So .... one day .... I guess when my days have 48 hours and my weeks have 21 days and I will be immortal hehe......but before all that, I WILL make some more "simple" dolls for sure

♥

cloth doll wip 1

same doll wip 2

face start

face done ?

not happy with the nose, but ah well

want to finish her regardless

see where she ended up, stuck in a pot with legs up and all ?

this one is even an earlier one, kinda creepy actually....

♥

Bunny Sisters

These little Stuffies, I made for a swap at atcsforall.com

They are 100 % handmade coffee-stained-cotton, filled with anti-allergic fibrefill

and they are flying to the host as we speak

3 for the swap, one for the host

:-)

Little Baker - Bakers Dozen

Another little Baker Girl

on MDF Block

4.5.x 7.5 inch

the Sisters together

Handmade Dolls !

I have recently found some VERY special things about handmade dolls on-line and I just had to share this.

These ladies are truly amazing, their craftmanship is out of this world......

and I would love to try and make my own dolls now too.

Please check out the links, they are so worth it !

This is just one of many dolls made by Elsa Mora

and here is a little video of Sarah Faber making Tim Burtonesque kinda dolls