Goodies in the mail!

Got some goodies in the mail this week from a couple of my internet pals. First here's a wonderful wee journal from MA in Canada. It's all handmade especially for me! It is truly a tiny (4X3") treasure and will be displayed proudly in my display case where I keep all my best treasures.
MA filled the journal with inspiring quotations and decorated it in some of my very fave colors - oceanic blue and copper. Thanks MA!!

And I got this very cool smudge stick from Yvonne in Texas. She made it just for me from wild Texas sagebrush which "transforms energy and brings change". When I opened the box, the wonderful subtle fragrance of the sage wafted out - it'll probably make my whole display case smell nice! Thanks Yvonne!!

Okay, so how do I get these great gifts? I ask! I just love treasures handmade by friends, so I just ask them to make them for me. And then I make something special for them, which is the other half of the fun! And don'tcha love getting something good in the mail?

ENTER HERE FOR THE MAY GIVEAWAY DAY DRAWING!

It's time for the May Giveaway Day sponsored by Sew, Mama, Sew! Leave a comment on this post to be entered in the drawing. You may enter your comment anytime between now and May 31 at 12:00 midnite. I'll draw two winners - one will win a fortune doll (see post on May 6) and the other will win a paper mache rattle (see May 23 post). I can ship to international addresses.

Paper Mache Rattles

These are the rattles I make. They're hollow and have rice, beans, or seeds inside to make them rattle. For the May Giveaway starting on May 27, the winner of the rattle drawing can choose a heart or a bird rattle.

GIVEAWAY COMING UP ON THE 27TH!

I'll be participating in the May Giveaway Day sponsored by Sew, Mama, Sew. I'll be giving away two handcrafted prizes to two separate winners - a fortune doll and a paper mache rattle. To enter, stop by my blog between May 27 and May 31 and leave a comment on my May 27 giveaway post. The winners will be randomly drawn.

Stop by Sew, Mama, Sew on May 27 for a list of all sites participating in the May Giveaway Day.

Tiny People

Before I ever started making art dolls, I had started what I call my "Tiny People" collection.
I have several (not as many as I'd like) tiny little human figurines that range from 1 - 3 inches tall. Since I couldn't find many to grow my collection I decided to make some, and that's how I started making art dolls.
This is the first tiny person I made. I call her "Nightmare on the Boulevard" as I picture her standing out on the main drag in Myrtle Beach, SC hoping to find her a man. Nightmare is needle felted and 3 inches tall. She's barefooted and wearing her beach hat and a halter top and just hanging out with her hands in her pockets. Hoping...

Astral Peace

Here's a wee 4 - 5 inch doll I called Astral Peace. She's meant to bring peace to the universe. She's a stuffed fabric doll that I coated with transparent acrylic paint and gel medium to give her a leather look. She's awful small for such a big job, ain't she?

Hmmm... Interesting

These are kindof cool.
I was practicing background techniques for journals and altered books, and when I was examining the results I noticed these images hiding within.

I took a pencil and started tracing out the images and here's what I found. I can't really draw a lick, so I was fascinated that these scenes just popped out at me from within the backgrounds.

There's a loiterer in a dunce hat smoking outside the hotel lobby in this one. See him?

(P.S. I smoke, so the dunce hat has nothing to do with being a smoker... :) )

Signature Style

I just read this on Melody Johnson's blog:

"A signature style is about consumerism, not art. It makes life easier for those who are selling, buying or writing about the artist's work."
Raya in the Tech Talk Forum at www.forum.artistnetwork.com

Melody said, "Wow, that really hit me smack in the head when I read it in Artist's Magazine (June 09 issue). It makes so much sense. Somehow we are convinced that we must have a recognizable style to either BE an artist or SUCCEED as an artist. Conversely, those who create in various categories or work in myriad media are sometimes considered dabblers rather than real artists. That can't be true either."

