Skip to main content

Australian Inspired Traveling Art Doll


Gum leaves (Eucalypt)  - dried leaves and some encased in fused organza 
 Last week I posted about Art Dolls Only "Traveling Art Doll" project. Our team , Tiny Team  is Martha (Ayala Art ) and Lulu ( Lulus Apples) both from USA and me.
When Martha's doll arrived, I was very worried ... Such a beautiful face -  I didn't want to do anything, not in character. And I had not made a doll with a polymer clay breast plate before, so I wasn't sure how to proceed. Martha had named her Linda but I nicknamed her "Dimi" - a kind of  tiny sprite! And then it came to me as I was walking in the bush near our place - an Australian bush sprite, inspired by a pile of dried gum leaves on a path!

Traveling Art Doll 1 - on arrival 
Sketches 1
Sketch - close up
The fabric I chose is a design called "Yalke" ( Aboriginal word for Australian bush onion) by indigenous artist, June Smith. The skirt is made from fabric leaves, and natural leaves encased and fused between layers of organza. 
"Yalke" 
Gum leaves skirt 
 Trying to create a srpite like figure I  made pointed toes on her feet, but I think they are too small - Perhaps it is something Lulu can remedy when it comes to her, as well as adding  her arms and hands.
feet for a sprite? 
Enjoying the sunshine in the garden before leaving.
 And just before getting packed ready for the journey, who should arrive? Traveling Art Doll 2 from Lulu via Martha.....

New arrival 
Together briefly... 

Watch this space for more "Traveling Art Doll" adventures...
Labels:

Comments

  1. lulu moonwood murakamiApril 19, 2013 at 12:32 PM

    Wow, Wilma! I love seeing how you incorporated the leaf idea into the doll. Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Martha from ilove2paintApril 19, 2013 at 1:17 PM

    Oh wow!! I love the fabrics! The leaves are so beautiful! ♥ Xo)
    I don't think the feet are too little, looks awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  3. jasmoonbutterflyApril 20, 2013 at 12:40 AM

    Wow! I love everything about her! Clever using fabric design called "Yalke" :) Brilliant idea with leaves too Wilma mwah xoxo

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...
3 comments
Read more

Lilly Pilly

Today is Australia Day. I chose a photo of some Lilly Pilly berries as a celebratory image for this national day. Lilly Pilly is  a common name for a plant, Syzygium smithii which grows mostly in Eastern Australia, from the northern  rain forests of Queensland, throughout NSW to the southern Wilson's Promontory in Victoria. In New Zealand it is called "monkey apple, but other names used in Australia, besides lilly pilly, are Eungella Gum and Coast Satinash. The largest Lilly Pilly recorded was found in Dingo Creek Flora Reserve, near Tenterfield where I once lived.  The tree now growing in my garden was once a small seedling which I was gifted when I left Woolgoolga, a small coastal town in northern NSW. Its name  is said to come from the Aboriginal word 'weelgoolga' describing the lilly pilly which grows in profusion there. It is probably no surprise that the lilly pilly berries are edible as bush tucker, and make a beautiful jam or jelly. I have even seen re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes  - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary.   Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's  Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers).  This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach.    Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...
Post a Comment
Read more