Doll Experiment - Part 2

I recently started blogging about an experimental technique I was trying.  I had read about someone using this technique in Art Doll magazine.  The technique was using one of my favorite mediums: papier mache'.  I just had to try it.  A week later, the project is a little further along, but it would be hard to notice the difference from looking at today's photograph.

The basic idea was to use an existing doll as a mold.  Cover the doll with layers of papier mache', then cut the papier mache' open to remove the commercial doll.  Put the papier mache' back together using masking tape and more layers of papier mache'.   After that, you dress and embellish your doll as desired.

It sounds simple enough.  Of course, I wanted to add some more challenges to the project.   The biggest challenge was that I want to try to change the position of the arms and legs so the doll will have a different pose.  The problem with a commercial dolls is that they generally have their arms and legs stuck straight out.  I think this doll is interesting in that one leg is turned out slightly.

The reason I want to change the pose is that the way the body and limbs are posed can help tell a story.  Arms and legs that are just stuck out stiffly do little to help the doll tell a story.  Posing the limbs give indications of action and gives information about intentions for the next action.  If I can find a way to change the post of the doll, I can tell more of the story than if I just have her standing there stiffly.

Whether I can change the orientation of the limbs is still in question.  I really do not know what is going to happen when I begin cutting the doll apart to remove the doll underneath.  If there are not enough layers of  papier mache', or the layers are not strong enough, the form could curl up and become useless.  I am not sure what the limbs will look like once I try setting them into a different orientation.   I need to come up with something to use to create a new joint area.  All of this is a big experiment.  I just have to try things and see what happens.

 It is hard to tell that there are more layers of papier mache' on the doll.    The conundrum is whether I have enough layers on to move on to the next layer of the project.  Too few layers and it might not hold its shape.  Too many layers and it becomes more difficult to make the cuts to remove the papier mache' from the doll.  I decided to go with four layers.  Hopefully, four layers will be enough and I have not wasted a week's work.

As I said earlier, the doll does not look much different.  The main difference is that I have drawn some lines on the doll to mark the areas where I will begin cutting the doll apart.  At this point, I will begin making the cuts that will sever the limbs from the torso.  Once those cuts have been made, I will cut the limbs in half in order to remove the molded pieces from the doll.  I have not yet decided which type of cutting tool I will use to make the cuts.  I will start with a craft knife.  If that does not work I may try a pair of heavy duty scissors or use a rotary tool with a cutting blade.  I am sure that the cutting tool would make the quickest work of the project, but I would like to save the underlying doll if possible.  I am concerned that I will end up making deep cuts into the doll with the rotary tool.

Saving the doll may not necessarily be that much of a consideration.  While this is an interesting technique, I think I really prefer making my own doll bodies with an internal armature.  I feel I have more control over the shape of the body by making the whole thing myself.  This is an interesting diversion from the normal, but not something I plan to do on a regular basis.  But I would like to save the doll for "just in case." 

Check back on Thursday to see whether this project is an unmitigated disaster or whether this is something that can actually work. 

Working on a Snowflake Quilt

Since my other project is still in progress, today I will be blogging about a quilt I am working on behind the scenes.  When I blogged last, I had just started an doll using an experimental technique I had read in Art Doll Magazine.  The doll requires several layers of papier mache' before it reaches a point that I can cut be taken to the next step.  Papier mache' takes a while to build up layers as it needs to dry between each layer.  So I will also be blogging intermittently about the quilt just to have some photos of interest to my readers.

The snowflake quilt is going to be a quilted table runner.  It's finished sized will be 23 & 1/2 inches by 59 and 1/2 inches (59.69 centimeters x 151.15 centimeters).  This was a quilt I had not intended to make.  It was something that got started then got out of hand.  It all started after I completed the embroidered jacket I had blogged about recently.  I was going to a quilting group that meets near my home.  The women get together to quilt, sew, knit and crochet one day a week.  Everyone brings a project and we work on our projects as we have a social day.  When I finished my jacket, I needed something to work on and had not had time to go shopping for material for a quilt I wanted to make.  I had an idea for a wall hanging quilt, but was having trouble finding the material I needed at the closest stores.  So I just picked up a few fat quarters thinking I would work on while I was at the group.

