Covid 19 Lockdown Soul Sisters

April 28 2020

Lockdown has caused so much family separation, and today - my daughters birthday, her sister and I accidentally met her in the supermarket. The absolute joy and acute energy that passed between these two meeting unexpectedly will stay with me as a positive memory.

Soul Sisters. I was thinking about refugees when I made these.

I found the wood among the firewood and was attracted to the torn limbs. The wood is Macrocarpa, branches from an old established tree, still standing. Storms broke the branches off and they lay discarded for some time, muddy and weathered, with the bark peeling off. The branches had been gathered up with other fallen branches, and eventually cut up for firewood. Even though the branches were from the same tree, they were from different branches. As I weighed the cut wood pieces in my hands, they felt solid. Too good to burn!

I sanded the bases evenly, so they would stand on end, and the wood is beautiful and strong. I peeled the outer layers of bark off and the colour of the wood is beautiful. The heads I made fitted snugly into the torn elbow of the branches, and the torn pieces reminded me of wings.

As I worked with these pieces the story of the wood reminded me of refugees, torn from their home countries by the storms of war and genocide. Separated, weathered, discarded and rejected, and eventually stripped of everything, cut down to size and redefined culturally, spiritually and emotionally. Yet at heart there is an energy, strength born from hardship, there is comfort, protection and always the hope of peace.

I wish you good energy, strength and peace as we navigate the storms of our times in lock down.

Covid 19 Lockdown - Harley Quinn

April 28 2020

Things getting a little out of control in your bubble? Like - hair?

This is a character I made in 2017, for my daughter who likes Horror movies. It is my plan to make a pattern, and I have all the bits. It's on my list. It was actually a fun piece to do, and even though the subject matter will not appeal to a lot of people, there are a lot of other people out there who would enjoy the process of making something like this. Everything is cloth bar the gun, but even that could have been made in cloth. It's a bit of overkill - pardon the pun, but it was part of the accessories.

My friend Ngaone Tutemahurangi, who is an awesome doll shoe designer, designed some boots for me to try, so I will do that when I make the pattern. These boots are a rather unique style - high heel sneakers! Ngaone is an admin on Jan Horrocks page.

These boots are painted on, so had to be drawn on first! The t-shirt is painted, and so is the hair! That was fun! The legs had to be drawn on upside down, before the were put on. A bit of work to be done on forming the buttocks better, but I have since learned a lot about that , so it will go in the pattern too. Saying that, her breasts are higher than would normally be made on a casually dressed female figure, because of the arm gesture on the form, that also gives the idea of an uplift bra! Lots of things to take into consideration when designing a pattern to pose a figure that depicts an attitude!

If you are having a bad hair day in lock down - we have moved to level 3 today, so businesses can get cracking again, and all the superhero's can continue to do what they have been doing all along - keeping us safe! Yay for them!

Covid 19 Cloth over characters

Crikey! We're into week six of Lock down now! Even though we go into level 3 this week, it doesn't change much! Just as well I have plenty to keep me occupied!

Going through my pictures I have found some that are called 'cloth over'. This is when you make something and maybe you don't want the nose seam to show, or you may wish to change the shape of a head. so you make a head in cloth that acts as a form. that sits underneath. There may be a little needlesculpting done, and then the face is covered with a two way stretch fabric, such as cotton lycra, which is pinned in place, while stuffing is placed in certain areas, like eyes, nose, cheeks etc that may need to be exaggerated with stitches. Then the fun part of making the features stand out!

I didn't know I could do this until I made Madam Mim - an old comic favourite! Then I did Queen Victoria and Humpty Dumpty! Loved the process of discovering how to do this and have made some interesting characters over the years that express something! The seriousness of Queen Vic, and the absolute fun of Mim and Humpty!

I hope you are having some fun in your Bubble!

Covid 19 Lockdown Anzac Dolls

This is my ANZAC tribute to all people who have been captured, fallen, wounded, sick, alone, despairing, that they will find the offer of comfort, of human touch, aid, a care parcel from someone in the world who cares and a letter from home! Lest we forget.

