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 wrapping strips as these photos show, but I also use hand painted cotton, silk, cheesecloth, free form machine embroidered and layered fabric, felted and embellished fabric, re- purposed knitting and crochet .... anything from my stash.

Smaller dolls with messages : The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate (Oprah)
and Those who lose dreaming are lost. (Aboriginal Proverb)

Message : The best thing to hold onto in life is each other ( Audrey Hepburn)

Message: Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is success. (Corinta Kent)

Messages: Peace begins with a smile (Mother Teresa)
Be a Rainbow in someone else's cloud ( Maya Angelou)

The other project I've been working on are some little fish for a display by my doll making group, Hello Dollies. We will be showing our work , with a 'water" theme at the Dobell Art and Craft Festival at Rathmines on the first weekend in May. I've modelled my fish on a little fish pin doll made for me by a friend but have adapted the size, shape and construction. So now I have made the prototype , I am hoping these will multiply quickly.

Bilby Infatuation

Wrapped wire and fabric bilby sculpture : Wilma Simmons 2016 Over the years I have been fascinated with the plight of the bilby and it has inspired quite a few of my cloth creations... With long pinkish-coloured ears and silky, blue-grey fur, the Bilby has become Australia’s version of the Easter Bunny. Unlike the rabbit, bilby numbers are falling rapidly. There were originally two species but the Greater Bilby is now commonly referred to simply as ‘the Bilby’ as the Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) is thought to have become extinct in the early 1950s... Bilbies are nocturnal, emerging after dark to forage for food. Using their long snouts, they dig out bulbs, tubers, spiders, termites, witchetty grubs and fungi. They use their tongues to lick up grass seeds. Bilbies have poor sight and rely on good hearing and a keen sense of smell. To minimise threats from predators they’ll mostly stay within 250m of their burrows, but sometimes roam further afield depending on the food...

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

Background Information: Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap. 2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...

Non-Committal Collage Anything Goes

Have you heard of non-committal collage? I hadn't until one of the other participants of the 100 Day Project started doing this each day and showing the results.... Here are Peggy's rules : 1. S elect 9 scraps of paper from collage box/stash 2. Make three different compositions using each scrap at least once. (some pieces can be used more than once) 3. Do not alter the scraps of paper in any way. 4.Do not use glue. 5.Take photo, disassemble and return scraps to box. I thought this would be a fun and quick exercise to do for Tag Tuesday's theme , Anything Goes... so here are my "non-committal collage" tags.... Did you spot the nine pieces? Would you like to suggest some titles? And I repeated the exercise before putting back the 9 scraps of paper, so these are different items. Hope you will try this exercise - it is lots of...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Search This Blog