Away teaching this week...

I am in California at Piecemaker's teaching one of my favorites.

Santos Maria- Cage Skirt Doll!

Back next Friday with Kitsune- the Fox

Doll #2- Dragon

My Story Dolls are created from two parts of Chinese symbolism.

The first part being from the symbolism of the Chinese children's hats that an expecting Mother makes for her child incorporating protective qualities into the hat...read more here. I so enjoy the meaning and the care that a Mother takes in mindfully sewing something for her child. Even after studying this for over 10 years, I find the southern Chinese design to be so deeply layered that I have barely begun to touch the deep meaning of the symbolism...actually I am thrilled because it will be something that I can spend my life researching.

The second part is that I love the legends from the Chinese Calendar. Each year has its own animal and it own characteristics! This year 2012, is year of the Dragon...read more here.

So, taking both of these symbolisms and bringing them together, it makes for a perfect blending for my Story Dolls. As I said this is Year of the Dragon...

After the body is complete, I LOVE making these hats. Each one is created with the under-structure or base being of hand-quilted silks.  The hat ornamentation is made from vintage Asian fabric (aqua base) trimmed with vintage silver-metal cording. The eyes are handmade and embroidered with the use of vintage sequins for the silver and black on the eyes. The nose is from Chinese silk brocade and the whiskers are handmade from various threads including metallic silver threads.

 

The lining can be equally as important as the fabric chosen for the outside. In this case, I used a red silk brocade that I had purchased when I was in China. The Dragon is male and needs a female balance- as the Phoenix. So, I fussy cut the two of the Dragons (mirrored) for the sides and one of the Phoenix for the front to fit within my Dragon hat.  I love the shock of red hidden beneath the black of the hat base. It also makes a nice frame from hat to hair.

From there I can spring board into the garment. This year I especially loved working with this beautiful peau de soie silk fabric...pricey-yes but well worth the results! All garment pieces are lined in aqua dupioni silk.

The jacket sleeves, skirt, and pants were all embroidered with their own geometrical design in keeping with the southern Chinese design culture.

I have taught my students to use color of equal value and that are opposite on the color wheel...but to make it interesting- move off one color...so instead of going from primary red to complimentary green, I went from red to off one- to turquoise or aqua...makes it more interesting don't you think?

For her collar and her shoes, I wanted just pop of color to balance the red. Layout of the paper pattern onto the fabric is equally important to create the right drape and flow of the fabric and of course design usage.

Also take note of the vintage Asian fabric peeping out from under the jacket with softer gold and turquoise, still holding true to the geometrical design with the black weaving within the fabric. Two glass beads serve as closures.

Her shoes were again created using the fussy cut technique! Vintage glass beads are the closures.

As you can hopefully tell, I so love making these dolls, it IS all in the details and I feel so very fortunate that I can do this and share this experience with you!

The Dragon

Being the divine mythical animal, the Dragon can ward off wandering evil spirits, protect the innocent and bestow safety to all that hold his emblem. The Chinese Dragon is look upon as the ultimate symbol of Good Fortune. Everything connected with Chinese Dragons is blessed.

Photography: Mark Mortensen
Dragon is held in a private collection
Silk fabric information: link here

Doll #1 - Lotus

I would like to share my journey in creating Lotus...

She didn't start out as Lotus, she actually started out in my mind as Peony.

Much of the time, when I set out to create a piece, it is the word that drives me...gives me my creative jump start...and so it was to be with Peony.

I had friends in town and we ventures up to Boulder to a very fine fabric shop called Elfrieda's. Yes, indeed, this woman has the most beautiful fabrics and what a great place to find exactly what I was looking for!

I wanted Peony to be in various pink tones, with a hat (and it is all about the hat with me!)...silk fabrics...

Below is the fabrics I found- an unusual dupoini (left) which was a bit more rustic in the weave and a embroidered piece of silk (right) with the stems holding a bit of the pink tones. Hand-dyed, bias-cut silk ribbons in the soft pinks that I felt would create the most delicate peony blossoms and flowers.

So that WAS the game plan...as I pulled out my other silks and started to go through them...Peony just was not happening...this is when you have to listen...quitely listen to your gut- your intuition.

Lotus kept coming to the fore front.

