Butterfly Charm Girl Part: 1 Balance

For me, there is a process beyond sitting down to sculpt and sew a piece. I start with the symbolism or meaning of the doll. This helps connect me with the mindset in which I will take each careful stitch.

I find that where I am mentally-emotionally helps me to create once I connect. It doesn't always have to be in the "happy" place either! I found that I created, what I think, some of my most beautiful pieces right after my Dad's passing- The Four Seasons. It expressed my love of him and life's seasons which I was able to translate into my work.

 Balance of Life

The Butterfly symbolizes simultaneous twin realities: the world of dreams and the world of work. These worlds are likened to the mirroring wings: the dream world is one wing and the awake world is the other.

The wings connect at the heart for the Butterfly to fly and live. The Life is the Butterfly’s wings. 

Life, like the Butterfly is kept alive by the two opposing twin-like wings. It is the balance of life.

Photography: Mark Mortensen

I have a goal when I am in the journey of creating a piece..it may not be what you think..as in finishing the doll...finding the right fabric...creating the most beautiful piece I can...

My goal is to work within myself...to work at bringing out what my soul is trying guide me to do and express it in the feeling of my doll.

The balance is expressed by what I chose as her fabrics; it also expresses my inner movement of my soul.

In the Organic posting, I stated...

We are so bombarded with outside influences that it is, at best, difficult to remove others thoughts, voices, or styles from our own work.
It is the journey of defining your own voice and then trusting it  and then giving it room to grow that you become your own.

So when I say working within myself..it means to find that inner voice and listen to it carefully...slow down and listen. We all as artist do have that inner intuitiveness. And if we listen, we can then be guided to bring this into our own work that will make it original...personal.

Yes, I am a type A personality ( I had to initialize that to make my point). I want to blast through things so that my body can keep up with my thoughts.

So this slowing down is a learned process and from this, I feel, my greatest works comes to life.

I stand at my work table and take some deep breaths and open my heart and mind and ask for guidance from the divine...breathing it in and out.

This is when I find the balance of my bustin' out creativity comes to hold hands with my delicate soul's voice...balance.

It is usually during hand-sewing that I find that I am most mindful. Actually, I would say that I am most UN-mindful...not thinking of anything just in the moment of the needle going in and out pulling the thread...and this is where I believe that the *magic* happens...where your gift...your soul comes into your piece...in that moment of quiet without judgement.

 

I believe that once you find that quiet space, peace comes to live in your creation. Your voice...your heart comes to live...divinely inspired.

Special note on the quote: peaceful and perfect... Many years ago I took a sculpting class from a well known artist (at the time). We sculpted our pieces and then took them to the mirror to look at them and their symmetry...now- so many years later, I do not sculpt symmetrical..I like my dolls the way they look...it is my perfect!

 Find your perfect wings...not others.

The wings connect at the heart 

for the Butterfly to fly and live. 

The Life is the Butterfly’s wings.

Next Week Costuming!

Ladybug Part 3: Texture

texture

teks-cher

the characteristic visual and tactile quality of the surface of a work of art resulting from the way in which the materials are used.

I believe that texture plays one of the most important roles in creating your piece. It determines a baseline for the overall feel of your piece.  Like life, a smooth texture may represent refinement where as a shabby frayed piece may represent a feeling of rough and tumble.

For my Charm Girls, I chose fabrics that are more textured, more earthy, than those of say the Story Hat Series- see Peony which is much softer and smoother in fabric choices.

My favorite fabric that I start with on most of my Charm Girls is one purchased several years ago in a good amount of yardage. It is a nubby tussah silk.

Silk Tussah is a raw silk fabric originating from wild silk worms. It has an uncommon and natural slubby texture, resembling grass cloth. It is hand-woven with three different types of silk threads--gicha, noil and tussah. 

I love this fabric because of the bark-like mat qualities of it. The silk worms are wild and created this uneven organic texture. This I use as the jacket..front and center on my doll.

From there I choose a compliment in a smoother texture to create balance. I use a silk dupioni that carries a bit of a sheen to it.

Also note- the direction of the weaves as the jacket runs horizontal and the skirt vertical.

Photography: Mark Mortensen

Body:

I also went with a silk that looked like linen to create the body and overlay the head.

That decided...I will next choose my color palette for the hat, pants, and shoe fabric...

Hat:

I initially, chose a very smooth fabric and it just was not working not only because of the smoothness but of the lack of design pattern. I ended up with this below- shine with texture and that held a richness to it...lining it with a piece of vintage kimono that had some variation in color from wear.

The gold not only added the shine but also gave it fabulous texture. This woven embroidery was all embellished on a satin black base.

Jacket:

As stated, the jacket was created in the grainy fabric.

I added the smooth shiny tubular beads for closures that are tied with linen threads.

The jacket is sewn in pieces by machine and then hand sewn together with added machine embroidery as flowered accents.

The lining is a smooth silk in an earthly color. 

She holds her gourd closely. It cradles the Ladybug enameled charm. Here again, we have the earthiness of the gourd with its patina that is protected with a glossy varnish and a gold finish interiorly. Linen threads surround the opening.

Skirt:

The skirt creates a resting point for your eyes with its smoothness, even thought it has a slub to it reads as a satin shine.

Pants & Shoes:

The pants are made from vintage kimono fabric. I like the way it balanced with the interior of the hat...not only in color but also in tender wear...

