2012. what next?

it's already march. i have a small but beautiful display at my local library, and it will be up till mid april. it represents dolls past and present. mostly past, as my present life is consuming time and energy in a way that does not leave me hugely creative. i hope to get back on track but for now i have to be proud of what i have done. my online doll group, art dolls only, has shifted gears. new folks running the show. those of us who are left over are wondering if it will be the same, or if it's best to create some kind of new group. my goal for this year is to continue trying to sell on etsy. my cute walnut snowmen did not find an audience but maybe my dolls will. i have to tell myself that the key word is TRYING. if i don't then i'll never know. i have to take photos of what i want to post, and then get 'em up there on etsy.

spirit dolls by paula's photostream

spirit dolls by paula's photostream on Flickr.

Dolls galore...enjoy!

spirit dolls in B/W for the june challenge with ART DOLLS ONLY

I love my online dollmaking friends.  we belong to a group called Art Dolls Only.  the challenges they come up help me creatively to think outside the box.  in this case the june challenge was for a black and white doll.  i love drawing in b/w, and almost right away i knew what i wanted to make.  then the vision expanded and i was creating two dolls  instead of one!  i'm finding that i like sculpting these little clay faces - it give me more dimension than my typical handpainted canvas faces  change is good.  here's the end result.  i also love the little painted clay boots!

Ginny 1 comes home!

I am having the best time this year participating with two teams in the traveling doll project (known as the TDP, for short).
I created 2 almost identical dolls. one went to a team of 3, another went to a team of 6. my smaller team is done, so we all have our original dolls back now, but they've traveled to two other artists and been transformed. here is my doll after she was worked on so beautifully by donna cooper in illinois, and tiffany koornneef in oregon. see my previous post to compare before and after! ginny's come home with a face, hair, hands, legs, shoes, and more bling! i expect my other doll, ginny 2, back home this summer.

traveling doll project 2011 Ginny 1, Ginny 2

i participated in this very creative project last winter (see previous posts). this year i'm on 2 teams, so i got to start two dolls.
they have now left my studio for their first stops in illinois and oregon, where other artists are working on them. the journey will continue for several more months, with each stop being recorded by blog, photos, journals. check out adotravelingdollproject.blogspot.com to see what other teams have started. i am a part of Ladies of Liberty and The American Pies. the two dolls i created were named Ginny 1 and Ginny 2, in honor of a well known dancer in my town. she passed away 2 years ago, and i had the honor of attending her estate sale last summer, where i found glitz galore. the dolls in this photo are headless, but not for long.

silver spirit doll

this one started her life as a normal spirit doll, that is, made of fabric and branches and canvas and moss. when i "retired" her, i
dipped her in housepaint and gave her new life as an outdoor object. she resided for almost 2 years on top of a birdhouse in my
back yard, painted bright red by my daughter. recently she started to tilt and crackle a bit, so i decided it was time to give her a fresh coat of paint. i had some chrome silver spray paint in my garage, which i used first on some leftover autumn gourds that i wanted to display with my holiday stuff.

the doll got a coat of chrome and was transformed - i love how shiny she is! this one will go back outside and be my elements experiment. will she stay shiny or will she turn dull with the winter wind and snow? we'll see. in the meantime i am prepping another dipped doll for the chrome, and she will be sent to key west for a fundraiser.

Fifi

I finished up my newest doll over the weekend, having plenty o' time, for a change. All because my daughter had a cold and it was
in our best interest to stay put. It was actually the best thing that could have happened! We sat on the couch,
she with sketchbook or little sewing projects, me with current spirit doll "stuff" that requires stitching, and I also put the
final touches on the new doll, which we are officially naming Fifi. She is so cute and sassy, and looks great no matter what she's sitting on. A dollhouse chair, a pumpkin, whatever. Fifi rocks!

not quite a spirit doll

the online group i belong to, Art Dolls Only, has monthly and quarterly challenges that inspire us to create new, exciting dolls . this month's challenge was to make a doll using unfamiliar materials. to think outside the box. perfect timing, as i am feeling too busy to make my dolls in the usual way right now. i adapted my daughter's fearless attitude and just sat down at my art table to see what was there, what looked interesting, and then voila - start making something! this bendy lady is not done yet. she needs clothes. but in the meantime i am enjoying her wooden knob head which i handpainted, her pipe cleaner body, her purple clay shoes, and the little chair i borrowed from my daughter's dollhouse. i will finish her this weekend and post another photo of her when i'm done. you can see more creations at www.artdollsonly.com

From The Attic

I have not posted in a while. Could it be that I'm so busy I'm not actually getting a lot of new
dolls to come to life? Sadly, that is the truth. However I was just up in the attic with my
7 year old daughter, and she spotted the jackpot, the hidden pink wardrobe containing my stash
of "Dawn" dolls from the 1970s. I loooooved these dolls, and all their outfits. My Nana even made
a pink bathrobe and an elaborate wedding dress for my dolls. They are smaller than Barbies (which
I never owned), so you can imagine the scale of the hand sewn outfits. My daughter is in doll
heaven playing with all these girlies. I am reminded of the magic of dolls, shiny clothes, shiny hair,
and teeny tiny shoes.

a spirit BRA?!?

