Tick tock tick tock.
Most clocks are no longer made with big brass cogs and gears which wind up with a key - they're little bitty things that run on batteries. But the insides of old clocks are so fascinating that I decided to make a doll with old clock movements. I can think of all sorts of expressions using the concept of time or clocks. Time after time. Out of time. Her clock is ticking. Once upon a time. Time and time again. Quiet time. Time flies. Time is of the essence. And so on.
First I visited thrift stores to search for old clocks and watches, but the pickings were slim - I guess other artists have had the same idea! I've heard that steampunk has been around for a while, but has only recently become popular.
I started with an air-dry clay and made the head, hands, and boots. Body of cloth, button-jointed arms and legs, and bead-jointed knees and elbows. I created an indented box in her torso and covered it with paperclay.
I filled her chest with clock parts, and small watch parts line her bodice. She even has clock gears in her hair! She's about 18 inches tall if she were to stand.
She sits on a little shelf which I painted purple and added more clock movements. The shelf is 14" x 12".
Here's a view of her back.
And her boots.
Timepiece is currently in a show at Dreamscapes Gallery here in Albuquerque called "Valley of the Art Dolls." There are around 20 artists in the show with lots of wonderful work. Many of the dolls are created from found objects and are far from the traditional doll form.
The dates of the show are December 4 through January 31, and the gallery is just north of downtown Albuquerque at 1523 Fifth Street NW (telephone 688-3190). Receptions on December 4, January 1 & 15 - 5:30-8:30.
Timepiece was inspired by a challenge issued by the
Art Dolls Only group (of which I'm a member) to create a doll with "foreign objects."
Getting started on a new doll. Clay head, cloth body. This time I wanted to be able to turn its head, so I'm working on figuring out how to connect it. She will be similar to Redwing, but I haven't decided whether the hands and feet will be sculpted or cloth.... Sometimes I feel like I spend more time figuring out how to do something than I do actually making the piece! She will definitely have something painted on her torso like Redwing - researching different Steampunk images now.
Here's Calypso.
She has little shell-buttons sewed to her skirt.
She's not meant to depict one particular culture or person, but is a combination of many different images that I came across in my research. I see her as a gypsy pirate queen influenced by many cultures.
My newest doll project is Calypso, a gypsy pirate character.
When we visit our local Botanical Gardens in the summertime, one of our favorite places is the Butterfly Pavillion. We love watching the lovely butterflies float from one flower to the next, and sometimes even land on our heads or shoulders. It is easy to imagine the the butterflies are little fairies. My daughter loves to pretend she's a fairy - she used to have a little dress with fairy wings that attached with velcro. She wore it so often that it was in tatters!
Thinking of butterflies and fairies inspired me to create Butterfly, my latest customized/repainted Sasha doll. She has a little muslin dress and I've hand painted a blue butterfly on the bodice. A sheer sparkly fabric is tied on with an iridescent ribbon. 
She has little butterfly wings that attach to her dress with velcro. 
Her eyes have been painted to match the butterfly, with reflection and shading to give them depth. I hope you like her - let me know what you think! 
Here is "Redwing". She's made of clay and cloth and painted with acrylic.
Her hair is a Tibetan lambswool wig.
Wings are painted on her back.
She stands about 17 inches tall. She's the third doll that I've made as I work on developing my style and technique in dollmaking.
Yesterday, she visited our friend Frank McCulloch's art studio.
Then we had lunch down the street at the Golden Crown Panaderia, where Tilily posed under some dried New Mexican corn. 