The shoes are created with a black on black Chinese brocade. You can see the beautiful weave. The bow fabric mimics the jacket in the nubby weave.

And...let's not forget about the bottom of the shoes! If  you look carefully, you can spy the lining of the skirt- done in a polished cotton with gold trimmed blossoms.

Complete:

My hope is that you can see how this texture is balanced with the prominent of the nubby and the accent of the smooth.

Next week : 

Butterfly Charm Girl

Ladybug Part 2: Organic

organic

 ôrˈɡanik 

1. Having an organization relating in its complexity to that of living things.
2. Elements fitting together into a unified, organic whole.
3. In the creative process, used to describe in such a way that the various parts developed as they were, one from another, free-flowing and from within rather than sticking rigidly to a preconceived plan..

Compare to functional

Linguistics; function concerned with the communicative role of language rather than the framework for its formal structure.

so...
you ask..what does all this mumbo jumbo mean?? And how is she going to relate this to her art??

In today's world, "organic" has so many connotations, mostly with food...but I believe it can also capture the meaning of a soulful inner familiarity or intuitiveness.

If we take some highlights from the above definitions...we can refine it into this:

Working organically in the creative process, where the art develops as free-flowing and from within. In organization with elements fitting together to form a whole. Once together, the role of language is spoken visually.

ok..still maybe a bit too wordy...bottom line is, I tell my students to rely on their own intuition...don't over think it...let it happen and your voice/soul will come out!

Photography: Mark Mortensen

Let's look at Ladybug Charm Girl in the round and then break it down using the elements from above.

Working organically in the creative process, where the art develops as a free-flowing and from within.

I think we as artists, have an intuitive sense of what goes together- if we stop and listen carefully to that whisper.

I believe this is probably one of the hardest things for me to teach to my students. We are so bombarded with outside influences that it is, at best, difficult to remove others thoughts, voices, or styles from our own work.

It is the journey of defining your own voice and then trusting it  and then giving it room to grow that you become your own.

In organization with elements fitting together to form a whole. Once together, the role of language is spoken visually.

Once you have developed your own style the rest will fall into place. Your voice...your path will be your own. You will be able to work intuitively in choosing the right balance of fabric and colors...ok ... yes this does take many years to accomplish this - for me, I believe I have finally hit my stride after 20 some years...where everything now flows into place...were my soul feels at home. The sculpting, the fabric, the colors, the message.

Yes, there are those geniuses out there that it comes much earlier...but this is your creation, your voice...your journey...your heart that you want to share.

So time is what it is...yours.

Next week: Texture

How did this doll come together??

For my Charm Girls, I chose fabrics that are more textured...

Ladybug Part 1: Growth

We all do start somewhere in our dollmaking...in our art...and hopefully, as we mature so does our art and our expression/inspiration of it. In this posting I would like to talk with you about a comparison of a doll from 7-8 years ago to one of today 2015.

This Ladybug series is the doll that started my path in creating most of the dolls I am associated with today. 

She is my beginning...my one I refer back to as to where I am in my own artistic growth...my baseline...my happiness...my gratitude that I am able to make dolls.

This is the photo of the one that applied to NIADA. 

Ladybug 2006-07

Materials used then: 

China dupioni silk body, horsehair for wig

Delight, happiness, and playful spirit symbolize the Ladybug. She shall bring abundance of blessings. The red shield and black spots that cover her wings announce her unique and playful spirit that bring smiles wherever her heart takes her on her journey. 

I still love this one. I feel that her essence is there...her joyful peace. I made small adjustments, via Shelley Thornton's critique, lengthening the arm about 1/4 inch and rounding out her jaw line. It was then the following year that I applied. 

Over the last 7-8 years, my experience with other Master dollmakers, I believe, has pushed me to look at my own pieces with a more discerning eye and to grow into the artist that my soul needs to express.

 The Ladybug is a symbol of taking action on your dreams, as she is related to gardens, her very presence represents planting the seeds of your dreams. Water it, give it sunshine and gratitude, and it will grow.

Taking your dreams...your visions and tending to them with your  devoted time, energy, and heart...

2015 Photography: Mark Mortensen

Ladybug 2015

Material change now: 

Silk crepe or in this case silk linen body, mohair/silk wig.

I will say that truly, practice makes perfect, not only in your technique but in your voice and how it is expressed through your hands.

Although my technique has not really changed, through time and experience, the way I am able to understand the materials, now, in which I am working and to use them...let them be what they are to bring out my heart and joy in my pieces with precision.

Like life, as we mature, we develop layers and my hope is that you can see where my dolls have more depth to them now than 8 years ago.

ok...yes..it does help that I have a Master photographer that is able to catch the soul of my pieces...but even with that, can you see the richness that has developed with time in my pieces of today??

Stages:

• Developing skills and technique
• Success at manipulating your materials to what is your vision
• Objective viewing of your work to make corrections
• Defining your signature in your body of work
• Defining your soul in the depth of your pieces

I would say that I am, now on more of a spiritual quest within my art. I understand what is my signature, my gift, and love the layers of inspiration that is stitched into each my pieces.

The spiritual meaning of Ladybug is to take inventory of what fills your heart, living as your true self and what makes you happy and fulfilled.

My hope is that each of you, no matter where you are in your own journey, will be able to find that moment* when all time stops and look at what you just created and say "this is it! this is what I imagined and here it is in front of me!"

* In the book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell claims that it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field.