Category Archives: Dolls

Turning into November

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Time went a little wonky this week. K was in India. I spent a lot of time alone. Sleep, not so great. And, Faulkner’s been taking me on a slow ride in “Light in August”.
IMG_1143Mostly I enjoyed the solitude, the expanses of quiet. And today, with snow and the time change, It is officially another season. A season were ARE MEANT to be more quiet.

One friend sends an email saying she is putting the “NO” in November. Another announces a retreat from social media. In another email, I read: let’s leave the space empty. This is the time of year to pull inward. It helps to be clear.

Even though Halloween is so last week, I have to report that its mood drew me to the studio bin labeled, “body parts”. A few beings ‘fell out of my hands’ (as Mo might say). They gave me sparks of pleasure and in a very real way, kept me company. Those of you on FB have already seen ‘the Plaid Boys’… but here are a few more shots. ‘Argyle Girls’ to come! And a few of my seasonal felt mice.
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bird, tree, and snow

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Here is a quick sketch that I did of a clay figure sculpted by artist Maria DeCasto.  I found the photo in the book “500 Animals in Clay“.   I like drawing from other artist’s work, especially when it is not fiber.  It is a way to appreciate and celebrate what another artist is doing as well as to think about the basics of medium.

I fiddled with photo in my very rudimentary graphics package and now she is a ‘snowbird’.  Today’s fiber class will be devoted to doll-making and I’m going to try my hand at rendering Maria DeCastro’s avian scuplture in cloth.  I am not anticipating copyright issues because there is no way what I make will resemble hers.  Should I be concerned?

Perhaps I could ask the wise, enduring copper beech in my neighbor’s backyard.  I am lucky enough to see this massive and glorious tree out of my kitchen window (right where I stand to do prep) and out of my bedroom window.  I often turn my head to look at it, first thing as I wake.

When I woke up on the day after election day, relieved and tired, it struck me that this tree has been through so many elections, so many changes, tides, upheavals…  I’m pretty certain that it was alive during the Revolutionary War, more than 200 years ago.

What a thought!!  I wish that it could talk to me.  Perhaps I am not listening hard enough?

sneak peak and light

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Here she is without body or hair yet – stay tuned! She is actually finished, just in need of a photo.

Do you think she looks worried or amused — or something else?  And what about names – I’m thinking about Greta or Elyana.

Could her look be a reaction to the falling away of the season, I wonder…. look how autumnal the light is on our dining room wall!
I love fall.  Do you?

playing with dolls

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Dressing a doll can be a good place to gather ideas about garments.  The blue batik ‘shirt’, here, works off of the garment-as-a-series-of-rectangles idea (recently explored in Jude Hill‘s Boro class).  I learned that just by folding the ‘sleeve’ rectangle base in as a triangle, you achieve a class sleeve outline… simple, I know, but it is different to read, study, than to tuck, finger press, and stitch! (That’s Athena by the way, and I think I will give her a weapon or two).

This dreamer wears a fun assortment of charms, including a pewter, retro airplane.  I love that plane.  But, really? It’s her pigtails that make me smile. They are tied up with plastic-coated telephone wire. Remember hunting for remnants of that as a kid and making bracelets and rings?!  If she had arms, I’d give her a typewriter, just to keep the retro business going.  The blue floral linen was a dress, probably from the 60’s.


Here the garment idea is the basic triangle-shawl.  It is hard to get more simple than that!  This pristine doily came out of my vintage linens drawer.

Now the next doll is naked.

Every once in awhile, batik offers its swirls to the imagination in a very particular way.  Years ago, I saw a penis in the swirls of a yellow batik, and gave a two fiber-collaged primitive-styled men well endowed figures (here’s one below – not a great picture, but you get the idea).

On the new green female, however, the swirls suggested breasts… and as I wrapped red thread around the waist, it wanted to go up and circle one of the breasts, which turned into a meditation on mastectomy, which a good friend of mine’s sister had had just days prior (did you know that this is a seven hour operation?!!)

This started as the idea that playing with dolls can help one learn about garment construction, and turned into something quite else.