Back to Dolls

 

With one doll exhibit at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley closing and another one on the horizon in February at the Olive Hyde Gallery in Hayward, I decided I'd better get some new dolls put together. This one is sculpted cloth with a second layer of gauze "skin" on her face. She is a tribute to admired and influential women, from ancient history to present day.

 

 

 

 

 

She is holding a bird about to take flight and represents the feminine spirit, feminine intellect, and feminine creativity. The hanging name tags on her skirt include the names of: Jane Austen, Margaret Mead, Emily Dickinson, Betty Friedan, Martha Graham, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Gertrude Stein, Gloria Steinem, Frido Kahlo, Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Billie Jean King, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Blackwell, Helen Keller, Rosa Parks, Michele Obama, Babe Didrikson, Amelia Earhart, Florence Nightengale, Harriet Tubman, Mary Magdalene, Eleanor Roosevelt, Marie Curie, Indira Gandhi, Queen Victoria, Joan of Arc, Mother Theresa, Margaret Thatcher, Clare Boothe Luce, Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright and Golda Meir. Hmmm, there are so many more... maybe another doll?

 

 

The medallion at her waist says it all. "Celebrating Women, the Sacred Femine, and the Right Brain." However, she also represents the celebration of all women... mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces, friends...

 

 

The second cloth sculptured doll I made celebrates the Muse. The box base contains both literature and music—she guides the pen—and holds the key to great inspiration.

 

 

I also made a couple of new altered bottles

embellished with shells, pearls,

and fibers representative of the sea.

 

 

I love decorating the bottles

and have many more ideas

of ones I want to make.

 

I love the sea...

have spent many an hour just staring at it...

and these bottles trigger fond memories

from my youth... of days spent at my grandparents

home on the Pacific Coast.

 

 

 

 

Its Almost Christmas

Blocked felt hat base with flower, ribbons and feathers.

I've been working non-stop for months getting ready for the two craft shows in San Francisco. This weekend is the Celebration of Craftswomen at Fort Mason in San Francisco. I made two hats and above is a photo of one of them. Below are some of the fascinators I also made.






I took time out to try making one of the paper Marie Antoinette slippers for myself.
I love it!

 I have made crowns, both large and small. Below is a large one.





Still making crowns out of fabric and paper.
This one is a combination of the two.

 So many bracelets. But, so much fun to make. Each one is unique and totally different from all the rest.




I made 23 cuff bracelets. This one is made with a vintage doily, vintage jewels and ribbon rosettes. 




Here is a closer view of the embellishments.





This is a close-up of the cuff shown in the previous blog post.





Another close-up of vintage embellishments on a bracelet.





The base fabric of this cuff is dupioni silk with dyed lace embellishments and a lot of hand beading.

 This is my favorite fascinator and I wore when I worked in the Paris Flea Market in Livermore. Great place to discover everything French and Shabby Chic at bargain prices.




This is a fascinator on a headband that I made with
the French touch.