I know I have shown these dolls before, but this is how it came about. They were to be part of an exhibition in 2014, for the 100 years of ANZAC. My angle for this exhibition was about who cared.

I did my research and found some old posters. I found out about the care packages put together by families. Only certain things were allowed, and they had to be checked before being sent and handed out by the Red Cross.

The face was inspired by a soldier and the look on his face was what I used to express my feelings about this work. I made the body and posed it. Then I made the boots, painted them with ModPodge and dirtied them with mud!

Next came the helmet - he had to have a sleep while it dried! He was exhausted!

I made the leggings, and shirt, trying to stay authentic to the uniform. Then hair, and bandages, which I grubbied up a bit too. The letter from home is part of the comfort and care. I even made some old sacks for him to sit on in his makeshift environment.

The nurse holding the care parcel and touching his shoulder to convey compassion, was the finishing touch. My own father was sent home shell shocked after the war. They would call it PTSD now. We shall remember them

Covid 19 Lockdown Innkeeper & Wife

These two cocky characters are the Innkeeper and his wife, from Les Miserable's. These dolls marked a significant time in my learning about needle-sculpting and colouring faces, not to mention costuming and shoemaking!

It came about because I found a picture of the Innkeepers Wife in one of Suzanna O'Royans books called Fantastic Figures, in 2009 - not long after I began making dolls. I was taken with the pose and the expression, and wondered if I could copy it in cloth. So the head in velour is the one I made, and I got excited, because then I realised I could manipulate velour and make an expressive face!

I was not happy though, because even though as a face, it was quite successful, I wanted it to to be fuller. Then I stumbled across cotton lycra, and wondered if I did the same thing in that fabric, how it would turn out. These are the results of that experiment! Having made that face, I decided to go ahead and make the rest of it. Later, after much nagging from my friend Jeanne, I wrote the pattern.

It took a long time because I was also doing other study, but because Jeanne kept me at it, I took pics of the work in progress for her, so she would know I was still working on it! So it was my perseverance and Jeanne's persistence that kept up my motivation to create something I would have let go by the wayside!

How are you doing in Lockdown? Anything you are persevering or being persistant with? Do you need a friend like I had to nag you?

So grateful for the support of friends!

Covid 19 Fathoms Deep.

April 22 2020

Floating around in my bubble today, is Fathoms Deep! A wonderful wall doll I made from Colleen Babcocks Pattern, in 2010. This is significant, because making this one helped me get over my fear of colouring a face! Know the feeling? It helped me step out of my comfort zone and took me to another place of understanding my craft, developing my skills, as well as meeting my goal of making an expressive face - enhanced by the colour. I was very grateful to add that to my learning journey! What are you glad about today in lockdown?

Covid 19 Lockdown Gypsy Rose

April 21 2020

This is Gypsy Rose. Another doll intended for a pattern. This one is actually a Marionette, made in 2014, but I loved being able to pose her unstrung. She didn't look the same strung up! She had more freedom unstrung - a bit like us in Lockdown!

Covid 19 lockdown Anthromorphic Puss

April 20 2020

These little Glam Puss have not been made into a pattern yet, but are very simple and fun to make! Easily posed and dressed up, or dressed down! Can be small or large.

Miss White Puss - Ah there she is! She is not as posable, with an armature, but cute in her tute!

Have a fun day in Week 4 Level 4!

Covid 19 My Response - Pixies

April 19 2020

I'm a bit late getting on the Covid 19 band wagon of sharing a soft toy, but as I am a doll maker, I thought I'd share a doll a day to bring some cheer.

These will be my own designs and I am happy to talk about them if anyone is interested, but mostly just to brighten up the days of lockdown!

Just now we are still in level 4 and self isolating, so here's what these two pixies have been up to!

Darlong Dancer made in Lockdown April 2020

This Darchawi dancer was a commission. I don't usually portray other cultures, but I was given the actual traditional woven fabric that is worn by this people during their dancing festivals, to use, so that made me feel better about doing this figure.

The headdress in real life is stunning!

The bamboo poles are part of the dance.

It felt like such a privilege to make using this beautiful traditionally woven fabric, which brings the figure to life, and I only hope I have done it justice, because it is not easy to scale it down to make it look right.