2nd stage of cloth and paperclay doll

Ok, here's another look at the doll with her face sculpted and her 'body-ecotomy'. When I re-sewed her body together I splashed an additional coat of gesso on her to help strengthen and hold the stitches. Her feet have been restitched to make them a little smaller, but her toes haven't been adjusted here. That picture is coming soon, along with 'further progress' photos (I promise Dodie)! I hope to finish her this up-coming weekend.

'Blessings' card swap

Here is the card I made for the 'Blessings' card swap on 'Willowing & Friends'. Though the card doesn't really state 'blessings' it is ideas & thoughts that I wished for the receiver.

As you know 'courage' is my word for the year and I thought that it was a good word to use as a blessing, along with attributes that would be helpful for living a fuller life.

I drew the lady on colored card stock. Most of the detailing is colored pencils, but I used acrylic paints as the base color and then added water colour crayons and stamping for more details.

WIP - cloth and paperclay figure

Here is my spin on the 'Cloth and Clay Dolls' tutorials. She is a weighted sitting doll. This is an early photo, she now has painted hair and a face. This picture is also pre-torso-ectomy. I really thought her body too long, so whacked her in half and restitched her - she has wonderful 'Frankenstein' stitches above her waist line now! (I'll do a 'side by side' photo comparison when I upload the new pics). I paper-clayed the ends of her toes too, to be more shoe shaped.
I've tried to combine paper-clay and cloth in the past, but this time it's working much better. I made the under figure all cloth - even the pony tails. The fabric is gessoed, and when dry, a covering of paper-clay is added over the face, hair and upper torso.  I'm not sure how I will dress her yet, but I'm thinking something funky.

Swaps are fun!

 

These are the lovely ATC cards I received from Becky in the December 'Willowing & Friends' ATC swap.

Sadly my camera skills don't capture their beautiful sparkle and shine.

Nebraska Winter Sunsets

Winter sunsets have been spectacular lately and I adore all the 'loving' pink that has been showing and glowing!

My 'Word for the Year'

How many of you have seen this idea around, in emails, blogs, on art sites? I find the idea popping up more and more and even though I have done this in the past, it has been a while since I have had a 'word for the year' to focus on.

This year my word to focus on is COURAGE. The definition I'm using for 'courage' is one that I heard Brene' Brown give in a TED Talk - 'to tell your story with your whole heart'. Isn't that a magnificent definition?! It also sounds like a scary and challenging thing to do, but if I don't try to live this word I will never know if I can LIVE this word. So, what word do you want to live, learn or be this year?

Stepping into a New Year - ATC's as a medium for personal growth

I am starting the New Year with a new attitude and an acceptance of myself as I am right now, not as how I envision others seeing me, or how I think they should see me. I'm trying new art techniques and revisiting previously failed art techniques and mediums.

This may sound like a lot to bite off at one time, but they are interlinked. I think I express my 'true me' a lot through my art, though it may not be the most exciting 'me' on the planet. I plan to allow myself show more of my vision/emotion by working on ATC's. I want to use these little palettes to express a given theme (like in swaps), thought or inner feeling, regardless of the idea attached to the theme, thought or feeling. I know at the very least this project will be an adventure of learning and growing.

I think of ATC’s as little versatile pieces of art. I've seen some really wicked ATC's that are just PILED on with layers of paper, paint and stuff and I love them, I want to make them, but I can't seem to accomplish that ‘look’.  My work tends to have a more simplified, reserved demeanor compared with ATC’s in general. When I try to work multiple layers and multiple mediums, it feels uncomfortable for me, but what is worse is I feel my work is ‘wrong’ because it doesn’t look like the ATC’s I’ve seen. Ridiculous, I know! My art should be what I envision, but still there is that persistent voice that says ‘I’m doing it wrong’ because it’s different from what others are doing.

SO, this is the year I say ‘WTF!’ and ‘who cares!’ I will create to please my vision and stop worrying about whether what I make compares, or doesn’t, to other artists working in the same medium. I will put the "mine doesn't look like everyone else's” attitude behind me (or maybe, put it in front of me, PROUDLY!) This is my Step 1 in learning to let me be me.


These ATC's were for the 'Fun in the Snow' swap on Willowing and Friends. I was exploring  the whole ATC thing, working with watercolors, watercolor crayons, stamping and gesso as a base coat.