Thursday, November 19, 2009

MOTHER NATURE DOLL


This is another case of a doll "being in charge".... I had this vision in my mind of a full figure, "Motherly" style doll, but as I got into the creation of this creature, she took a definite turn in an entirely different direction. Don't get me wrong....I love her, but now that she has been completed, I need to go back to the drawing board to make the doll I planned originally.
I did have fun creating this one. She's a stump doll. I had made feet for her, but when I got ready to paint her toe nails, I discovered I had only given her 4 toes, so skipped that. They are now in the box with the other 4 heads I made. She's much too classy for bare feet any way. She's made of cotton, with the cotton spandex overlay...then painted with gesso and acrylics, which gives more of a porcelain look, rather than cloth. I also finally got the nerve to use some of the mohair squares I bought a while back...the pieces that are still attached to the hide. All I've ever done in the past is to create hair by felting into a wig, so this was new for me. I used tissue paper to make the pattern, then cut it out in long fake fur to check out before cutting into my treasured pieces. Now I'm ready to experiment some more doing this...I think.
Costuming her also took a different turn. Our buddy in India, sent me remnant pieces with lots of embellishments. The colors were way too yellow however, so a dunk in brown dye was necessary. This toned down the yellow, and added to the design on the fabric as the brown showed up more in some areas. I also cut out and bonded the flowers from another piece to add to the skirt. Hemming this shear fabric could have been a problem, but the handy little souldering iron made quick work of that, and allowed me to scallop the edges giving more of a leaf like effect.
Finally I added metalic flower ear rings, butterfly necklace, and a tiny little humming bird, sitting on her finger. It was supposed to be a butterfly. That was what I had planned, but she wanted the hummingbird. Dolls! They can be so pushy! You gotta love'em.

4 comments:

  1. She is very lovely! As always the face is aewsome and so is the costuming! Love her!

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  2. Laura, both your dolls are fabulous! You are so talented. Love the faces and the fabrics are so fun and beautiful!
    hugs Karen

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  3. Wonderful work! Her face turned out beautiful and costume is perfect! You did a great job on her wig.

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