House Doll

My House Doll has been finished and delivered to OFFCenter Community Arts Project for their fundraiser! They're a community artmaking place, and open their doors to anyone who wants to come make art.

Their fundraiser is in conjunction with their Albuquirky House Tour where people can tour several local art houses and folk art collections. The tour was recently featured on a local TV station, and includes the famous tile house, completed by ceramic artist Beverley Magennis. From their web site: "the Tile House has over 130,000 pieces of tile covering all 4 exterior walls, plus  the patio, sidewalks, and the entire living quarters inside, which is embellished with bottle caps, pennies, matchsticks, golf balls and much more."

Back to my doll - the call was to make a piece of art out of a little house. I decided to make a House Doll - the opposite of a doll house. I was given a little wooden house, and my husband built a little porch on it. I added her paperclay sculpted head and stuffed cloth arms, and legs, and painted all with acrylics. 

I forgot to measure her, but I imagine she's around 16 inches tall if standing. She's got hair made of burlap strands, and a blackbird painted on her neck.

She was great fun to make, and I can't wait to start another house doll! Just have to talk my husband into making me some more little houses...

 

If anyone's interested in bidding on her, it's a silent auction at OFFCenter near downtown Albuquerque on Saturday, May 1 from 1-4pm. Don't know if they'll take phone or email bids, but I can ask if anyone's curious! Bidding starts low....  

Primavera!

The apple tree in our back yard blossomed last week, letting us know that spring is indeed on its way. The flowers didn't last long, and the ground was soon covered with white flower petals as the green leaves made their way toward the warm sun. Primavera (which means "spring") has an apple tree painted on her torso.

She's on Etsy now.

She has gold-brown eyes and her black hair is made from burlap strands. She's very small - about 7.5 inches tall (approximately 19 centimeters), has button jointed arms and legs which can be posed, and she sits quite nicely. She wears a white tulle skirt and has striped green & blue legs. She wears clunky black laceup boots.

She has wings painted on her back, and little white apple blossoms fly off the tree and around her neck.

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Search "ADOT" on eBay to find many unique, handcrafted doll art by other Art Dolls Only members!

Deja que salga la luna...

I just finished and turned in a retablo for ABQ Nouveau Retablo, a local fundraiser.

Of course, it's not a traditional retablo (the traditional retablos are usually religious in subject matter) - but it relates to the literal translation for "retablo" which means "painted/applied on a tablet." I painted and applied a paperclay crescent moon on a piece of wood that was supplied (it's about 11 x 9 inches). My little doll (she's about 7.5" tall) sits on the moon - she's made of paperclay, cloth, acrylics, and mixed media.

There's a wonderful song that a friend of mine sings called "Deja que salga la luna" ("Let the moon rise"). Of course it's a love song. Here's a version of the song sung by the great Pedro Infante:

I've painted a crescent moon shape on the doll, and her hair is made from burlap strands.

There will be an auction and reception on Friday, May 7 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center here in Albuquerque, from 6-8:30pm at their Education Center. Funds are to benefit the National Hispanic Cultural Center and New Mexico Hispanic Women's Council scholarship programs. I got to see lots of great retablos of all sorts that had been turned in - it should be a wonderful event!

In Progress: Purple and House

As always, I'm working on several projects at once. One is a monochromatic doll for the ADO (Art Dolls Only) challenge. She does have a few other colors, but this one is going to be mostly purple. I just couldn't quite bring myself to paint purple skin or lips, but she does have purple eyes. I've got several different shades of purple to try for hair.

The second is going to be a house-doll. I was asked to make a house for a fundraiser for OffCenter, a local art studio. Brought a little crooked house home, and my husband built a little crooked porch on it. Now I think I'm going to add arms, legs, and a head.

And my third project is a "Nouveau Retablo" for another fundraiser - this one to benefit the New Mexico Hispanic Women's Council and the National Hispanic Cultural Center. Right now, it's just a piece of wood, so I didn't think it would be too interesting. I'm thinking of a doll-type relief sculpture on the wood with lots of bright colors.... More soon!

Last Chance at a Bargain Price!

Don't miss my two dolls on eBay, ending later this afternoon (5:25 PDT)! Last chance to bid on one for a bargain basement price! If they don't sell, they go back to Etsy tomorrow -- and at a higher price.

And while you're there, search for "ADOT" on eBay to find pieces by other members of the Art Dolls Only Team. We plan to do group listings once a month around the beginning of the month, so I'll post a reminder here next time it comes up.

Payten: Traveling Art Doll Project

Payten visited Albuquerque for about a month, and I had fun working on her. She started off as a "blank" doll, and I painted her and added her hair and some clothing.

She goes to SpiritMama next before returning home to Mealy Monster Land, where she started her journey. You can read more about her here at the TDP blog. You can also read about Peregrina, the doll that I began, here. Now I have Simone to work on!  

And a reminder - don't forget to visit my eBay listings for two of my dolls before Sunday afternoon (14:00 PDT), when their auctions end!

Allegro Melody Art Dolls on eBay!

A group of us from Art Dolls Only (ADO) have gotten together to make our art dolls available on eBay. You can find all sorts of unique and creative art dolls by members by searching for ADO under the Dolls category. So far, we have some folk art dolls, a fairy godmother, a wizard in a box, a forest spirit, a sweet cloth and clay girl from Australia, with more to come. Please visit our listings and browse our wares!

We plan to do this on a monthly basis around the beginning of each month, always ending on a Sunday. Some of us will list more often as we have dolls available!  Here are the dolls I am offering on eBay this week: little Kells and Erté. They begin at a much lower price than their regular listing, so you might get a good deal if you bid!  Here are photos of them:

Kells
(ending March 21, 2010 at 14:00 PDT)

Erté
(ending March 21, 2010 at 14:10 PDT)