Skip to main content

Art Dolls Only "A Dark Christmas"



This weekend I participated in the inaugural Art Dolls Only online show and sale "A Dark Christmas". 

The dolls I submitted show a diversity of doll making techniques. 

Party Girl  - Empress Wu Designs 

Party Girl ...  This is Lulu's story - she is in a dilemma . The office Christmas party this year has a theme " A Dark Christmas" - what should she wear? She loves pants suits to show off her long legs, but how can she make a pants suit more glamourous and fit the theme?  Perhaps a version of the little black dress?  Maybe  a few sparkles? And with new hair dye - yes! She is happy with this - looking festive and sophisticated! 


Party Girl

Party Girl is a cloth art doll , with jointed arms and legs and hand beaded accessories. Her face and hands are needle sculpted. and hand coloured with pen and pencil.  
Size : length 51cm (20inches): width 12cm (5inches)

Party Girl

Quite a different approach was taken with Dark Angel ... 

Dark Angel - Empress Wu Designs 

Dark Angel is a creation inspired by statues  I have seen in old churches  in England and in Europe - many  of these statues have  either been damaged or  show signs of their medieval beginnings. I also  like the challenge of working with found objects, and letting the shape determine the outcome, so this dark angel just seemed to create itself from a piece of driftwood found on Stockton Beach, NSW, Australia.  For the Art Dolls Only theme, "A Dark Christmas", this angel is a little melancholy but still serene with aged green-blue tones. This art doll is a hanging doll.

From the past to the future.... Home for Christmas is an art doll with a definite futuristic look. 
Home for Christmas  - Empress Wu Designs 

After many dark holiday seasons, searching for the home galaxy, the Intergalactic Traveller , now on the right course, looks forward to being home for Christmas.

Home for Christmas  - Empress Wu Designs 

Intergalactic Traveller is a sculpted art doll, with leather and felt clothing.Size , including stand: length 33cm ( 13 inches) , width 10cm ( 4 inches)


The fourth doll in my section of the show as a bit of a mistake.... I started off with the wings, intending this doll to depict "A Dark Christmas" but somehow turned out pink, so here is her  confused story. 

She so wanted to be a a Christmas sugar plum fairy, but she was confused  about this seasonal theme and became a sugar 'gum" fairy. Her holiday outfit features a eucalypt flower print bodice, but she was successful in keeping everything else 'pink". It might have been a dark Christmas except for this! 



Confused Fairy is a cloth doll with a simple 'pancake' face, hand coloured with pen and pencil. She has a dyed mohair hairstyle and a pair of digitally printed vilene wings with a touch of sparkle magic.
Size: length 34cm ( 13 inches) width - wingspan- 15cm ( 6 inches)

Please check out all the artists in this show ... 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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

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 come.  Follow thi

"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