The material I picked up were two shades of cool blue.  They are so close together in color that you almost have to squint to see the difference in color in some types of light.  So I started making four patches and sewing them together in rows.  The cool blues reminded me of a winter sky.  And that is when I decided I needed to embroider snowflakes in some of the squares.  It is taking a lot longer than I imagined it would.

The large snowflakes take about two and a half hours each.  If I am embroidering a small snowflake it only takes about two hours.   I embroider them while I watch television in the evening.  I may get one snowflake done, and if I have time embroider in the next set of guidelines that set the size of the snowflake. I still have two rows of embroidery left to do on the quilt.  I estimate another eighteen hours of embroidery left to do on the large and small snowflakes.

However, those will not be the only snowflakes on the quilt.  Once the layers of batting and backing have been added, I will be adding more flakes to the quilt.  Rather than doing a traditional binding, I am going to make a tied quilt.  The quilt top, batting, and backing will be sew together with right sides of the fabric facing the batting, sewn around the edges of the quilt, then pulling the quilt right side out.  Once the quilt has been pulled right side out, the opening will be hand sewn closed.  (I will have photos of this in future blog posts.)  Once the quilt is smoothed out, I will tie each corner and the centers of the four patches with tiny snowflakes.  These snowflakes will just be small straight stitches and will be used to tie the quilt together at regular intervals.

So, that is the plan.  I'll let you know how it works out and any insights I may have about the process as I go along.  Next blog post will be an update on the Doll Experiment.  Check back on Sunday for that post.

A New Doll Experiment

Doll form covered in two layers of papier mache'.

Thursday came and went without a blog post.  Sometimes there is just too much to do.  I spent the day getting out cold weather clothing.  It has been so warm that the cooler weather snuck up on me.  Suddenly it was Autumn and definitely time for long pants and warm shirts.  This morning it was thirty-nine degrees outside.  I expect we will have a few more warm days, but we are moving rapidly towards cold weather.

I have been in something of an artistic slump the latter part of this year ever since I finished the folk art lamb.  Nothing has been really grabbing my attention.  I have been making things, but there has not been a lot of passion and inspiration in the projects.  Things changed since I won ribbons at the State Fair of Virginia.  It gave me some energy and enthusiasm that had been lacking for a while.  Where before there were no ideas on the horizon, now ideas have been tumbling out again faster that I can manage to do them.  I had to decide what I wanted to do first, and that meant putting some projects on the back burner.  In this case, I have decided to put off the carving projects for some other more interesting projects.

A friend had passed on some Art Doll magazines.  One of the techniques in it was interesting and I wondered if I could modify the idea for a doll I had in mind.  Long time readers know that I love to experiment with a technique and use it in a different way.  So the initial idea as I read it was that the writer had used an existing commercial doll as a mold for making a papier mache' doll, which she then dressed and accessorized for her purposes.  The sounded promising, but needed some modifications if the idea was to work for the type of doll I wanted to make.  For one thing, I wanted to be able to pose the arms and legs as I wanted them.  This did not work well with the arms fixed in one position.  So the question became, "Could I find a way to change the position of the doll's arms.  I also wanted a doll that could stand on its own rather than use a doll stand.  And could I find a way to make and use more lifelike painted eyes?  I was not totally satisfied with the eyes I made for the Victorian Belsnickel I made earlier this year.  With all those questions in play I was off and running towards a new project.

My first objective was to find a doll for the mold.  Ideally, I did not want to spend a lot of money on a doll that may or may not be damaged in the process.  I headed to my local thrift store.  Once in a while they have an old, beat up dirty doll in there.  I hit the jackpot.  Not only did they have an old damaged doll, I was able to purchase it for half price because merchandise with a certain color tag was on sale.  So I was able to pick up the doll for only $3.50.  I considered this to be an auspicious beginning.

