Category Archives: Art Dolls

An Invitaion

Postcard for July Featured Artists at HGA

Postcard for July Featured Artists at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts

It’s time once again to invite you all to the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts to see what I’ve been working on in the studio. Of course if you’ve been reading along here on the blog, you’re already quite up to date, but nothing is better than seeing the work in person. Not to mention, a mid-summer opening during the Last Friday festivities in Hillsborough always provides lots do do and see.

As you see on the postcard for Attention to Detail, my figure sculpture art dolls are featured this year along side the paintings of Linda Carmel, and Marcy Lansman. Stop by and find how we each attend to detail in our work.

The show installs next Monday, and will accompany an entire gallery re-hang, so there will be new work from all HGA artists.  The opening reception is next Friday, July 25th from 6-9 pm.

I’ll be keeping this post short, as I have just enough time to get out in the studio and finish up one or two pieces that I left unfinished while away traveling last week.  Check out all of the new work next week, talk to an artist or two, and enjoy some refreshment. See you there.

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Back to the Gallery

My weekend forray to the land of re-born baby dolls was an interesting experience. I must admit that the ultra realistic baby dolls there were not my cup of tea, but there does seem to be a very dedicated group that practices the craft and/or collects the “babies” as they refer to them.  My sculptured art dolls were most definitely different from everything else there, and they did receive a very positive response from those walking around the exhibit floor.

Yesterday, several of my pieces returned to their usual venue, the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts.  They do look much more at home atop their pedestals than all grouped together on a table.  With a little visual room the viewer is allowed more time to take in all the details of each figure.

art doll Steam wall display

Steam wall display

I did take the time to do something different with the display of one of the returning dolls. In the gallery we have a room that we use to display member artists’ printed pieces like prints, note cards, books etc. Along the walls of this room, we have acrylic card holders that hold artist bio cards for visitors to help themselves. Above each card bin there is a bit of wall space where each of us can display one or two small works.

I usually hang a mixed media wall sculpture, but this month I decided to put one of my seated art dolls there. Steam looks pretty comfortable atop her shadow box display, and the interior of the box provides a great space to store the display block she usually perches on, and her information label.

Now it is time to get back into the studio and create a few more pieces for my featured artist show that opens at the end of July.  I’ll be sure to give you a sneak peek right here.

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Taking My Art Dolls on the Road

This is the week that me and my art dolls are traveling to our first doll show.  The “road” in this case is only taking us 30 minutes away to Durham, but even short travel requires planning. Since the vast majority of my creations end up on pedestals in the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts, I don’t often have to think about display and sales materials.

This weekend my gallery will be a table top. This limited space requires a bit of work. Of course the most important element will be the sculptures themselves.  Some of the art dolls I will be taking are already on display, so I will be pulling them for the weekend. I picked up Garden Girl II from the UNC Botanical Gardens gift shop where she has been one of several small sculptures of mine available. For my pieces currently still on their Hillsborough Gallery pedestals I’ve created tent cards with images to take their place when I remove them tomorrow..

Garden Girl II art doll and tent cards

Garden Girl II and tent cards for gallery

Some pieces require special hardware.  Three of my art dolls are hanging pieces with nowhere to hang them on a table. I solved this problem with a little time in my metal studio. I welded a little swing set type display for them to hang from. The challenge with this piece of hardware was to make sure it was strong and sturdy enough while still remaining relatively unobtrusive.

Display stand for hanging dolls

“Swing set” display stand for hanging dolls

Many other dolls have either custom stands I have constructed for them, or display blocks that they sit on.  Rounding out our travel preparation list will be sales materials, artist cards and promotional materials, information about the Hillsborough Gallery, and all my packing and transport stuff.

I think that I have everything together, but I may just check my list once or twice more.  As I wrote last week, if you would like to visit us on the road we will be at the R.O.S.E. International Doll Show Down East this Thursday through Sunday, June 18-22 at the Sheraton Imperial in Durham.

