Congress Cloth Portraits & Figures, etc.

Once you cut them out, what will you do with them?

pictures, we'll want pictures!!!

Hi Anne,

I plan to use the cut out pieces to applique on fabric...use them as part of mixed media fabric design panels and fabric art dolls...the faces will be sewn to a fabric backed head shape to attach to the rest of the figure.

Since I don't know how to sew clothes to fit as such will have to figure other ways to decorate or dress my doll figures...as they say, necessity is the mother of invention, that's what I have to do... find some fun way to make my dolls look "dressed" so they won't just look "nekkid"...they'll be interestingly embellished semi-nude figures & whatever I can make work!

As for pics, it'll be quite awhile yet since I've only just started to work on these ideas...

I betcha TiaMary can help with that!

I can hardly wait to see them! C

You've fed my addiction; so I'll return the favor. For a brief period last spring, I attended a small art doll making group. It confirmed (a) that I dislike sewing, (b) that I can't draw faces and (c) even with help, my sculpted faces were so ugly that not even a mother would love 'em. BUT I came away with a pattern for a goddess doll (no arms, no legs, just a shape that when stitched together and stuffed can be embellished to the max), a subscription to Soft Dolls and Sculpture, wonderfully inspiring books by Patti Medaris Culea, and more than a few links about dolls. Here are just a few:

Dollmaker's Journey has some great tutorials and freebies:

Anne,

I'm really glad to know you've discovered a doll you can make and that is the wonderful thing about today's art dolls!! Dolls no longer have to be humanoid shaped!! They can be any shape at all! I just love that fact!! And that is another idea for me to do, all kinds of shapes!!

There are so many wonderful fabrics in my stash, gorgeous colors of batiks among all sorts of prints...my favorite is a large polka dot collection, all kinds of dots in all colors, shapes and sizes collected from everywhere.

I've seen all those great URL's you posted...thanks for thinking of me! Anytime you find something interesting let me know anyway as I'm not able to get on-line as much as I'd like.

Going back to the non traditional doll "figures"...I can hardly wait to cut out shapes from all those gorgeous colors and prints and sew all together to embellish just the way you've described!!!

One figure I've worked with and you might consider is a matroishka shape, the famous Russian nesting dolls.....a roundish shape with a round head...can be a round shape all over or elongated. Loads of interesting embellishing or even painted patterns can be added to the shape.

Don't know if you've seen the book by Sherrill Kahn about embellishments...a wonderful book full of inspirations for embellishing. One inspiring image I got was to make my own embellishments such as stuffed fish shapes to use as trims and so on.

The author uses fabric paints, especially Lumiere paints, the beautiful metallic colors that glow. I also have small set of paints I found in a scrapbook shop...brilliant watercolors with shiny mica bits so the colors have a lovely metallic glow to them! Paints beautifully on fabric!

Hallo Lula i am nopt sdure yiu saw my request to tell me if you saw my post, as i have some trouble on Agent ,, thus now i am looking into through the google window !!!!and now to this extra wonderful discussion between you and Anne ,

I have given long thought to your idea of making faces and than , in fact applique them on another cloth , it reminded me that in older times , Doll faces were drawm on cloth , and that cloth was attached to a china or later Bakalit head and that again was attached to a cloth body ,,, In a way you touch slightly on the ancient traditional way of making dolls , that were more Room adornements than real playing dolls. Thus WELL done !! Well thought about ,,,, mirjam

freebies:

I see my posts didn`t show up at your side as well !!! I have learned to use Ribbons , little socks [ kids sizes] as close fitting elastic clothes for dolls, You can also use those Finger bandages that one buys in a pharmacy , they are in tube form ,and are very easy to dye with colors , sew over embroider etc,,,, mirjam

Hi Mirjam,

I haven't seen any posts from you until now & glad you posted here!

Yes, you're right about using applique to apply doll faces...one can either paint, embroider or use another way to create a face and then applique the face to a "head" or whatever shape the doll might be made in. That's what I'm doing with the faces I've embroidered and painted on fabric.

Another technique is to scan faces and print these on fsbric sheets made for computer printers...all these variety of faces can then be cut out and appliqued to the doll fiqure or shape where needed.

After the faces are appliqued, then will add "hair" (or headdress) made from yarns, roving or anything that works including strings of beads! It's amazing how a doll's personality appears once hair or headdress is applied...these new personalities will then "tell" or even demand what they require for me to finish them!!

Dollmaking is extra creative...every skill I've learned from needlework & the arts are being used to make these dolls. In my case, making dolls will also improve the few sewing skills I know as well as teaching me new sewing skills too!

Mirjam,

One of my first doll inspirations was seeing a paddle shaped doll made in ancient Egypt in an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC...the doll was quite small and had a tiny wig with a few beads attached at the top of the spoon shaped paddle. I was probably about six years old and seeing that doll impressed me very much as it was different from any type of doll I had ever seen...this doll didn't have arms and legs or even a face but yet it was recognizable as a doll to me! I also wondered of the ancient child that might have played with that doll...what he or she might have done or thought as they played with that wooden doll.

Another doll memory was of my mother making me little figures twisted from cloth scraps tied with thread for me to play with while she sewed so I wouldn't bother her too much! I wanted so much to make these little cloth figures but my childish fingers weren't able to do so but it kept the dream of making dolls someday.

