 "Barbie Boy" by Mab Graves available at her ETSY shop!  This is "Barbie Boy" it is a very special work of art created by artist Mab Graves for a special Mattel show at Gallery1988: in LA in 2017. Mab painted this piece in hopes of breaking down social boundaries and gender roles in our society. It's hard for a little boy in our society to truly love what they love and not face ridicule. To me the entire idea of boy toys and girl toys is archaic. Ask my mom, I played with transformers, Mutant ninja turtles and I still have a healthy collection of Muscle Men. Toys are toys.
But, other kids...... My son is 9 and right on the edge, holding softly to his youth and beginning to care what the other kids say. This is the age when it all goes down. The peer judgement, the pressure to be toxic masculine, the judgement when he cries his heart out because his feelings are hurt ... He's feeling it all. I am the type of mom that truly lets him decide on a toy based on what resonates with him. I have taught him for 9 years that a toy choice is simply what you are drawn to at that moment. It doesn't matter though, because at his age, what his peers say holds more weight that mom words. Mab decided to host a "Mab's Barbie boys" contest on Instagram for a chance at winning one of her prints. Her contest touched my little family in a big way. We deiced to participate and my son gathered his toys and I observed as he did so. He would touch the Barbies and Blythe and he actually verbalized how much he like the colors, but quietly sat them down and told me they were girl toys. We had a very heart felt conversation about when I was little and what I played with. I asked him if it was ok for me to play with those toys and he said yes....I asked him why it's not ok for him to play with dolls. He replied, other boys aren't like us mom. They pick on me if I like dolls. Oh my god! My eyes welled up with serious tears. I've tried so hard to raise a boy who is comfortable in his sensitivity but he's right on the prickly edges. So, we sat together and looked at all of the entries. All of the boys and grown guys with the things that bring them joy, and in that moment he understood why Mab painted this painting. He said with a big simile, Mab does the hard work with her art. I said she sure does... So as he moves from boyhood to the next stage, he will do it with the knowledge of artists like Mab who push back against social boundaries. If you go to Instagram and type #MabsBarbieBoy you will see some heartfelt love.  Wilder is one of a kind and will be available at Bewitching Peddlers of Halloween in Chelsea, MI. The days are so busy with my hands in the paint and knee deep, doing the work for Prim Pumpkin. This is a sweet Pumpkin called Wilder. Wilder is a special pumpkin, created slowly in my signature Prim Pumpkin blue. My entire process, these days, is slow. From the hand mixing and stirring of my paints (I finally started labeling them, so remixing won't be as painful) to the hand working of my clay and papier mache, it's a process that I am proud of. A process that I've worked on for nine years now.
Wilder is whimsy; complete and utter love. She sparkles without an ounce of glitter. She is dressed in a fragment of a lovely and vibrant silk dress that I found at an estate sale. The dress had a story, as most dresses do that have been saved for over 60 years. It was a strapped, empire waist piece that I gravitated to instantly. It was almost as if the energy of the dress pulled me over. I do believe that a garment can hold residual energy... magic sparkles of what once was. This dress was hanging with a few others, all exotic and bright. I asked about them and the daughter of the home owner told me that they had belonged to her Auntie. She told me that in the 40's her mother had fallen ill and her Auntie who was an art assistant, rode a train from California to Michigan to help take care of her sister's children. Her Auntie was wilder than any woman she had known. She smoked and indulged in a drink from time to time. She also danced while in California to pay her part of rent as she lived with three other girls. The woman smiled as she pulled memories of her Auntie to the surface of her mind. She saw me standing there in front of her asking about her Aunties wild dresses and she gave a chuckle. I told her that I am a doll maker and I took out my phone pulled up photos of my work. She had never seen anything like my dolls and they resonated with her. I lovingly bought her Aunties dresses and promised to tell about her as her memory was now a part of my story. In love and art... Jennie I've been busy in the studio.. see what came to life? All of these pieces will be available at Bewitching Peddlers of Halloween. www.BewitchingPeddlersofHalloween.com     I like things that look magical. Magical looks different to everyone, but to me, speckled eggs have a quality about them that make me happy.
Years ago. I wanted an art doll by ball jointed doll artist, Nefer Kane. She had made a humpty dumpty doll with an egg shaped head! I was smitten, so after a big art show I treated myself to one of her works. Fast forward to this year... my vacuum cleaner cord became entangled in a display in my studio and my precious humpty dumpty doll had a great fall. The painting on her face became damaged and I was sick about it. Nefer offered to repaint her for me, but life got fast and I never shipped her back to France. I became obsessed with learning the process of painting on resin. And then and idea began to form. It hatched one day and I was so excited to move forward with my doll. I decided I would paint her like a Mockingbird egg. Soft lovely blue with speckles thrown about like confetti at a child birthday party. I finished her last night and I wanted to show you my Mockingbird. The doll who came to life for me as I touched my brush to her skin.  Artists are seekers at the very heart. We seek inspiration; some little morsel that serves as creative fuel for taking that which resides in our mind and translating it into something tangible that the world can see. 2017 has brought a new wisdom with the days and hours that pass. Learning about creativity and celebrating it can be emotionally exhausting. I've decided that I will create with all of the fierceness that I have and leave bread crumbs wherever I trod, so that in the days when I feel out of touch with my creative source I may look around my feet and find the remnants of days when the magic was flowing freely. I will pick up a breadcrumb of my own creation and feel full again.
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My Dearest Witch is a term of endearment. A love story between my heart and my hands. 
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