New Work for 2010 and into 2011

2010 was a very busy year.  The angels I made for Christmas 2009 were such a hit that I ended up making more of them after the holidays and well into January. 

I was still working in Darwi Clay when I designed a 13 inch elf, named Barney,  in a sitting position, reading a book.  The book is "The Walrus and the Carpenter" from Alice in Wonderland. 

In May, my club, Central Coast Art Doll Club, hosted a 3 day class with Patti Madaris Culea.  It was a wonderful class.  It was held at one our member's home overlooking our beautiful beach.  Most of us finished our dolls and we learned a lot from Patti.  Not to mention what a delight she is just to hang out with.

The club also tried their hand at making dolls with gourds but we weren't terribly disciplined.  Only one of our members completed her project.  My gourd sits on my work table with just a little carving and a little paint.  One of these days I will get back to it.

Later in the summer I took an internet class with Cindie Malstadt.  Her Hungry Caterpillar was great fun to make and I learned a little more about making animals, or in this clase, insects.  I also managed to squeeze in another internet class.  This time Marilyn Radzat/s Clay Hands class.  That was a lot of fun and I was quite pleased with the results.  Marilyn's instructions are very easy to follow.  So are Cindie's but that caterpillar was very complex.

I finished the year with The Gossips.  These are soft dolls with organza wings and lovely legs that I took from one of Patti's books.  I used my hand dyed fabrics and some beads and tried to give them "come hither" looks.  Somewhat successful.  One of my friends was impressed enough to order a doll of this designed but more along the lines of a Can Can Girl.  It was hard to part with her.

2011 is getting off to a great start. We have the Dutch Touch artists here in April for a 5 day class.  For those of you who don't know that would be Marlaine Verhelst and Ankie Dannen.  Both women are wonderful artists.  Ankie was here for a 4 day class in 2009.  It was wonderful.  I've taken a number of Marlaine's on line classes and loved the results of every one of them.  To have them both here for 5 days is a real treat. 

See pictures of my earlier work on Flicker.

Sheila

I have finally taken pictures of the doll I completed in Ankie Daanen's class in February, 2009. Take a look at her in my Flicker Pictures. She is quite pretty. It was a great class and I am looking forward to her re visit again in 2011.

Sheila

Pickles and his friends, Tweeter and Woof, are having a wonderful lazy afternoon, sitting on some packing crates. Tweeter is entertaining his friends with a new song. Even the Chicks in one of the packing crates are enjoying the entertainment. Pickles face and hands are made of air dry clay. They were molded by hand. No pre cast molds were used. His body is made of cotton stuffed with poly fil over a wire armature. His costume is silk.

Woof is also made of a high thread count cotton. After that I needle felted some tussa silk and baby camel's hair roving to give him a more furry look. His features were embroidered with cotton floss.

Tweeter is made of clay and the chicks are made from wood.

The California Central Coast Art Doll club just finished an intensive 4 day workshop with Ankie Daanen. Ankie is an internationally known and respected figurative artists. Take a look at her figures here:

http://www.ankie-doll-art.com/

I will post the pictures from the workshop as soon as I finish editing them.

Hello,

I live on the beautiful central coast of California. I have been making art figures (art dolls) for two years. Most of what I have learned has been from books, internet classes and close friends who are also art doll makers. I consider myself an aspiring artist and love to work with different media. Currently I am working with soft cloth bodies, air dry heads and hands. I will post pictures of my completed works and I would love to hear from other active art doll artists.