Friday, January 21, 2011

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