The 2nd Half of our Doll Show

We were walking around the display at our 10th Annual Art Doll Show and Sale.  Let's rejoin the tour at the far end of the room, which features our Round Robin dolls.

As you can see, we had a busy day with many visitors!

This is the west side of the table, taken while we were still setting up.

We filled in with a few more dolls the next morning.



Gloriana by Shelby, Three Faces of the Goddess by Barbara, N'Ambessa by Andrea



Guardian Angel by Leslie, Owls by Rebecca



Brigitte by Andrea, Witch and Wazinkies by Leslie, Kewpie by Ann R,
Jilly by Andrea, Roxanne by Julie G.



Gift Basket fundraiser for a family who lost their home in the southside explosion

Feb. 2012, part 3 - A Japanese gofun doll, new stuff, and fame.

We got to see two lovely old dolls at our February meeting!  The dolls' owner sent them to the club in order to find out more about them.  She was in great luck, as our resident museum curator Mary Jane just happened to be in attendance.

Two lovely old dolls

Both dolls are old enough to be considered 'vintage'.   The Mexican doll on the left was most likely made sometime in 1940's or 1950's, possibly for the tourist trade.  Check out the sequined eagle on her skirt above!

 vintage Mexican doll

The Mexican doll was lightweight and made of thin material.  Her painted face is still very sweet.

The next doll was amazing.  We would all have loved to take it home.  Mary Jane told us that it was a Japanese doll from the 1930's.  The doll is carved of wood with a cloth body, and the face and hands are covered in 'gofun', which is ground oyster shell that is mixed with glue.

Japanese gofun doll of the 1930s

I did some research, and found out later that it is a yamato-ningyo doll, which is a child spirit doll popular in Japan from the early 1900s.   The doll would have been sold unclothed, and the clothing made for it at home.  This doll's costume has been damaged, and the arms aren't attached, but the face is still beautiful.  My picture cannot capture the delicacy of the expression, or the purity of the oyster-shell finish.  The weight of the doll and the richness of the silk costume made this a very tactile doll, delightful to hold.

 I wonder if this child doll once wore sandals?

Here are two more links about the gofun process:
Shimakyu: The face made by Tohso-Gofun-Gihou
Nihonga Notes: Gofun (oyster shell white)

Some other great stuff from February's meeting:
Martha is one step closer to fame -- she brought a copy of her magazine cover debut.  Congratulations!  INto Art is a local Brown County, Indiana quarterly that covers fine arts and crafts.  Martha is an artist at a Nashville gallery.

New member Jenny E. brought an art pillow.  Jenny's style is a little different for our club, which is exciting; it will be fun for us all to work together and see what ideas we borrow from one another.

Finally, new member Rebecca fashioned a stylish chapeau with some of her finds from the 'studio overflow' that another member brought to share.

2011 Show and Sale, part 2

So, we are continuing our tour around the display table at our 9th Annual Show and Sale.  In the center of the picture are two dolls from last year's White-on-White or Black-on-Black Challenge.

Lady Gaga by Mary McNeely and
Percival Poulet by Julie Gausvik

Next, seated on the leafy vine (sculpted from wire and Apoxie Sculpt), is the original GwynnEllen doll that Leslie taught in the fall of 2010.  The lady in blue with the pink headdress is Gabby's Night Out, created by Nita from a Jill Maas pattern.  Martha made the green and peach doll seated on the wooden box -- the green body fabric is a polka-dot print, and each dot is covered with concentric circles of beads!

dolls by Leslie, Nita, and Martha

Continuing around the corner, we find another nativity set by Sandy.  The polymer faces are set in silver spoons, and the robes are made of painted, embellished Tyvek.

Nativity, original design by Sandy Wildman

Next are two dolls by Katie Jones -- the tall one is a wrapped wire armature as taught by Ray Slater, and the other is from her class with Leta Benedict at AFIC last spring. The matroyshka doll is a collaboration between Leslie and her granddaughter Rebecca, and is the first doll Rebecca has made.

The very friendly-looking dog is a sleeve puppet (like a sock puppet, but different) with needle-felted eyes and features.  He was taught at another AFIC class, this one by Esther Bechler.

Brody by Andrea Baughman

The last dolls on the table are the smallest dolls in the display; 6-inch dolls designed to teach the basics of dollmaking to a beginner class.

Betsy, Bitty, and Betty by Andrea Baughman

From the smallest to the tallest -- at 4 feet tall, these members of Sandy's most recent nativity did not fit on the display table, and in fact, only three pieces would fit in her tiny Miata to travel to the show.  Sandy created an entire breast cancer nativity, complete with wise men and a camel.  The scene below depicts an angel bringing a new prosthetic breast to Mary.

And last but not least, our People's Choice table, with all nine of this year's challenge dolls.  The next post will have the results of the challenge judging.

Thanks again to everybody who came to our doll show.  It was a wonderful day, and we truly enjoyed the opportunity to share our love of art dolls with all of you.