Tag Archives: steampunk

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 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.

“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.

Art Dolls New, Old, and Visiting a Show

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

Mia

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.

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.

Garden 1

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

Not Quite Done

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.

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.

Stories

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.

Thinking Inside The Box

In my last post I mentioned that creating a piece for a theme can sometimes prove more of a challenge than expected. Each year we host two themed shows to start off the calendar at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts. This year’s January show is titled 22 Squared. We installed this show yesterday morning, and there are as many interpretations of that title as there are artists in the gallery.

Now, you’d think that such a non-specific open-to-interpretation title would be easy to create for. But I was stumped. Most of my current work consists of art doll figure sculptures. I didn’t want to just create a doll, and put her into some contortionist pose, place her in or on a frame, or balancing on a box. Nothing stuck me.

Instead, I decided to take a step back, and think on the square. For a 3D artist this would mean a box. So I started by creating a wooden shadow box. Next, came a glass front for the box. Instead of a simple sheet of glass, I pulled out my stained glass stash and made a somewhat steampunk looking front.

For the interior, I thought on boxes themselves. What do we use them for? We use them to carry, to hold, to protect, to hide, or to contain. The box that I had made looked like it would protect something valuable, but also obscure and hide a bit of the contents. The steampunk flavor of the glass front lead me to a clockwork heart. We certainly try to protect and shield our hearts. This mechanical pacemaker needed someone to tend and maintain it. I recycled a simple figure from a previous piece to wind this delicate time piece and become The Clock Keeper. The interior was made complete with the addition of an antique looking paper with a pattern of watch faces that I applied to the back before installing the contents.

The Clock Keeper

22 squared will be on display at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts from January 27th to February 23rd. The opening reception is this Friday the 31st from 6-9 pm.

Steam

My most recent art doll, Steam, is dressed in her steampunk finest complete with “leather” top hat, goggles, metal boustier, and knee high boots. She looks all ready for a trip in a time machine. I was challenged by scale of fabric patterns with this piece. Little beings can easily be swallowed up in a pattern made for the clothing or furniture of us giants. I found a black and white plaid to work into her skirt.

Steam

Sometimes this question of scale requires taking matters into your own hands. This “tie-dye” on my piece Janice, I did with Sharpie markers and alcohol added with a dropper.

Janice’s tie-dye shirt

New and a Redo

“Night Queen” is the newest addition to my art doll figure sculptures.

Night Queen

Occasionally, I let a piece design itself. More often than not I create from a detailed sketch that has been reworked several times until I know not only the look, but also the way and order in which I will approach the piece. Perhaps it was because I was also working on a larger commission sculpture at the same time, where I was refining, and working according to the patron’s vision as much as my own. So for this doll, I hammered a face, enameled some nail heads for eyes, and created a basic body. From there I added and subtracted until I found I had a doll that felt like she was complete. I must admit that working this way takes me a bit out of my comfort zone, and probably takes longer as well.

Lacing II.

This second doll might look familiar to some. It is the same “Lacing” piece that I created several months ago. One of the challenges to working in mixed-media is that materials sometimes do unexpected things. The original version had a strange little smudge on her face that I cleaned off. Though I worked very carefully with a cotton swab, it seems a bit of cleaner touched the edges of her then light colored felt hair. The edge looked just the slight bit dingy, so “Lacing” came home from the gallery, and received a new coiffure.

I guess sometimes the artist is controlled by the work more than he/she knows.

Delight in the Details

As I was sewing a pair of lace up boots for a new art doll sculpture, I was thinking to myself that these little details are part of what makes these pieces so intriguing. Since that doll isn’t quite finished, I figured that I’d share a few examples from some earlier dolls.

“Janice” sits and strums a guitar fashioned from copper, aluminum, a spoon handle, wire and beads.

spoon handled guitar and hands from Janice doll

“Janice” also sports a nifty pair of high top sneakers.

Janice’s sneaker

For “Garden Girl #2” I created a small copper garden basket, and a teeny, tiny, trowel.

Garden Girl 2 holds basket and trowel in her leather garden gloves

“Time Keeper” has boots made at my metal work table out of copper tubing.

Time Keeper’s copper boots

The front of “Snow Queen” shows her lace up bodice, leather mittens, and beaded ice scepter.

front of Snow Queen

And just in case you need one more pair of tiny shoes… Here is a close up of “Lacing” tying up the ribbons on one of her toe shoes.

Lacing shoe detail

Wartski Art Dolls and Sculpture

Art dolls and mixed media sculpture

Tag Archives: steampunk

Taking My Art Dolls on the Road

Art Dolls New, Old, and Visiting a Show

New Work, Shows, and the Concrete

Not Quite Done

Stories

Thinking Inside The Box

Steam

New and a Redo

Delight in the Details