Featured Artist - Nita

In order to share some of our dollmaking history and get to know each other better, we will have a sort-of-regular 'spotlight' on different club members.  This month's featured artist is Nita!  (And pay attention - it might be your turn next!)

Name: Nita
City: Indianapolis
Club Member since: Approx 2004 (I think)
Picture site or blog: needlepullingthread@blogspot.com

How many dolls have you made? Too many to remember!

When did you start making dolls? Approx 1995, after I retired.  (The picture at right is of her 2nd dollie ever.)

What other crafts do you ‘do’? embroidery, beading, crochet, mixed media art, jewelry making
Do you combine your other crafts with your dollmaking? Yes, I often use beading, embroidery and crochet in my doll making.

Why did you choose dollmaking? I love working with fabric and making it into a 2 or 3 dimensional object.
What is your favorite part of making a doll? I really don't have a favorite one, but if I must choose it would be creating the face.

Which of your dolls is your favorite and why? I have 3 or 4 favorites, I like the Humpty Dumpty we made with Katherine Walmsey because it awakens my inner child. I like my Peacock Dancer, she reminds me of my long ago dance teacher. I like my raggedys becasue they are huggable and make me feel good.

Did you play with dolls as a child? Yes, loved them literally to death.

What would you like to learn next? I would like to learn more about cloth over techniques, more about trapunto and more scuplting.
Do you like using patterns or making your own designs? I do both but prefer to use other designers' patterns because I do not like the trial and error of creating a pattern.
Do you have any favorite designers? These are just a few... Barb Schoenoff, Barb Willis, Patti Culea, Deanna Hogan, Allison Marano.

June 2010 Meeting

Our June meeting was very small, with only 7 members in attendance.  So, we had a very cozy swap meet.  We also tried a critique of each other's dolls, to learn more about the artistic theory that goes into doll design as well as to get feedback about our dolls.  It's definitely an idea that needs some tweaking, but hopefully it was useful to all who participated.

We also had some wonderful show-and-tells!  Katie finished her Patti Culea class doll from Magic, Mischief and Mayhem of Spring 2010, Xuiying.  And Jude brought her Holly doll, from Cyndi Mahlstadt's class at the same MM&M retreat. 

Herb Challenge Dolls

Here are a few of the dolls that our club brought to the May luncheon with River City for the Herb Challenge.  First is Martha's doll, Cha-Cha Cilantro!  She wears actual dried cilantro leaves in her headdress, each leaf individually wired with great care.

Next is Katie's dandelion doll, Dande's Dance. The leaves this time were scanned and printed on silk, then cut out with a heat tool. Her grass base is upholstery fringe, hand-sewn into a beautiful lawn!

 
Last are Andrea's little flower fairies, Chamomile and Calendula, made with Sally Mavor's pattern from her Felt Wee Folk book.  They are about 4" tall and wear real acorn caps above their felt tunics and faux petal skirts.

Joint Luncheon at Stream Cliff Herb Farm

For our May meeting we had our annual luncheon with the Cincinnati doll group, the recently renamed RiverCity Figurative Artists' Guild.  We met at the historic Stream Cliff Herb Farm again this year, and had the most beautiful weather for our day out.  Do to a mental 'flake' on behalf of the blogger, we don't have pictures of the grounds, including the beautiful roses blooming everywhere.  But we had a very nice meeting, with lunch and comraderie in the large cabin/classroom:

Our challenge dolls this year are all Herb Dolls, in honor of our location -- they are visible on the table to the left in the photo above.  We also, of course, had presents!  Pin dolls to exchange and beautiful gifts of fabric and beads and books!

P.S.  To the visitor who drove from Bloomington to Indianapolis hoping to attend our meeting -- we are SO sorry we missed you!  If it makes you feel better, Andrea's first attempt at attending a meeting happened exactly the same way in May of 2001, but she came back and has been a member ever since.