In the Art Doll article, the writer had used a plastic baby doll whose limbs could be removed as her mold.  This doll had a cloth body with porcelain head, arms, and legs.  The plastic doll with removable limbs may have been easier to work with than a cloth body doll that had to be cast as one piece.  Undaunted by this complication, I set out to cover the doll with papier mache' and see what happens.  Will I be able to change the limbs as I want them to be?  Unknown.  This is an experiment to see what happens.  Acting on "What if?" can yield some interesting results. 

So, in the hopes of perhaps salvaging the doll if things go wrong, I covered the doll in masking tape and then plastic wrap.  Then I started covering the doll with papier mache' strips.  At this point, the doll has two layers of papier mache' strips on it.  I plan to do two more layers before removing the mold from the doll.  I am hoping that the molded pieces will be rigid enough to hold their shape.  Then I will begin to see if I can change the pose into what I want it to be.   The article in Art Doll showed dolls that had been made with the plastic doll.  They were very cute.  I am hoping that my doll experiment will be rigid enough to be used as a form for a doll.  In the past I have had hollow objects curl and not want to join up exactly with its opposite side.  But the only way to see if it will work is to try it.  So here I go. 

Since I am working on projects that are fairly long term, I may be blogging about two or three projects that I am working on at the same time.  Watching papier mache' dry has all the charm of watching paint dry.   Each side of the doll needs to dry for at least a day before I can flip it over and apply papier mache' to the other side.  I expect to have enough layers on to remove the doll from the mold in five to six days.  I love working with papier mache' but it takes a long time to reap the rewards of your efforts. 

I will have photos of a project I have been working on in the background for my next blog post.  That will help relieve the monotony of layers of papier mache'.  Check back after that for an update on the doll project.  When I post about it next I will reveal what type of doll this will be if my experiments on posing the doll work out.

Earlier I had blogged that I wanted to start a carving project by carving a stamp in linoleum.  I had purchased the linoleum block some time ago with the intent of creating some designs that would be stamped onto a cloth block and become part of a quilt.  But it has been quite a while, and at the moment the idea has come and gone.  I still want to carve the linoleum block, but at the moment it has been put on the back burner until I go through my notes and find out what my intentions were for the project.  Then the idea will go back into the cue because I am working on one quilt, have another quilt cut and ready to sew, and a third quilt that I have committed to make for a challenge.  So that idea may be in line for a while.

I still want to practice some carving for my walking sticks, but I have to figure out what I want to do.  The saplings that are dried are fairly thin, and I am not sure exactly what I want to carve into them.  I wanted to become acquainted with carving techniques before I started in on a full size stick, so I am sort of at an impasse on that as well.  I don't want to ruin a good walking stick with an unsuccessful carving. So I will be getting back to that, but just not right away.  In the mean time, I will be attempting to carve on some small pieces of stick while waiting for the papier mache' to dry on my doll.

Check back Thursday for photos of one of my projects I have been working on in the background.

Photos from the Road - October 2016

September 2016

I have been on the road again.  I usually try to have some posts scheduled, but I had just completed a project and had no new pictures of a project ready to be posted.   This was one of our longest trips away this year.  I am usually only away for a few days.

October 2016

The hurricane stayed south of us, although we did get some rain from it.  It had veered out to see and most of the impact was along the coast.  It really rained though, and I was concerned about flooding down below.  When it rains hard up here, flash floods can come in no time at all lower down.  Most of the way to the cabin it was just overcast.  It only started raining the last hour of the trip.  However, we still had to unload the van in the pouring rain.  The rain continued until the next afternoon, but by evening it was clearing out.  The rain produced a bumper crop of mushrooms near a stump in the yard.

Our old shed.

The rain made for a very muddy trip to the Wine and Garlic Festival at Rebec Vineyards.  Straw had been laid in the low areas to keep the walkways from being huge mud puddles.  Even with that, we were still slogging through mud in some places.  My boots and pants legs were covered with mud.  But despite the mud we still had a very enjoyable time.  I am not sure that there were as many wineries there this year, although I can only think of one that was missing.  As far as I could tell, there were very few garlic vendors giving out samples, although there was plenty of garlic for sale.  I am sure that there were garlic oriented foods there, but they were not promoted as much as they had been in previous years.  Although some people feel that eating raw garlic is a bit too much for a festival, if you are having a wine and garlic festival, I think there ought to be some emphasis on garlic as well as the wine. If you ever get a chance to come to this festival, you should be here.  The festival is at a time of year that the weather is comfortable, and Rebec has gone to great lengths to make this a great festival.

