Traveling Art Doll: Peregrina

I've finally finished my doll for the Art Dolls Only Traveling Doll Project!

 

This is Peregrina, a "blank" doll to be sent on to Mealy Monster Land (Nicole) and SpiritMama (Waxela) on our mini travel doll challenge! 

She's made of cloth with paperclay, painted with acrylics, and stands about 14 inches tall. I debated whether to paint her face, but in the end I couldn't resist. It also seemed that she should have some undies, so I painted them on her as well.

So off she goes with her diary to Waxela tomorrow, where she will spend a month, then she will be sent to Nicole. 

 

Each of these artists will give her their creative touch, and she'll eventually end up back here. 

In the meantime, I've received Nicole's contribution, Payten, shown here posing with Peregrina. I've got a month to work on her and then send her to Waxela, when I'll get Waxela's doll from Nicole!  Some of the groups are as large as six or seven, but I opted to join a mini group of three this time around. I can't begin to imagine how Peregrina will turn out, and I've got my creative juices flowing to figure out how to start on Payton. I think I'll start by getting out the paint brushes.... 

A little more about Peregrina. It's a name that means "pilgrim" and is the subject of a beautiful song composed in Mexico in the early 1920s by Yucatecan poet Luis Rosada de la Vega with music by Ricardo Palmerin. It was commissioned by Felipe Carrillo Puerto, progressive governor of the Yucatán in 1922, for his love, the San Francisco journalist Alma Reed. You can read more about their tragic love story here, and you can read the lyrics to the song. I haven't found an English translation yet, but you see it run through Google's web page translation here.

Here's a video of the famous Jorge Negrete singing Peregrina with scenes from the movie El Rebelde (Romance de antaño) in 1943.  

Of course, I realize that adventures can change in mid-stream and Peregrina may take on a completely different personality, but it's always fun to start with a story!