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Art Dolls New, Old, and Visiting a Show

Here are the latest two art dolls to emerge from my studio this week.

art doll Mia

Mia

art doll mystic

Mystic

 

Mia is a throwback to an earlier piece titled Mimi. As with the earlier piece, Mia is a simple figure seated on the ground that I have had a bit of fun costuming.  Rich fabrics and “jewels” are contrasted with her very steampunk aluminum arms and copper neckline.

Mystic is a seated figure that started out in one direction, and ended up somewhere else as a result of the fabrics I chose.  Mystic also gained quite the collection of jewelry as it seemed almost necessary to match her fabulous copper shoes.

As I wrote about last week, these two new dolls, along with my entire collection of figures currently available for sale, will be attending the R.O.S.E. International Doll Show Down East – June 18-22 at the Sheraton Imperial in Durham.  This will be an interesting experience for me as it is both the first doll show I am bringing my work to, and it is mainly geared at an audience that collects/creates sculpted baby dolls.  My pieces may very well be the only art dolls there.  Only time will tell if that distinction will be good or bad, but the fact that a doll show was being held 30 minutes from home seemed to beg me to at least check it out. If you are in the area and want to check  it out, I’ll be at table #36 on the exhibit floor.

 

 

New Work, Shows, and the Concrete

This week I am turning my attention and energy into high gear getting ready for a couple of shows.  The first will take place in a couple of weeks in Durham NC.  It will be the first time I have attended an art doll show.  Even though most of the dolls  that will be in that show are not the type of figure sculpture art dolls that I create, it will still be interesting to see how they are received by a non-gallery audience.  It is also a very different display format than I am used to, so my mind is full of table display ideas and projects too,

That doesn’t mean that I haven’t been busy in the studio as well.  I have two dolls that I have just completed this week.  The first is simply named Lily.  She is seated and appears to be thinking about something. She has an expression as if she is just about to tell you something very interesting.

art doll Lily

Lily

The second doll is Garden 1.  She is the first of a series of indoor or outdoor art doll sculptures.  I cast her torso in concrete using a discarded beverage bottle for a form. I think she would look as great sitting within a flower bed, as on some indoor display space.

art doll Garden 1

Garden 1

Both will make their debut in Durham at the Down East Doll Show June 18-22.

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Another Mask and a Bit of Concrete

I had started working on a second doll with an enameled mask even before the recent sale of her predecessor “Carnivale”.  Taking my hand hammered copper faces to a new place with the addition of torch fired enamel provides a multitude of new design and color options.

Mirro Mask art doll

Mirror Mask art doll

This doll, Mirror Mask, has an additional bit of intrigue for the viewer.  Where Carnivale was wearing her mask and only allowed a glimpse of her enameled eyes, Mirror Mask has pulled her mask slightly away from her face.  What the viewer glimpses behind is their own image in a mirror. With her hair piled high and bejeweled, and her peacock hued gown and walking stick, she’s obviously off to a very interesting ball.

The other piece I’ve been working on this week goes in a different direction.  While still technically an art doll, she will be one that can reside inside or out.  I have several shows coming up in the next few months, and at least one takes place in a garden setting.  I’ve decided to create some “garden dolls” for that show. the torso of the first is cast concrete utilizing a recycled plastic bottle for my form.  She is still curing in my outside workspace, so ill wait to share an image of her in my next post.

 

 

Not Quite Done

art doll Fly

Fly

I’ve been working on several projects in the studio this week. With copper faces and other “bits and pieces”, all of my art dolls have a steampunk flavor to them, but some obviously more than others.  “Fly” certainly fits into that category.

I find that I time and again return to the theme of details in these small figure sculptures, and that these sometimes lead in a direction not originally intended.  With “Fly”I began with the intention of creating an updated version of an earlier piece that was captured in the motion of taking off herself.  When I had Fly just about done, and was preparing to take photographs, she appeared unfinished.  She to need a job to do.  Apparently she is the steampunk fairy that helps newly emerged butterflies and moths to fly themselves.

art doll Lady of the wood

Lady of the Wood

This second art doll will be titled Lady of the Wood.  She was created in response to an art doll challenge.  I’m not quite sure if she is complete yet.  After looking at her photos I felt that there is still something she needs.  I’ll share a full length photo when I figure out what that something is.

