Doll making

​“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” ― Roald Dahl
I do believe in magic and I find it every time I begin to create. Since my beginning in doll making, I’ve come to think about defining what it is I do. I feel as if titles are handed out in order to define us, but most are cliché and lack the depth of what we do and who we are as dollmakers.  Galleries are more comfortable if we lose the word “doll” altogether, forfeiting the heritage that passes though our hands as we create. Dolls are more than wee people for children to play with. They are a brave compilation of history, art and emotion. The working of stories into a doll, the doll as a smugglers vessel, the legacy of textile arts and handworks are bold statements of the contribution of using whatever medium you have on hand to tell a story. A whisper, a magical banter back and forth between needle and cloth.
Even after all of our evolution as a people and society, I still think when someone inquires as to what you create and you answer “art dolls” it is heard and seen as a secondary form of art. When in essence doll making is pulling forward the skill and knowing of all who came before us. When we create an art doll we practice alchemy in our studios, transforming a lump of fabric and clay into a work of art. Art doll alchemy is to employ textile arts, painterly techniques, sourcing the perfect mediums, unearthing bits and bobs to create personality, and mastering the magic of putting it all together.   If I had to describe what I do I would say, I am a maker of odd, often peculiar Halloween and macabre folks who sometimes look peoplish.
I would encourage you to create without labeling your work in a traditional way but instead inhabit your work. Allow yourself to learn your art and grow within it, inhabit your bliss.   Art dolls are an important work. We must think of the product of our work as something that we bring to life. Our collectors have evolved into a highly sophisticated group who understand what it is we do. While you may be considered a figurative sculptural artist by a gallery, to your collector base, you have made a piece that stirs something deep within their soul. Art speaks a soul language and the people who get your work will understand that language.  The word “doll” does not denote lack of artistic quality. A doll is not just a child’s toy, but a lovely compilation of dream and hard work; an assemblage of all the doll maker knows.
The world needs more artists who are intrigued by art doll alchemy.  I consider myself so fortunate to come from a family line that honors this kind of magic.  My Mom and my grandmother before her owned their sparkle and whatever they did, they did it with a charm and a knowing that inspired others. Since childhood I’ve been in love with stories of the unexplained.  In my home, my mom kept a witch’s broom over the door and spoke in hushed tones about these unexplained things. As a little girl my father left us, but my mom told me a story about how I was born which brought me peace. She told me a rhinestone and a button fell in love and I was the result. She said I was a gift from the stars. She always made me feel like I was more than a normal girl who was skilled at nothing.
For years I’ve made art dolls. I’ve become known in the doll world for them, but this year I am sewing my garden with enchanted seeds in hopes that my collectors will enjoy my new works.  In 2011 I created my first hairy faced child. I called her baby bigfoot and I really loved that direction of honoring the hidden things within each of us that we cover up. My collection this year will dance around oddities that inspire, myth and lore from my childhood and my pumpkins with their hand mixed color palette.
When I create today, I feel like an archeologist digging through the bones of my past to find those moments of magic. It is when I create from this place that I see my best work. My Millie is the daughter of the Dog- face man.  She hides under a face of hair, much like bigfoot, but she is small and demure.  Each doll begins as an empty shrine to something I need to show you or stories I need to tell you.
If I could tell you something about doll making that it has taken me years to learn it is this: speak your language even if you think no one understands it. The more you speak it, the more comfortable your collectors will become hearing it. Soon, they will crave your art language.