Miss Wu Is Ready For The Christmas Ball

Last month, I signed up to the Holiday Doll Ball Swap hosted by Zan Asha of Vagabond Creations. http://vagabondcreations.blogspot.com/

What a wonderful surprise this week, well before the deadline, I received the wonderful Miss Wu, created by a well known artist and art doll maker, Deirdra Doan. Many doll makers worldwide will already be familiar with Deirdra’s work which has been featured often in Art Doll Quarterly, and you can see more of her amazing art on her blog http://deirdradoan.blogspot.com/and in her Etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop/deirdradoan

Here is Deridra’s description of this beautiful doll:
Miss Wu.(I tried to make her look like Wilma...)is all excited and patiently waiting for the "Christmas Ball/ Sock Hop" to begin. She thought her berry crown, candy cane, and snowman necklace would look so to chic and bring lots of beaux to fill her dance card. She also wore her icicle leggings.to finish off her ball attire. Since it is very hot on Christmas in Aussie land her arms are bare of course...
PS...She has ivy on her belt..as "The Holly and the Ivy" is one of her favorite songs for Christmas. She first heard it as a little girl in England so she was sure that they sang it in Australia as it was a English Colony.
And here is Miss Wu patiently waiting in our garden for the Christmas Ball…

Thank you Deirdra. Unfortunately, I can’t show you what I am creating for Deridra as 1) it’s not yet finished and 2) I want Deridra to be the first to see it ... another week or so....

It’s been a lovely quiet and creative week – I had my second last life drawing class in this series of lessons. I also spent a couple of days (nights) doing some beading and some sculpting. Last night, we went to see the preview performance of Henri Szep’s one man show “Wish I’d Said That”. I really enjoyed his performance based on speeches of leading characters in various plays. I loved the “Marlon Brando” excerpts from “Tea House of the August Moon”. ( That play was the first theatrical performance I had ever been in – my sister was about 5 years old and I was 10 – we had very small "walk on" parts. Actually we didn’t "walk on" much – we had to climb on the bonnet of a vehicle and it was driven off the stage.) However, last night, my favourite speech in Henri Szep’s show was the one from the musical, “South Pacific” … - a great reminder that people are not born prejudiced.

You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear
You’ve got to be taught from year to year
It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear
You’ve got to be carefully taught.

You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a different shade
You’ve got to be carefully taught. by Oscar Hammerstein

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...

Giveaway - Gifts for You on My Birthday

Giveaway Gifts T his week is blog giveaway time! Last week I celebrated my birthday. I’ve had far too many to count the candles, but I had a wonderful party on the weekend with my family - with an indulgent birthday cake, favourite foods cooked by my husband and great company. ( In case you were wondering about the writing on the cake , Por Por = Chinese grandmother) I also got great gifts from my family and friends. There seemed to be a bit of a theme this year – with many of my gifts and cards depicting matryshoka ( babushka) dolls and tea drinking. As it is also winter here in Australia , it was easy for me to decide what I could offer as gifts in this birthday giveaway. All the gifts are handmade by me. Gift 1 - two little fabric matryshoka dolls Gift 2- a little bag made from colourful teapot and teacup fabric . The design is called a jester bag, but it is suitable for carrying s...

Wednesday's Child /2

Work in Progress - 3 of the 193 for "Stitched Up"- Wilma Simmons The work for the "Stitched Up " Project continues. See the previous "Wednesday Child" post for the background to this art project celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Newcastle Industrial School. I have been documenting the progress of my work, so I thought it might be interesting to share some of the early stages of the "stick dolls" ... Here are some of the beginning steps.. Sticks collected while walking the bushland in my neighbourhood Drying and getting rid of any insects - oven heat 75 degreesC for approx 1-2 hours. Trimmed and cut if necessary Ends sealed with matte sealing solution. Drying - solution goes on white but dries clear. First wrapping - foil to create a body shape Second wrapping - stretch fabric. Third wrapping - fabric strips Some stitching - more stitching and embellishment to ...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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