my personal creative outlet
Rheadiculous
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."
--Aristotle
Dollaborating
I cannot sew! I have never used a sewing machine in my life! I am not particularly good at drawing either! So why on Earth would I want to start creating cloth art dolls? Because I think they are Ah-mazing! I have been attending the MN Renaissance Festival for several years, and have been inspired by the amazing people I see there every season! I'm not sure if I can do it or not ... but I am sure as heck gonna give it my best try!
And "sew" creation begins ...
October 27, 2012
For the past couple of years I have wanted to create something for little girls out at fest. I mean, the Renaissance Festival is a magical place! What little girl (and some adult girls for that matter) doesn't dream about finding their prince charming, knight in shining armor, or king? What girl doesn't imagine them self a princess with a beautiful castle full of servants and jesters that she can order around and torture .... wait, that was my fantasy. But you get the point. Most little girls I see at fest leave smiling and giggly. It makes me smile and giggle too. But every now and again I find a girl who looks sad, disappointed .. as though the magic didn't happen. Of course now, I have no idea if she was a spoiled brat and behaved badly, or maybe her parents were just asshats ... but these girls are usually walking towards the kingdom gates to leave, with a frowny face ... and it usually bums me out. So I came up with the idea of making something that some could take with them ... a little friend from the kingdom! Yes! They could adopt an orphan and bring them home! I would sew all year and then offer them to little girls, for free of course, out at fest. I would let them choose an "orphan", swear fealty, and then off they would go with a new friend, and hopefully a smile! I was very excited about this idea! I would be our kingdoms Head Mistress! Genius I tell you! Pure genius!
WRONG!!!
As it turns out .... the fairies at fest had a war! So as it goes, to ensure our entire kingdom did not get destroyed with pixie dust and glitter, our beloved King ruled that no one shall hand out gifts to children other than those so approved by the court. Blooming fairies!! (Honestly, as a fellow artist/entertainer I understanding and respect the ruling completely. It just totally kills my plan! Bummer!) And so the orphanage has been closed before it opened.
My desire for creating these amazing art dolls, however, has not diminished in the least and I will be moving ahead full force!! These dolls are so detailed and wonderfully charming! Ever since I was a little girl I have admired them. A friend of my grandmother, Pauline Lemon, had a whole room full of dolls just like these. I loved them! I had always wanted one! She had this one doll who I can only describe as the late, great Norma Desmond and I was in love with that doll! This doll on the left here, created by the amazing Arley Berryhill is the perfect example of the kind of doll I want to create. Her hair is made of feathers! Isn't she just gorgeous?! I hope my skills can eventually get this good! Practice, practice, practice!! And man, do I have a lot of practice ahead of me!!
I have no great expectation when it comes to this new endeavor of mine. I know I am going to create a lot of FuBaRs! I have no doubt what so ever that my first attempts at making my art dolls will end up looking like the pictures of all the beautiful dolls I eventually want to be making. I'm okay with it. Painting and sculpting the face will be my biggest challenge. That was why my "orphanage" idea was so awesome!! I would be able to practice on the lovely dolls I would give out to the little girls at fest. Alas, they will find new homes ... nieces and nephews, friends and family. My inspirations will still come from my friends and the characters at the Renaissance Festival. It is usually the time of year when my creativity really kicks in, and what better place to find more interesting characters to be inspired by!
So step one will be learning how to use my sewing machine! Actually, that is not step one! Step one will be taking my old machine to the shop. I inherited this old girl from my grandmother. I think she might have acquired it from her mother-in-law. It used to have a treadle on it .... I remember as a little girl sitting below her pumping away on that thing while she made me a new dress. For what ever reason, at 6 years old, I thought this was a good time! LOL This beast of a machine was made in 1902! Somewhere in the 70's she had electricity added to it. Today my husband and I are taking it down to a friends shop in Bayport, MN! I cant wait to get the machine back and get started! There will be much prep work to get done ... like learning how to work a sewing machine!! So excited!
© 2012 by Rhea C. Cryingwolf