Bilby Girl : Traveling Art Doll

Fabric_-Animotion 1994

Further adventures in Australia of the Traveling Art Doll.( please see the previous posts for more information -Australian Inspired Traveling Art Doll and Art Dolls Only Traveling Art Doll)

Today is Anzac Day, so it was a quiet afternoon and I set to completing Lulu's doll. Here is what she looked like early this morning. As Lulu lives in USA, I wanted to give this doll an Australian touch ,too.

Lulu's doll as she arrived.

I had intended to use the"Yalke" design fabric which I used on Martha's doll but once I held it against her body, with the fringed yarn already in place, it just didn't seem to work. This doll has a "spirit" look and I first thought of the Australian classic children's novel, "Playing Beatie Bow" about the ghost girl who couldn't find her way back to 1873.... No....calico pinafore - a bit boring! Then I remembered a vintage looking piece of Australiana fabric with a bright pink gum blossom. I have had this for a very long time. In theory this shouldn't work - the pattern was far too large for this little delicate body, but I just had to use the piece with the gum blossom, so like the fringed yarn.

Machine stitching, Gum blossom fringe from sewing thread.

Frayed fringe and organza underlay.

With a little more of the fringed yarn I had in my own stash and the stitched piece of Animotion, I think she looks like a "bush spirit" ,but why is she so sad?

Australian Bush spirit girl

Then I had a thought - "Animotion "= animal + emotion. She is Binda, the bush spirit girl saddened by the loss of many native animals. . So, I made her a bilby companion from the same fabric. A bilby is a desert dwelling Australian marsupial. One of the species became extinct in the 1950s and the other Macrotis lagotis remains endangered. The term bilby is a word from the Yuwaalaraay Aboriginal language of northern New South Wales, meaning long-nosed rat. In Australia, at Easter, many people replace the Easter Bunny with the Easter Bilby, raising awareness of the campaign to " Save the Bilby" . Binda is also a name of Aboriginal origin meaning " green place".

Binda, the Bilby Girl

Binda will be posted to return home to USA tomorrow, and as there are only three of us in this Art Dolls Only team, I will now wait for my doll to come home. You can see her now at Ayala Art and before at Lulus Apples. Thanks to other members of my team - Ayala Art and Lulus Apple for participating and letting me work on their dolls.

Too Precious to Waste

Stitched tea bags/ old doily "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons More than a year ago, a decision was made. The annual exhibition of NCEATA ( Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists) 2015-2016 will have the theme "Mottainai". Mottainai in Japanese refers to more than just physical waste (resources). It is even used to refer to thought patterns that give rise to wasteful action. Grammatically, it can be used in Japanese as an exclamation ("mottainai!") or as an adjective phrase ("it feels mottainai"). There is no plural form. The collection of mottainai things could be called mottainai koto ( もったいない事 ? ). As an exclamation ("mottainai!") it means roughly "what a waste!" or "Don't waste." [2] A simple English equivalent is the saying "waste not, want not." A more elaborate meaning conveys a sense of value and worthiness and may be translated as "do not destroy (or lay waste to) that

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 str

May I Present Mrs Chalumeau...

Finally Mrs Chalumeau takes a bow …She is a Pearly Queen … 695 buttons on the doll and 10 on the journal.(I think – could be more). I would like to thank Paula from Antiques and Collectables here in Hamilton, Newcastle and Raku Buttons ETSY seller for supplying me with about 500 of the vintage mother of pearl buttons, and the rest I had in my stash. I think they look great on my pearly queen, but I am truly tired of sewing on buttons. It made me think however, how many buttons must be on the elaborate clothes of the real pearly Kings and Queens! I drew my inspiration from the lovely lady pictured here, and the following description from Wikipedia. ... A Pearly King ( feminine form Pearly Queen) is a person dressed in a traditional Cockney costume covered in mother-of-pearl buttons. These costumes were treasured heirlooms, hand made and sometimes representing much of a family's wealth. .... This doll is all cloth – a little different from most of my other dolls which generally h

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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