a moment's departure from the spirit dolls to....bras! i'm participating in a breast cancer fundraiser
this fall. the feature is many "Artful Bras" which will be displayed and auctioned off at a gala event. i thought i'd share photos of mine here on my blog. i met the organizers of this event last spring at the opening of my
show "All Dolled Up" at the good news cafe. we hit it off immediately and i was committed to creating some dazzling
bras. interestingly enough, i shared with these ladies that i'd had a phase of creating art bras back in 1991 when i lived in new york city. i recently unearthed a few in my brother's attic, and perhaps i'll post photos of them at some point! the new bras i'm
making are similar in their construction - i take an actual bra and coat it in many layers of latex paint, giving it a hardened "shell" like a gessoed canvas. ready to paint, decorate, whatever! the one shown here is titled "The Cha Cha Bra".

a spirit doll for heidi

i just got back from a visit to key west. having lived there from 2001-2006, it holds a special spot in my heart.
and...it's where the spirit dolls were born! every time i'm back i ride by my old house and peek up at the window that
was my studio and where oh so many wonderful dolls were created. on this trip i brought along a special doll for my
great friend heidi, as a thank you for letting me stay at her home. sassy pink leopard fabric, chiffon headwrap,
and one of my newer style faces using glitter for eyeshadow. heidi has a bunch of my spirit dolls and always seems to keep
finding new spots to display them. my last nite in key west we all went to the beach and were treated to the full moon rising.
paradise!

"Miss Lily" returns home as the TDP ends for our team

I belong to a wonderful online group called Art Dolls Only. In January a team activity called The Traveling Doll Project was started. Each team member began a doll and sent it on to the next person, who got to add on something
in their own style of dollmaking. When my spirit doll left Connecticut she first went
to Seattle, then to Missouri, then to Texas. She's now returned home and I love how she's evolved. Fancy clothes,
huge hair, pretty jewelry, and something very exciting: movable arms!!! Along the way she also got the name "Miss Lily".
Welcome home!!

New Spirit Doll faces

dang! what happened to march and april and half of may? i've been so busy. a lot of it was spent volunteering for
worthy things at my daughter's elementary school. now it's time to get my own creativity on track again.
i'm continuing to work on the Art Dolls Only Traveling Doll Project (i have 2 dolls in my studio right now, and
await the return of my spirit doll by the end of the month). i also met some women at my restaurant exhibit
who are putting together a non-doll related event later this year. i won't say now what i will be creating,
but it's going to be colorful and fun! last but not least, i'm headed back to key west in june for a visit that
is part business, part pleasure. i will be meeting with a local bridal planner (JULIE SHRECK of simply you weddings)
to show her my growing collection of gorgeous bridal spirit dolls. the faces shown here in my hand may be
the new twist to the way my dolls look...something more dimensional. i'm going to play with these and see
if they are suitable for the additional two bridal dolls i will be finishing up before key west. one of these faces
has a tiny pearl, a tiny shard of mirror, and a tiny rhinestone cooked in. change is in the air!!

All Dolled Up

From March 10-May 10 I have an exhibit of 49 spirit dolls at The Good News Cafe in Woodbury CT. It's a cool restaurant, a hip little oasis in the midst of a traditional Connecticut town. For the display I did a large central frame of all-white bridal dolls, then marching out on either side all around the room, are dolls in colored outfits. Right now my studio feels sort of bare, but it's good to have a bit more space, as it inspires me to get back to work again!

ADO "Angel" challenge

this doll came together very quickly, as i had a lot of white material, feathers, and pearls on hand in my studio. her face is created from Fimo clay, then attached to a canvas base. she's almost like a mardi gras angel. i photographed the finished doll against fabric i used in 2006 to create my lifesize spirit doll, "Big Mama".

Little Clay Faces

After creating a fabulous burlesque face for my last spirit doll, I got excited about

the new look. All that glitter...va va voom! I had some Fimo clay on my work table

and started to form some face shapes with tiny noses. Baked 'em in the oven as

directed, and then started playing with paint and glitter again. For now I am using

hot glue to attach them to my standard canvas head forms. We'll see. Change is in

the air.

Burlesque Spirit Doll !

I'm working on another challenge for the fabulous online group, Art Dolls Only. This time

it's a Burlesque theme. She's not done yet, but I'm happy with her evolution so far. I've had some thick purple faux fur in my studio, and it's finally been put to good use as the doll's cape. I'm also pleased with her glitter eyeshadow. My little girl commented that this doll has

"a tricky face". Hee Hee !!

Traveling doll project, 2010

I am part of a team on Art Dolls Only that will be collaborating on a group of 4 dolls. Each one of us starts a doll, then sends it to the next person, who adds a bit of magic, and sends it on. We each get a month with the doll, and in that time we journal, blog, create, and get to know the work of our team artists up close and personal ! My creation is wearing a nubby red dress and is being sent out headless. I will enclose her head in the package but will leave it up to my team to decide if and how it will be used. "Seattle, here I come !"

caped holiday spirit dolls

this group of spirit dolls was created for harrison gallery in key west. it's challenging trying to sell my art in a tropical place when i'm in the mood to adorn them with capes, fur, cashmere... but we'll see how they do. i love the capes, and have Art Dolls Only to thank for motivating me to create something new. my caped doll in october got me inspired to try it with these ladies. they're glamorous and fun!

holiday show at barn hill studio

the past couple weekends i've had my dolls on display at a wonderful old barn in monroe, ct. i also mixed in a few of the "naughty & nice" clay figures for fun.