For both of these dolls I think that I will be changing their positioning, as each seems to require a bit more animation .  I guess another photo session is in the future of both.

Posting and Sharing

art doll - Reading

Reading

I just finished setting up a Flickr feed as another place to share images of my art dolls.  Why? Like many artists I try to increase the exposure of my work to a wider audience.  Exactly the best way to do this online is a question I see raised often.  If I’m to believe the greatest portion of my blog comments and replies (spam) some people have Search Engine Optimization and web promotion all figured out, and they are only too happy to help you increase yours… for a fee, of course.

The fact that the landscape keeps changing, and what worked last year no longer does, makes it even more challenging.  Anyone with a separate Facebook fan page for their work knows that now even those who had taken the time to “like” your page probably don’t see your posts on their news feed.  You have to pay to “boost” your posts, or run ads for that to happen.  I got another such surprise when I went to add a new image to my Fine Art America page last week.  As a 3D artists I never had any reason to use their paid service to sell prints or canvases of my work.  Recently, they limited the number of images that free users could have to 25.  I have about four times that already.  I’d have to sit and delete 75+ one at a time to add just one new piece of work.  You can upgrade to a premium account to address the issue. Needless to say, don’t check there for my new work.

Hopefully, some of the new things I’ve added like Pinterest boards and a Flickr stream, or that I’ve done like changing the way I name and tag images will help.  There are some things I’m still researching like coordinated Instagram and Twitter usage. Others, like opening an Etsy shop, I just don’t think are for me.

Right here where you are on my blog will remain the best way to keep up with what I’m working on, like “Reading” that I photographed earlier today.  If you’re an artist friend, share what you do or are trying to get your work out. I’d love to hear.

Photographing a Moving Doll

art doll cirque 2

Cirque II

“Cirque II” is my latest art doll figure.  Like my original “Cirque” she is a fanciful aerial silks acrobat. I enjoy occasionally creating dolls like these that hang rather than sit or stand on a base.  They allow for movement to enter into the design.  Properly balanced and positioned, a doll like Cirque II can catch the slightest bit of air movement and dance or spin.

I like how this adds another dimension of interest to the piece.  It also allows for greater flexibility in display. However, it does provide a unique challenge in the area of photography.  Obtaining that crisp and clear photograph of a sculpture that is moving, no matter how slowly, can be vexing.

Thankfully, the dolls are not very large, or heavy. The addition of a couple more strands of mono-filament at strategic locations to tether her in a fixed position seems to be the answer.  Trying to give the illusion that she is still moving while she is not was the goal.

Here is a shot of her predecessor…

art doll cirque

Cirque

Fine Feathered Friend

Bird girl art doll on swing

Bird Girl

Sometimes an idea for an element of a piece becomes a project unto itself. Such was the case with my newest, Bird Girl, art doll. For this figure I decided that I wanted to try to create fabric feathers. I did a quick Google on “how to make fabric feathers” and was off.

The actual technique is not too difficult. For each feather, you stitch together two rectangles of fabric up their centerline with a zig-zag stitch. Then you cut your desired feather shape out. The last step is to fray out the feather shape from the edge to your center zig-zag line… This is where the process became a project. Some fabrics, like burlap, fray very easily. I chose some cottons that I would guess are somewhere in the middle of the “fray-able” spectrum. It still took me sitting for hours with needle in hand teasing the threads off of the edge of each feather against a tray on my lap.

Am I happy with the results? Yes. Will I most likely do it again? Yeah. Will I choose fabrics that are a bit easier to fray? Quite possibly.

Bird Girl is now happily perched on her swing, and I’m on to new friends.