Begining Ballerina

 I love my nieces and nephew, if you have read anything that I have written, that is pretty obvious. I mention them all the time, I just think of them so often, and I have loved sharing special moments with them. Many of those moments often involve creative pursuits. I have always drawn and written little things at their request. I have let them explore art by using any of my cached supplies (some still fully useable since I got them in high-school) to encourage their creativity. And I have a lot of trouble saying no to their requests. Enter my youngest sister's little one, who upon learning I was making dolls, asked me "can you make me a ballerina?". Not one to say no, I answered, "of course I can". I had no idea how I would do it, but my challenge was set.

 If you have seen any of my other painted faces, you will know that I have been struggling to find my way to make appealing faces for my dolls using the style of painting I have always used.  Somehow, many of my faces were looking very harsh, almost mean, and I knew I wanted a much more 'sweet' looking face for this ballerina.  I started drawing and painting, and suddenly, there she was. The face above is suitably doll like, the big eyes are exactly what I want, and leaving off eyebrows means that I avoid the mean looking problem.  But something was whispering in the back of my mind, something started to look very familiar about this face, and then I realized what it was. This face, to me, resembles a Blythe Doll.  This is my own style, but it is sort of a morph I think, likely from my general adoration of the Blythe Doll look. Obviously, this is a flat single dimensional painting, and done on flannel to boot, so it is really startling to me that the shading makes me think Blythe.

 I started with this head by backing a large piece of flannel to it, and stitching closely around the edge of my face. I have no idea what I am doing here really. I know it will need hair at some point and I am still exploring how that is going to work, but I left a large folded flap in the back of the head so that I can sort out the hair and stuffing later.

 The face is so sweet for this ballerina, I really love the way it looks, even bald as it is. Below you can see a few images of the back of the head, the folded flap I left until I can sort out how I want to make her hair, and I also did a shot of the open flap so you can see how simple the construction is. This, of course, had to be hand sewn, as I didn't want to even risk an accidental stitch into the face area.

Head done, I now had to imagine how the heck I was going to do a body for this doll. Again, no clue what I am doing as I have never so much as seen a finished art doll up close, and never sewn anything other than my pillow like Stuffies.  I just decided to try a few shapes out. I made a template, and as I was drawing it, I made separate arms and legs almost as a habit. Below you can see my improvised body plan. I realized it would look rather silly to stitch the limbs into the main body, and not very dancer like, so I realized I can attach them with a sort of button joint, even if it is just for looks. I don't really know how button joints work, but I figure there must be some information somewhere online. That would come later.

So I cut out my template pieces, traced them on to white flannel, thinking they were just test pieces anyways, and started to hand sew the pieces with a heavy button thread, just to get an idea of their scale and to see if they would even work together at all.

 First came the torso, and gosh it was almost impossible to turn out after sewing, that is one small neck opening. I may be a total newbie at this, but I usually think ahead better, I managed to get it turned out finally and was really surprised to see that the curve of the waist was really nice, not too sexy, not too boyish, perfect really for a little ballerina. Maybe I can manage this after all.

 After looking at the white flannel blank for the test run, I wasn't sure where to go next. Do I use it as a model form, do I embroider it? I decided to try painting on the flannel, and found that even once it has been sewn, though a little challenging, it still took the paint and some shading nicely. I was quite happy with how it looked. I think painting it after stuffing might work better.

 I decided to work on the legs next, creating the two identical limbs with white flannel, stuffing them with PolyFil, and then painting some little pink ballet slippers onto the "feet". As i mix all my paint colours by hand from a basic set, there is always  little variations in colour from place to place, it's just the way I mix, but somehow it looks right to me. I don't like completely solid blocks of colour, if I wanted that, I could just buy the specific colour in some crafting paint bottle. I like to think of everything as a canvas and approach it like I would a large scale original piece of art, the shading is what gives it depth.

I roughly assembled the pieces into place with some pins, just to see how it might look all together and I have to say, it was love at first sight. Even with no hair, no arms, and no clothing, I am in love with this doll. How will I ever let her go?

