Monthly Archives: February 2014

Stories

art doll driving in reverse

Driving in Reverse

“Driving in Reverse” is my piece for “It’s All About The Story”, the February feature show at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts. The area in and around Hillsborough is home to a number of acclaimed authors, and we produce a collaborative show with one each year. This year we have teamed up with Jill McCorkle, and have created work based on her Going Away Shoes collection of short stories.

The story “Driving to the Moon” follows 30 years of connections and disconnections between two high school sweethearts, and the car that registered the miles along the way. The female main character is reminiscing while driving to visit one last time. The art doll “Driving in Reverse” is driving forward while keeping one eye in her rear view. She is keenly aware of the passage of time, and obviously has some things locked up inside.

“It’s All About The Story” runs from February 24th though March 23rd with opening reception on Friday, February 28th from 6-9pm, and an author reading and signing with Jill McCorkle on Sunday, March 2 from 2-4pm.

My Art Dolls in a Publication

The new Art Doll Quarterly is out!…

Cover ADQ spring 2014

Cover of Art Doll Quarterly spring 2014

I am reminded instantly of the scene in Steve Martin’s “The Jerk” where he was excited about having his name in the phone book, and that it meant to him that he now was somebody.

I’m not sure what having an article about my art doll sculptures in the new spring Art Doll Quarterly means, but I have it admit it is kinda cool. If you don’t happen to have a current subscription, I tell about how I came to start working on these figure sculptures, and how I go about creating them. I start out admitting to the other doll artists and enthusiasts that I know my dolls are far from traditional, and that I utilize all sorts of materials and techniques they will find foreign. Aside from being exited about this new segment of my work, the uniqueness of my dolls was one of the reasons I wanted to share them with that audience.

Art Doll Quarterly spring 2014 table of contents

ADQ – Table of Contents with Lynn’s “No Rag Doll”, pg. 22.

I was contacted a couple of years ago about including my sculpture work in a coffee table book titled Contemporary Sculptors, but this was the first time I have sent in a query to a magazine. The experience in this case was positive. It happened to be the type of feature they run where the artist writes the article themselves. Much like writing this blog, I found it a useful exercise to think about what to say about what I create, and my design and construction process. It often leads to new ideas, and always helps with gallery explanations.

Here is a link to the page for the issue on the publisher’s website. If you are dying to have your own copy they are available in the magazine section of book stores like B&N, online as both print and digital copies. If you’re local (NC) there is a copy you can peek at when you visit the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts.

A Writer and Some Valentines

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My newest art doll is a seated figure sculpture writing and drawing in a journal. Though not intended to be a portrait doll, she is definitely styled after someone special. This inspirational person was not only a writer, but also a fantastic fabric artist, and she gave me the material used in the doll’s skirt and hat from her private stash.

I have made a couple of other dolls modeled after specific people. I like that in my chosen media they can be reminiscent of the individual without being an attempt to look just like them. The challenge becomes to try to capture the essence in gesture. I think this doll will be named Mo.

On a completely different note, I have also been working on some Valentine’s Art Cards. The holiday ornament cards that I created in November and December proved to be quite popular. So, I decided it might also be a good idea to create some heart themed mini releif sculptures that could removed from their card and hung. I will have them in the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts through the 14th of the month.

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