Jack Frost Art Doll Photos

 It is February and we had snow last night, so it seems like a good time to blog about one of my dolls.  These photos are of one of my art dolls, Jack Frost.  I wish I was a better photographer.  I'm still learning.

This is the third doll in my series called "Jack".  A Jack is an old word for a nature spirit that takes on anthropomorphic form.  The story of Jack Frost is an old one.  It is said that he was a mischievous spirit who comes to write on your windows at night.  Most times of the year this doll looks too plain, but when the snow comes and blankets everything in white, he seems just right.

When I was making the doll, I asked myself, "What kind of spirit is Jack Frost?"  My answer was that he was some sort of punk who painted graffiti on your windows.  So, I gave him a punk hairstyle made of silver beads to represent icicles.  His cape is covered with silver beads as well.  They remind me of the glints of light sparkling off the snow on a sunny morning.  The ski poles are small dowels wrapped in Mylar to shine like icicles as well.  

Jacks head, face, and hands are made of paper mache.   His boots are made of paper clay.  The head, hands, and boots are painted with acrylic paint and sealed with an acrylic sealer. The doll body consists of a wire armature covered in batting, wrapped with string, and then a skin of muslin.  His suit is made from batting.  The skis are paper mache over an armature of foil with cut up pieces of an old CD glued on like pieces of mosaic tile.  (I'll post a close up picture of his skis next time I post a blog.  The picture I took of the skis was out of focus.  I'll have to take more photos.)  The base is a piece of wood covered in cotton batting.  The doll is a free standing sculpture.

Some people think folk art dolls should be old fashioned rag dolls dressed in costumes of a previous era.  However, I define a folk art doll as a doll made by a self-taught or non-academically trained artist, or an art doll made of bits and pieces of recycled material.  Folk Art is constantly changing. It reflects the current situation of the artist.  Why should a folk art doll have to look like it came from 1860?  Would you want to be wearing the same style clothes you wore in the 1980s?  I thought not.