 Here is another couple looks at the partially assembled art doll, I can't believe how cute she is. I really love that her legs look so long, and the way they sort of sit on her hips is very charming to me.  I really hope I can sort out the whole "Button Joint" thing, and decide how to go about making hair out of yarn, in order to make her really come to life. For now she is watching over me as I blog, making sure I am always thinking of her.

This doll is taking a lot more time then I imagined to it would, but I suppose that it what makes it special. I am completely hand sewing the pieces, since they are so small and there is little room for error at all. I need to stuff them very densely so that they are easier to paint and hold their shape well. I am experimenting with using both PolyFil fibre stuffing and PolyFil bead stuffing with this doll. I want to give it a little more weigh but also, adding beads to the knee and elbow areas make them just a little more 'pose-able', I think with gentle play they will hold up nicely, and also the doll would be nice to photograph. A dancer must be able to move a little bit after all.

I just started my next step, the arms, which are a little more primitive than I would have liked, but I just don't have the skill or the tools to make tiny little fingers and still be able to turn the doll out and then stuff all those tiny areas. I literally use a set of Mahogany chop sticks that I had in my kitchen to do the stuffing, so it is a very difficult thing to get it all the way down and into the tiny thumb on the arm.  I will leave things here for now, since this has already been a two day process on this doll, I will update her as she begins to come together.  I want to test out some ideas I have for the hair, and also need to figure out how the heck I can make clothing for her. I have never ever sewn anything like clothes at all, so I am completely at a loss when it comes to making a Tutu. Wish me luck.

Making Faces

I have two projects in the works right now. One is a new "Stuffie" for which I actually created "gasp" a drawing and a cardboard template [see, I am learning]. My other project is going to be my first OOAK Art Doll. As a novice doll maker, and seamstress, with no sewing machine, I have to make the entire doll part by part through trial and error. This includes clothing. So it may take some time until I manage it.

I started by cutting a panel of white flannel and tacking it down to a spare bit of cardboard. I drew the face in pencil in my own style, loosely placing all the features, then I went over that in vanishing purple fabric pen.   I pulled out a set of basic acrylic paints and a brush and began to work on the fabric, which is difficult because it is not a flat finish.  I painted the whites of the eyes and the irises first, then added the pupils in black and some white highlights. I developed a myriad palette of flesh tones and began to build on the features. In the first image I was very pleased with the forehead, but the lips and eyes needed work.

I continued to work on the face, actually not able to put it away, and added thin brown lines to highlight features. I had planned on doing eyelashes in pen or paint, but I am rethinking that step. The eyes came out smokier than I had planned, the brows more arched, but otherwise I think it is a good start, considering these are poor quality materials [all my good stuff is with my nephew].  The images are very dark, but the original is quite nice and the shading is complex.  I am planning on using a hand-spun wool roving to make the hair, but the body will be madke from the flannel, which means I will have to paint the hands perhaps.  We shall see.

What Is Dolly Pieces?

[AKA The Post No One Will Read]

When I was a little girl, both myself, and my twin sister, would carry around small 'pieces' of a rag doll. It all started from, well, birth basically. When we were born, back in the very early seventies, we were born 4 weeks premature. At the time, twins were a rarity, particularly identical twins, so you can image the hub-bub on the Obstetrics Unit. Unfortunately, this all meant a very painful first few days for my mother, who wasn't allowed to hold us or nurse us because we were so small. I weight in at a whopping 4 pounds and 7 oz., my twin sister who followed just 3 minutes later was the winner with a weight of 4 pounds 11 oz.

In 1972, this was considered a reason to be placed in an 'incubator' [that's what they called them then. And to be bottle fed icky sweet formula in order to put as much weight on as possible. By the time my mother got to hold us, we were far to lazy to nurse, having gotten hooked on a fast flowing bottle, and she sadly had to stop trying after a few weeks, much to her dismay. While she was kept bed-bound on the nursing unit next to the other new mothers who were being brought their newborns at scheduled times for feedings, she received a lot of flowers and gifts for "the twins". One of these gifts, as I have been told, contained 2 cute little rag dolls.