Through the years I've been fascinated by dolls from all centuries and places, especially folk dolls...I love the use of colorful fabrics, trims and needlework these folk dolls were often made from. These humble dolls inspired a dream to make cloth figures of my own...now I'm getting a chance to create dolls as part of other mixed media art and it's the most exciting projects I've ever done!

You gave me the little nudge I needed to put pictures of my creations online. I didn't uber optimize the images so the pages may be slow loading on a dial up connection:

Thanks. I've got a request in for it via interlibrary loan. I like to see a book before purchasing -- sometimes there's too much history and not enough how to ;-)

Hi Mirjam

This is the first one I've seen from you in awhile. I was getting worried about you.

There's so many possible projects that I'm driving myself nuts!!! In the winter, I tend to hibernate, even though my winter is mild compared to many other places, so I stitch/craft alot. I have to force myself to go out and away from my projects when the weather is good.

Hallo Lula and all i am using the google window again , seems agent has some thing that makes me invisible :>:>:>

I am not amazed that a Doll`s face , will tell you her character , after all , aren`t we all very much impressed by persons` looks? I have made dolls all my life , but never showed them, i always felt they weren`t perfect , or that they were indeed wrong in some way. Lately there is a trend of people buying ready made dolls, and working over them with wahtever they have in mind . It made me think about how every artist shows us parts of his/her personality in a very interesting way , Thus i am not surprised at your remark that you use all your knowledge and talents to make those dolls. mirjam

Lula this is a remarkable story. one of the problems archeologists had , was dividing between dolls that were used for playing and teaching children, and Godesses of all sorts that were made for different reasons. We must remember that we aren`t supposed to Take our ideas = children playing during childhood, and assume that this happened in the same way in other times. A lady archeologist once said she never made up her mind if children had toys at all , in ancient times. People were younger when becoming parents , societies had different ideas about what chidren were allowed or not, That archeologist said that we might mistake goddess for dolls ,,,[ they look the same to us, as the makers of than weren`t so sophisticated at creating things. If you look at boks with tradional Masks, from all over the world, you might see that were made from every possible local material. some where deffinitly made for Ceremonial uses , not to play with. Thus maybe you looked at a godess , not a toy ,, in a very far thought we might say that a toy for a child and a Deity Form for a grown up of that certain culture, had the same effect , Wonder and fullfillment of a dream , a better place .... a muse for thoughts of development ... mirjam

I love the Grammies!

Cheryl

Anne,

Your dolls are absolutely wonderful!!!

They look so charming and full of character...no wonder the Grammies are so successful!!

ALL your dolls look perfect to my eyes! Forget the "stitching police"...I pay no mind to them...in fact, it might fun to create a few stitching police dolls with a few pins stuck in!

Thanks for posting...I really enjoyed seeing your unique dolls!!

Mirjam.

You always have such great insights on why or how we create the things we do!

I never thought about using the criteria of how we "see" and judge people by the way they look...you're right, applying such thoughts to dollmaking will make the process even more thoughtful for me as I stitch faces and embellish my dolls!

It would be an interesting experiment to have a group of people make dolls and see what they come up with, the motivations behind the figures.

On the topic of how much an artist / individual puts into their work, I recall taking a test for a job many years ago where we were asked to draw a human figure...made me wonder what they were looking for...obviously what one drew revealed something of the applicants personality.

Mirjam,

Your comments of modern day people making assumptions about ancient arts is very true as there are many missing parts we know nothing about from the past and can only guess at sometimes erroneously assuming things based on our own lifestyles and knowledge.

Who knows what future people will think of the art dolls created in the recent and current century...such unusual figures have been made by artists...many art dolls are quite odd looking and surrealistic...obviously most of these dolls are made for display and not to be played with. These "dolls" are made for adults, for display...many have meanings attached to them...the dolls represent all sorts of beliefs, ideas, etc.

If all goes well and our societies continue to flourish, there's a lot of documentation left for future generations that explains who we are. So maybe there won't be as much guessing and assumptions made about our creations assuming what we make is appreciated & valued, handed down through the ages.

Childhood today is so much longer nowadays, maybe too long compared to the past when most everyone "grew" up or matured into adults at a much earlier chronological age.

Maybe that ancient Egyptian wooden paddle doll wasn't a toy but the sign in the museum display case said it was a child's doll. Obviously a scholarly person made that statement and description of the doll in the display case. Being a child, I was only interested to see what looked like a toy that was said to be a doll...I was fascinated to know this so-called toy was thousands of years old.

Many tomb objects look like toys to modern eyes as they're often scaled down and quite charming looking. To the original creators, these "toys" were often serious ritual objects with a life of their own and a job to do.

Whatever "dolls" were used for, people have been making figures for a variety of reasons for thousands of years. I think that's why dolls are so fascinating as they have assumed so many guises to fit different needs.

Thank you Lula for you compliment . I have noticed that we [humans] tend to name the persons , animals , objects in our lives. And that most artists , also name their artworks, [both as a viewer and a curator i am NOT fond of art works named 'without a title `. It seems almost unnatural to me that an artist has spent time and energy on and with a work of art and couldn`t find a name for it. If he couldn`t/wouldn`t name it , why would i as viewer want to see it? in a way i feel that this artist is pulling my leg. He /she could just as well show me his pile of dust . Only in Raw Art i will accept it . I feel an unnamed work is incomplete. Like you i wonder if a group of people could make Dolls and see what discussions will ocour from it ... mirjam