 

Chinese poets use the lotus flowers to inspire people to continue striving through difficulties and to show their best part to the outside world, no matter how bad the circumstances may be. This is understood as being just like the lotus flower, bringing beauty and light from the murky darkness at the bottom of the pond.

Another symbolic characteristic of the lotus flower leads from the observation that the plant's stalk is easy to bend in two, but is very hard to break because of its many strong sinuous fibers. Poets use this to represent a close unbreakable relationship between two lovers or the members within a family, showing that no matter how far away they might live nothing can really separate them in heart.

more lotus here

Side note: I believe that dollmaking truly comes from your soul, where your life is at that point, and is expressed in the pieces you create. At this time of trying to create Peony, my dollmaking business needed to be redefined, I was struggling with the direction it was taking and I felt that I needed to make some changes...ok- not quite walking through mud but pretty close to digging deep to find the right path...and yes, I believe after many, many, many months of working through this I have found the right path...more on that in future blogs!

Back to Lotus,  sooOoo, as I was searching though my fabrics and I happened upon this beautiful sheer magenta fabric with the fine silk embroidery and the velvet-like tufts of the green flower- Lotus...there she was in the fabric just waiting to be created...My final fabric choices will be listed under each photo.

Lotus

Body: Sculpted DAS stone clay head, head overlay and body of  silk crepe.

Body lining of cotton batiste.

Wigging of mohair and silk.

Wooden beads for jointing of head, arms and legs.

Costuming: Dress; Silk Organza with embroidery, Lined with vintage Japanese kimono fabric in pink.

Collar and cuff- Black brocade silk (that I purchased in my visit to China)

Pants; Silk brocade in pink with metallic weavings, black silk brocade, lining of hand-dyed tussah silk

close up of silk embroidery on garment

Hat: This was the fun part, I just LOVE making hats! I created one hat and felt it just wasn't the right fit.

So did some pattern redrafting in paper and finally came up the right shape for more of a headpiece.

Now the for the fabric, I pulled out my cherished scraps and found the beautiful metal embroidered vintage sari piece for the base of the headpiece...

Embellishments were created with the center medallion of some very old and one of a kind Hare Krishna piece my Mom had given to me ions ago. It needed a center stone and I luckily had three Jade beads- perfect! One for the medallion and the other two for the tassels. I made the tassels from various groupings of threads, then strung the precious beads which threaded through the flower vintage sequin.

The headdress trimmings are of all vintage metal.  There is a very thin metal cording that I hand sewed to the entire outline of the hat. The crowning glory is the vintage metal lace that is also hand sewn through each tiny delicate loop onto the top of the headpiece. I just love the feel and look of the patina of the aged soft fabric.

 

Close up of sleeve. I left the sleeve unlined so you can see trough the sheerness to the jointing of the doll.  The cuff reveals the tiny black and gold cording that is hand-sewn to define the cuff and the collar line. Below, close up black Chinese brocade.

Lotus has a small delicate hand-made flower from the silk ribbon, this flower measured no more that 1/2 inch wide. The flower is nestled in the back of her hairstyling.

 

Close up of her pant piecing embroidery  and her tiny shoes of brocade and lined with a peach dupioni. I am most often asked- How long did it take you to create this piece? I actually don't really know, but I can tell you it took four-five hours to create the shoes. I just love the way the little lotus blossom in the fabric came out on the center of the shoe toes!

 

All in all, this was one of my most enjoyable dolls to create. I feel that my years and years of focus and sacrifice to become a master in my field has finally caught up with what is in my mind's eye! And all I can do from her is to push myself to be even better!! I am excited to see where this is going to take me!

I so hope you enjoyed this written story about Lotus.

Stools: custom made by Gary Leitch
Photography: Mark Mortensen
Lotus is held in a private collection
Silk fabric information: link here

5 Dolls

Hello All,

Thank you for your patience while I took time away from writing my blog to create my dolls for the NIADA Conference 2012! Little side note- next year is NIADA's 50th Anniversary to be help in San Fransisco area!

During this period, I feel that I was able to really create pieces that I am so proud of.  For the next five weeks, I wish to share in detail each doll with my thoughts on design and expression of my heart of each.

Next week, we will start with Lotus!

All photography is by the fantastic Mark Mortensen