And so we eventually were chubby enough to go home, and at some point were given these dolls to cuddle, and of course, bond with. Every child has some sort of security item, even if it is just their pillow, and for us these dolls were it. I am not sure what they were made of, but it was the 70s and they were decoration on a gift, so I imagine they weren't meant to go the full distance. Over time those dolls fell to pieces. Did my sister and I care, not so much as it turns out. Those "Dolly Pieces", as they were affectionately known, still filled our little hands at night and were tucked in with us at bedtime.

My Sister, Brother, Baby Sister, & Me at "Story Time" with my Mother. In My Sister's Hand [L] you can see a final remaining "Dolly Piece".

I have a vague recollection of calling for "Mommy" when one of these doll arms, or a leg, rolled under the bed at night. They simply had to be rescued. My sister and I carried around our own Dolly Pieces for quite a while it would seem. By the end, we had lost them, or they we soiled enough that my mother 'removed' them, but we would hang on till the very last piece was gone. We knew which ones were ours, and never got them mixed up, and I know we missed them when they were gone. Even holding a tiny piece of that doll made us feel good, made us feel safe, and that is why to this day I remember our "Dolly Pieces".

I have been dabbling in my arts and crafts endeavors ever since I was a child. My mother was a teacher before she had us, and she always encouraged creative play, lots of reading, using our imaginations, and we always had plenty of things to do with our hands. She made 'Baker's Clay' out of salt and flour and food colouring, today we call it "Play-Doh", but then it was an economical, homemade, green, cheap and easy thing to whip up and let your kids squish through their little fingers. My mother was always very artistic, as was my maternal grandmother, and actually turned down a chance to go to the Ontario Collage of Art [OCA] in order to follow her heart into teaching, and later, a speech correction, career. We always had crayons on hand to colour with, we finger-painted, we made things out of scraps of fabric, paper and boxes, we made our own fun. With four of us born in 5 years, I now had a brother and baby sister too, my mother managed to keep us all busy and happy with very little children's television available to her, a husband who was working 16 hour days trying to get a business off the ground, and most of her very small family living far away from Toronto. I really marvel at how she did that and still accomplished so much outside the home, more on that later.

When I got to high-school there was little surprise that art was my favorite class of all. I eventually managed to do well in almost all my classes, but I felt like my art classes [and drama class to some degree] was a place where it was fun time. Some of the projects we did were tedious and lacked creativity, but they had their purposes too, such as teaching us how to develop color scales in acrylic paint. When I got to some of my first summer jobs, I worked at a creative arts camp and eventually became the 'art teacher' at the camp. That basically means I was the one who planned all the art activities for up to 80 kids. I would order all the supplies, plan a range of activities for the five 2-week sessions for the summer, and never repeat a major project over the arc of the summer. Tie-Dye, Paper Mache, Candle Making, Beading, Macrame, we did all of those and dozens of other camp craft staples. I also made sure to do a little teaching too, though it seems silly now, showing the kids my own art or images from books on Picasso or Dali. I loved those summers, and the freedom of picking up any supplies I wanted and making anything I wanted.

I, too, had to make decisions about my future. Like my mother, I chose to forgo formal art training, and instead opt for a more practical and stable career in Nursing, my mother's reasons may be different but I was scared that I wasn't good enough to make a living off my art. I love my job, being a Nurse is the one of the most important things I have ever done, I overcame so many challenges on my way to becoming a nurse, I still face many in my life, but it was worth it. I may have chosen Nursing, but I never gave up my art. I had a small easel set up in my little bachelor apartment [read as one room]. I would work my shifts, and on my days off, I would paint in Acrylics or Water Colour. I needed a place to let things out, Nursing is a very stressful job, and the schedule is very intense. My work in particular, in High-Risk Obstetrics, was an emotional roller-coaster on a daily basis. It seems ironic, even to me, that I became an Obstetrics Nurse. I now know that 4 weeks premature for twins is pretty much the best case scenario, we consider it "Term" for a twin pregnancy. I also know that as small as we were when we were born, unless there was a clear issue with breathing problems or jaundice, that those "Incubators" [now called Isolettes], were not necessary, and keeping us away from our mother was such a cruel thing to do to her. The interference with her ability to Nurse us, giving us all that formula, was also something that would be unacceptable today. Hindsight, 20-20, need I say more?

