Art Dolls

I haven’t done much this week on crafts so today I am showing some photos of some of the large art dolls I’ve made over the past few years.

First up is the Medicine Man doll I made in 2005 when I lived in New Mexico. He stands about 14” tall. His face and hands are sculpted polymer clay. His body is wire with a lot of polyester batting and muslin wrapped and stitched. The clothes are made of suede and his cape is a rabbit fur. He has a medicine bag hanging from his shoulder that holds crystals and other special pieces.

Next is the Mermaid doll I also made while in New Mexico. She is 29” tall and all cloth. I designed the pattern after making some smaller dolls using patterns from a book. The tail has shells and sequins hand stitched on. My favorite part is her hair, it's a green yarn that really looks like seaweed. This doll was sold at a doll show in Albuquerque in 2006.

Next is the Party Doll. She is about 14” tall and has a wooden dowel as the support inside. Thus she is called a ‘stump doll’.  I created her for a doll challenge but moved during the time I would have had to mail her. I didn’t submit her to the challenge. Her hair is black yarn that has been stitched to the head and then the strands separated to give her a wild look. The hat has pheasant feathers attached.

Next up is Santa Claus. He was also made in New Mexico. His head, hands and boots are sculpted

polymer clay. The body is wire wrapped with batting and muslin strips. His clothes are attached to his body, but the jacket and hat do come off.  His arms and legs can be posed so he can sit in a chair, or stand.

The last two dolls were created for the Gypsy Doll Challenge that displays at the Houston Quilt Show. Both were sent to Houston and participated in the show.

First is the 2007 Gypsy of the Sea Doll “Pontemedusa” who sits on her steed “Vannie”. A wooden dowel runs up through the doll and seahorse. The doll’s head, hands and boots are sculpted polymer clay. The bodies are cloth. I wasn’t able to find a pattern for a seahorse so I had to design my own. I spent hours on the internet looking at photos and sketching. She is about 15” tall. The name of the seahorse was taken from the name of the breed of horses the Gypsy’s use to pull their horses, Vanners.

Last is Nikola. She was created for the challenge called The Journey of the Gypsy in 2008. She is about 29” tall. Her body has wire and wooden dowels as support. She is a space gypsy, traveling across the universe, spreading the music of her ancestors. A wooden chest was painted to look like her traveling trunk. She also has a book that shows the best places to visit in the Milky Way Galaxy. She stands on a wooden plaque that has been covered with polymer clay designed to look like a space station deck.

I haven’t made any large dolls in the last couple years. They take up to 200 hours to make and are very labor intensive. They are also a joy to create. They actually seem to tell you what they do and don’t want to wear. Despite the fun in making them, they cannot be sold for anything close to what they might be worth. The time and materials can be from $200 to $1,000. Finding a buyer for that is difficult.

If you want to learn how to make art dolls, I recommend a couple of wonderful books by Patti Medaris Culea:  Creative Cloth Doll Making and Creative Cloth Doll Faces. These books have great patterns and give step by step directions in making some really fun dolls. The photos of Patti’s dolls show you what is possible to create.

Til next time. J

Terri

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