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Beaded Birthstone Art Dolls
Ruby Regina - beaded art doll
Years ago, I loved beading and bead embroidery.... then for no particular reason, I stopped beading. I maintained my membership with the Beaded Art Doll group on Facebook, and this year, I decided to participate in one of the Round Robin events - Birthstone. As there were only two Australians doing the challenge, we decided just to swap dolls, rather than send them on and have four or five people working on the dolls in other countries ( postage is expensive!) My swap partner, Marj, worked on my doll, Ruby Regina. As you can see the dolls are sent naked and are returned fully beaded
Ruby Regina - before beading
Ruby Regina - close up
I beaded Marj's Topaz Traveller.... This was a bigger doll, and the mass of pale topaz looked rather pale and insignificant. Marj had already given her red lipstick, so I thought she needed to "out there" a little more....and so the addition of copper seemed to be appropriate.
Topaz Traveller - before beading
Topaz Traveller - in progress
Topaz Traveller - close up
In transit
Topaz Traveller - beaded art doll
Below is a video link to some bead embroidery basics, if you would like to create your own beaded art doll or try some bead embroidery. Not only is it lovely to work with beautiful beads, it is very calming and meditative!
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...
Some days are just your lucky days - today I was very fortunate and privileged to open the first ever Australian exhibition "Fragments" by UK Fibre Artist Sue Hotchkis . Here is a little about the techniques of this amazing textile artist from her own website ... Working intuitively with print and stitch, marks, textures and colours are exaggerated, intensified to reveal the detail and complexity within the images. Materials are deconstructed using modern methods, ripped, burnt and dyed. Time is invested in their reconstruction; pieces can take from a week to several months to create. Whilst being aesthetically pleasing the work can also act as a metaphor for deterioration and ruin, associated with urban decay and ultimately death and loss. They evolve organically, built up with layers of print, cloth, paper, and stitch into three-dimensional abstract forms that hover between object and image; to create a unique, visual and tactile lan...
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 ...
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