One Of My 'Lady Portraits' Painted On Pottery. [awful lighting, I need a real camera.]

I would paint all sorts of pictures, most of them very personal and emotional, and they were all abstract portraits, always of women's faces. After several years, I became ill and wasn't able to work anymore, I moved out of the downtown area, back closer to my family, and in the process somehow misplaced most of my art supplies and any inclination to do anything much at all. I found other creative outlets, but I still would doodle all over my papers and notebooks, and any chance I had to do creative things with my nieces or nephew was a chance to get back into it. In the last while I have been re-connecting with that part of myself that needs to create. I have been crafting, teaching my nephew all sorts of things using my old art supplies, and back to putting my feelings into my work. I also use Polyvore to create Art Sets and Doll Sets, an online scrap-book of sorts, where you can create collages of items found all over the net with no need for paper or scissors. I find it tremendously therapeutic.

A Polyvore Set I Created, Entitled "When Pigs Fly".

Recently I recognized that something about working on a flat surface, just a piece of paper or canvas, wasn't giving me the tactile experience I wanted. I was visiting a local "paint-your-own" pottery shop and liked working in a different medium, holding a plate with an image I created on it in my hands was powerful. I can remember sewing a bit as a girl, maybe the early 80s. I would get those 'cut and stitch' pillow dolls at the fabric store. The ones that came on a yard of fabric, pre-printed, you cut it out and then stitched according to the directions. You stuffed it with some sort of foamy bits, and then viola, you had a doll. I can remember my brief time in Home Economics class when I was 12 years old, we were shown how to use a sewing machine and did basic seams. We also had an assignment to make a stuffed toy out of a kit, we could choose any kit we liked from a list. I must have driven my parents insane, asking for more money so that I could make 'another' one. I made a goldfish, a blue elephant, and a tan stuffed dog, at least the ones I remembered. I did them by hand because I was horrid with a sewing machine and broke dozens of needles in frustration. I was never able to pick up crochet, though I tried, and I can knit a very basic stitch, I can make a simple scarf of any length, but that is about it. My mother is a great knitter and can sew up a storm when she wants to, funny how I missed that gene.

My First Sewing Kit [Circa 1980]

I have been working on a new blog in the last few weeks, called Foraging For Fab, it features the work of other artists and some great vintage items too, and it is pure joy. I do love to write, and have a heck of a lot to say, apparently. [*scans up to the top of the post*] But looking for content for the blog has been wonderful for exposing me to the creative work of others. It made me want to see what I could do with my own hands too, and that is why I have started this little blog. I have started making, for lack of a better term, Dolly Pieces. It is just a start, the first night all I had in my apartment was a tiny travel sewing kit, a package of mens white cotton undershirts meant to be slept in but never opened, and a black Sharpie marker. I tried to make a doll's head. You can see the results for yourself.

My First Attempt At Doll Making. [Jan. 25/2012]

The next night I went to visit my parents and asked my mother for some sewing supplies, and she actually still had my original sewing kit from the early 80s. There is something very special about holding a piece of your art in the palm of your hand. When I showed a snap of that silly doll head to my 9 year old niece, she asked if I could make her a doll. How great is that? Tonight I saw my nephew, who at six tells me he is an "Artist" like me, and his mother [my twin sister], and my mother. He knows he has a talent for being creative, and I have spent so much time 'arting' with him that he really loves to play with all sorts of media and styles. We have plans to make 'monsters and aliens' dolls this weekend, also very cool.

Getting 'Arty' With My Nephew [Age 6]. With A Few Foam Plates And Tongue Depressors, Viola - Primitive Art Puppets! He Choose The Theme of "Zombie Circus Clowns", Is That A Great 6 Year Old or What!

So what will this blog be about? At this point, it's just a personal blog by a woman who has some time on her hands while she tries to get back into life. But it is something I want to do, I want to document my own progress, my ideas, and my evolution as an artist. So here goes nothing, or a little tiny something that you can hold in the palm of your hand and feel secure about. This is "Ketsy's Dolly Pieces".