First a bit of business about the September update... well, there isn't going to be one. But, wait you may say... there are five dolls that should be available. And you would be correct; and they will be posted for sale soon. But, with SPX last weekend and trying to finish up two dolls for an upcoming show I just don't have the energy or time for the rigmarole of creating listings, packing and shipping. So, all five of the austere umber mimics will be listed in October. I'll post more about it in the coming weeks.
Now on to the good stuff... what I am currently working on... two mimics for the upcoming Dollmakers V show at the Cactus Gallery in L.A., opening on October 8th. A little background on them... For at least a year now I have had this idea for an extensive project that will blend illustrated writings, dolls, and film to tell a four phase story. I have loosely started it in comic format by fleshing out the basics of the second phase with the one page stories Verdun and Prelude. Moving forward I am going to be incorporating this overreaching story into a lot of the dolls and writings that I work on. These two mimics are from that drafted second phase: Wayfarers from 'Prelude to Verdun'.
1 Comment
do you come here often? because it seems that i do not. my head feels a bit scattered today, so i am going to keep this short and possibly incoherent. i stagnated big time with work this summer. i was completely consumed with trying to buy a home before my husband's new job started this month. things did not go smoothly, to say the least. we finally bought a place, but with the caveat that it isn't built yet. so, i am in a holding pattern staying with family until our home is ready in four to six months. i have settled as best as i can and have resumed working this week. while it won't be quite as plentiful as i had hoped, there will still be a september shop update.
i have finished the three umber sprouting tuber mimics (minus still needing to stain their bases). the two remaining umber mimic dolls should be completed by next week. i have started a new original sculpt and sincerely hope i will be able to finish it for the september update. yeah, yeah, yeah... lots of boring text... here's some photographs. The June shop update is almost here! Listings will go up in my Etsy shop this Wednesday (the 8th) at 10 am eastern time. All four of the vermilion & honey mimics will be available as well as Cthulhu, tuber, and mimic head cast away ornaments. Plus, the Ezerd inspired Ragbot doll has made her way back from her gallery journey and will also be available.
Just a note on a few minor changes... the vermilion no. 1 doll has changed slightly since I first posted photos of her back in April. I wasn't happy with her cap, so I have removed it and added more volume to her hair. Also, the some of the naturally dyed fabric on the Ragbot has faded, so I will take some new photos of her and post them tomorrow. This week has turned me into a complete bundle of nerves. I will be moving in the next couple of months and (hopefully) buying my first home. This week has been devoted to figuring out the whole mortgage thing and picking a lender. The area I am looking in is historic, so all of the houses are from 1930s or older, going back to the 1700s. As long as I can remember I have wanted to live in an old house in a old, small city. Now that I am trying to make it happen, I realize it brings a certain level of stress. Old houses have problem areas, sometimes a lot. It is devastating to go see a spectacular house and think "this is it!"... and then you take a look at the bones and guts (piping, roof, foundation, etc.) and realize it is going to be a money pit. On top of all that there has been a certain whirlwind of drama (for lack of a better word) that has sprung up; although it apparently has been brewing for some time. It is nothing that I am prepared to discuss fully as of now, but I may come back and divulge more about it at a later date. All of this nameless-for-now hoopla has left me feeling drained, disappointed, hopeless, and just plain sad. It has been a rough week and I don't smoke or really drink anymore, so I am really grateful that my husband bought a box of Hostess Snowball snack cakes a couple of days ago.
Through all of this mess, I have still managed to make progress on the last doll of this batch, vermilion no. 2. I don't really have much choice, Awesome Con is quickly approaching. I am finishing up her arms today as well as her cap. The wig will probably have to wait til tomorrow. My goal is to have her complete by this weekend so I have next week to work on the ornaments. So now I lift up my high sugar, high fat creme filled snack cake and toast to more relaxing days that are hopefully to come! Honey mimic no. 2 is finished... before honey no. 1, oddly enough. No. 1 is almost finished and she should be ready for viewing in a day or two. Then I will be moving on to one more vermilion doll. My deadline to Awesome Con is fast approaching...
And speaking of Awesome Con... I will be located at D2 in the artists section. I will post a map of the space later this week. Two honey mimics are moving right along. The bodies and heads have been cast and sanded. Their limbs are complete. One dress is complete (although, I still may make a small ruff collar for her) and the other is about a third of the way finished. A have a bowl that is multiplying ornaments. I will be filling any holes from air pockets tonight and will start painting tomorrow or Wednesday. My goal is to have these two finished up this week. Here is a peek of them unpainted with their limbs and clothing pinned on. All of the fabrics are dyed with either tea or turmeric... or a combination of the two.
Everything has to be finished prior to June 3rd for Awesome Con. I have to really kick myself into high gear this month. I know there is more that I wanted to comment on, but I am feeling rather brain dead today and am drawing a complete blank. Oh well, I will assume it was nothing of great importance. Time to get back to sewing! This month has been going smoothly without any progress stagnation. It is so refreshing after the first three months of this year being so bumpy. I believe I mentioned before that I had to move all of my mold making and casting from my home when my daughter was born, so I am only able to work on casting on the weekends. My time was limited last weekend, but I was able to cast the first honey mimic and a set of ornaments. I did not, however, have time to sand, drill, and glue the doll and ornaments. I will get to that this weekend and be able to paint her in the next couple of days. I was able to finish (or nearly) the honey dress this week. I still have a bit of embroidery to complete on the skirt and I am going back and forth about whether I want to make a cap for her. I ordered some new fiber today for wigs, so I will more than likely hold off completing her until that arrives. This dress was a lot of work, but I am in love with it.
I am including a few bonus pictures of the vermilion mimic no. 1. It is a nice overcast day today and I wanted to take some outside shots of her. I managed to get three test shots inside before my camera battery completely died. I really need to be better at checking how much juice it has more frequently. It is late and I am exhausted, so I am going to refrain from writing much. The first mimic in the Vermilion & Honey series is finished. More pictures (and dolls!) to follow.
I have been productive as a bee this week, even with the weather taking a dive back to cold. Over the weekend I had enough time to run one round of casts that yielded one mimic and three ornaments. With the vermilion doll now painted, her limbs completed last week, and progress on her clothing being at about 40%, she should be all finished up next week. This go around I will be finishing dolls up one or two at a time, so by the time the shop update rolls around in June you should know everything that will be available well in advance. I think this will be a lot less stressful on my end. I may have said all of this in my prior post; I can't recall and the squirming toddler on my lap isn't giving me the time to go look.
Anyway, back to the progress from this week. As I said, the vermilion doll has been cast and painted. I still need to seal her this evening and I am toying with adding some splattering to her. I tried dyeing fabric with turmeric for the first time. The first round wasn't great. I added way to much ground turmeric and became distracted, leaving the fabric soaking much too long. The color came out way too bright and saturated for my tastes. I dyed the fabric again with some black tea, hoping that would help darken and dull it. That seemed to do the trick. Round two of turmeric dyeing went much better. I added very little and took the fabrics out quickly in intervals of 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, and 15 minutes. I was more than pleased with the results. I am incorporating all of the dyed fabrics into the honey mimic by sewing very small honeycomb shaped pieces together to make her bodice. It is a lot of work, but I think the end result will be more than worth it. |
archives
April 2018
categories
All
|