It used to be that this weekend was just at the peak of color in the mountains.  On our way up, everything was still green.  By the time we left, the leaves were just starting to get tinges of yellow here and there.  It does not seem like it is going to be a year of the brightest colors.  So far, it appears to be a year of gold and brown and burgundy. 

At the cabin, leaves are already falling.  We arrived to a yard full of leaves.  During the week we were there we cleared the yard of leaves twice.  We were removing leaves by the tarp full.  When we go up again, I am sure the yard will be just as full of leaves as before.  The rest of the times was spent working on the porch.  The severe weather up there takes it toll on everything.  The porch needed to be taken out and joists replaced and new decking put down.  It was another big job.  Snakes live under the porch: garter snakes and black ring neckers.  They were not exactly happy with the change in their habitat.  I am sure that they were glad when the project was completed and the noise had stopped.

I shot the photo of the old barn in the first picture in September.  I am glad I was able to get the photo.  When we came back, the barn had been torn down.  It is very sad to see another piece of old Virginia taken away.  I am sure that it had become unstable enough to pose a hazard to those who had to work near it.  The shed on our property is approaching the same condition.  It leans further and further each visit.  The floor has collapsed and the walls are starting to bulge.  

During our travels I tried to get some photos of local road art.  I am not seeing as much out there this year.  I did manage to snap a couple of photos though.  The chicken is about five feet tall.  It used to stand on top of the brick pillar.  Although we drove by it quickly, it appeared that the pillar was damaged, which might account for why the chicken is on the ground.

The photo of the silhouette of a man on a horse comes up quickly around a corner.  It is hard to get a photo of it because it we come up on it so quickly.  It is strategically placed.  At first glance it actually looks like a man riding his horse across the field.  You have to look twice to realize that it is a metal silhouette.  There is a shop in Nelson County that makes these types of art objects.  The side of the building has several types of cut metal figures.  I suspect that the artist also makes other types of metal fabrications as well.   

Just the barest touch of color on the trees.

I will be back to blogging now that the trip is over.  I have some photos to show you of a current project.  Check back Thursday for what is new on the blog.

Ribbons at the State Fair

In my previous post I blogged that I had submitted three items to contests at the Virginia State Fair.  I entered competitions in Wearable Art - Mixed Techniques Single Garment, Handmade Stuffed Animal, and Handmade Doll - Dressed.  I am pleased to announce that I won ribbons in all three competitions.  I took the second place in Wearable Art, second place in Handmade Stuffed Animal, and Third place in the Handmade Doll competition.  So my three major pieces for this year won ribbons.  I am very excited.

I have been notable absent from blogging the last couple of weeks.  I had a case of bronchitis and just was not able to get everything done that needed to be done.  When that happens crafting tends to fall by the wayside until things get caught up. I will be back to blogging in another week or so.  There is so much going on right now.

At the moment, there is a major hurricane potentially headed our way.  Before I can get back to crafting, I have to make sure that we have everything we need in case the storm hits here.  I guess this is going to disrupt our plans for the holiday weekend coming up.  Right now we are in wait and see mode.  It is still far enough away that they cannot make an accurate prediction as to exactly where it will hit.  Right now the weather reports show that the whole state is in the potential path of the storm.  Will it hit?  Will it go out to sea?  Only time will tell.  If the storm should turn and go out to sea, I have a plans for the holiday weekend.  Everything is on hold until I know what is going to happen with the weather.

The last time a hurricane hit, the debris was a major problem.  We lost several trees.  The county was picking up debris for free, but we had to pile it out next to the street.  We had a pile of debris six feet high, six feet deep, and about thirty feet wide.   We were without electricity for days as well.   I hope we don't go through that again. 

Anyway it might be several days before I am back to blogging about crafts.  I will be posting regularly very soon.  I am at the start of a new project, but with everything going on, it will take a bit of time to have something to show on the blog.