I've often thought about the 'signature thing' and I'm not so sure getting attached to a signature style is such a great thing artwise. It's appealing to come up with some quirk or statement that is your own special trademark, but if you make the trademark a central part of your work, doesn't it limit your possibilities? I like the idea of maybe always including a very small and unobtrusive signature in my work - something that can be embedded into any piece of any kind without dictating the artistic direction of the work. I love peace signs (a symbol from my youth), and I think I can include a peace sign in some way in each piece of work without basing the work on having that signature hidden away in it someplace. On the other hand, if you choose something more integral to the art as your signature, then every piece you do will be limited to working around that signature. For example, I thought about a peace sign face as my "signature" in my dolls. But do I really want to limit my scope like that? Do I want to choose one style of doll that I always create so that my dolls always look similar? No. Too limiting. In my opinion, if you're gonna choose a signature, make it something that can reside unobtrusively in any style of art you might create. Don't attach yourself to something that requires a certain media or style every time. Chances are your style may change and grow over time - unless you force yourself to remain loyal to a limiting "signature" that might result in stagnation of your artistic growth.

Skulls!

I collect bones when I find them on my walks. (As long as all the flesh is gone. Ewwwwww.) These are a couple cool skulls I found recently. I think the taller one may be a fox skull. I made the paper mache head, because these things look just like tuxedo'd men's torsos. Don't ya think? Eventually I'll make a head for his pal. And, who knows, maybe some legs...
?

GODDESS DOLLS

I also make goddess dolls to sell at the coffee shop. They're made on stick armatures with nut heads. I'm really not quite sure what kind of nuts these are??? I thought they might be black walnuts, but if they are, they're on the small side. Anyways, I drill thru the nut from top to bottom and sew it onto the body. But I may start drilling a bigger hole in the bottom so that I can insert a dowel or stick for more stability (Yvonne gave me the idea) - customers handle them a lot in the store and these goddesses, being prima donna types, may lose their heads over such treatment. LOL! Anyway, here's a couple of my goddess dolls. They're 7 - 8 inches tall.

Shoot for the stars!
And my personal fave (already sold), the goddess of a balanced life. Although I must say I'm a bit unbalanced, and I like other whacky folks. Guess I just like her look (my favorite colors for one thing).

FORTUNE DOLLS

I make tiny little wrapped dolls on old-fashioned clothespins. Each one is unique. I love these little 4 inch dolls. I sell these at the local coffee shop and they've done fairly well. I call them Fortune Dolls because each one comes with a fortune concealed inside the tag (like a Chinese fortune cookie). Here's a few of them.

For the Love of Dolls

Looking for cool doll blogs and websites? Robyn not only has a blog of her own (LOVE her very cool and elaborate bead head dolls), but she also does a blog where she spotlights other doll sites so we can go take a look. A very valuable resource for locating interesting doll sites. Thanks, Robyn!

Here's a link to one of Robyn's bead head dolls that I love so much. Very cool - love all the detail work.

Wise Woman

This is one of my Wise Women dolls. I swapped this one. My wise women all have kindof ugly old clay faces made from polymer or kiln fired clay. This one is a kiln fired clay head painted with acrylics. I always either make holes in or stems on the clay heads so they can be sewn or tied on. I rarely use glue on my dolls, and then only in conjunction with stitching, tying, or tacking.

This gal was created using fabric, yarns, fibers, and thread wrapped onto, you guessed it, a stick. Embellished with beads, gourd seeds, and tiny acorn boobies. These are a lot of fun to make.

Cheap Stamps!

I don't own any stamps and I'm too cheap to buy 'em. But I like 'em. So I've been making some by cutting the design out of craft foam sheets and gluing it to cardboard. You can't get a lot of detail, but I still like 'em and they're ultra cheap! Here's what I've made so far. Pretty basic.

And here's the stamped images. These are kindof messy 'cause I was trying to hurry and use only one hand. I can get really nice stampings with a bit more effort.

You can draw or trace the design on paper in pencil and then transfer the image onto the foam. Just lay the paper face down on the foam and rub with your nail or a spoon to transfer the pencil image to the foam.