- 6.5″ tall, polymer clay, Toho 11/o round beads, Toho bugles, ceramic hands, nickel face plate
I’ve finished my first month’s journey with Bead Journal 2010 and it’s been quite a learning experience. The January Doll took the whole month to design, build, and finish properly, though it was interspersed with other jewelry-making and marketing tasks. It’s a more fully expressed merge of fine art and craft than I’ve managed before, so I’m looking forward to stretching as much on each new month’s doll. And because I’ve learned so much from reading other artists’ journals, I’ll talk a bit here about the process by which January evolved. (Some technical notes are included at the bottom of the post, for those who asked.)
- The original sketch for my January Doll.
Each doll is a journaling exercise for me, so January expressed my feelings about moving from Berlin to Bern, and about being surrounded by mountains and snow in a place that’s beautiful but far too cold and too dark most of the time. Fairy tale addict that I am, the Snow Queen provided good imagery and strongly influenced my first sketch. You can see by the final image that my doll is more matronly and somehow more solid than my sketch. As I was sculpting her the image started to change in this direction because I wanted her to resemble my form more than the idealized costume sketch I’d first come up with.
Though I make friends quickly enough, the beginning weeks in a new town are often lonely, and I wanted January to express that. Silver, white, and deep turquoise feel to me like colors that together express a combination of cold and stillness, of being apart: metal, ice, clear water. But January is somehow serene in her apartness, again reflecting my feeling of being isolated, but also of nesting into my new in my own time, without being hurried or anxious. The richness of her dress is really a metaphor for the richness of inner and outer resources with which I’m blessed.
If you’ve followed January’s development, you know I started by sculpting her head and torso. There is a wire armature holding head to body, waist to hips, and both arms. She’s also made in layers (naked body first, then clothes added very much as they would be if they were made out of cloth and draped over). It’s important to plan the connections for the wire armatures before starting out, so I think about how I’ll attach things like her hands, her sleeves, or her beaded skirt.
- Note the wire on which the starting length of beads are strung, anchored into the polymer clay.
A couple of people asked me about how I was going to attach the skirt. The photo was taken before the back was completely finished, so you can see how it works. Before I baked her body, in Stage I, I inserted a thin wire strung with the beads that would serve as a skirt base, stretching from hip to hip, where her behind would have been. This was necessary because once I started adding beads, I could no longer bake the doll, so a stable platform had to already exist before beading. Then, once I was ready to add the skirt, I used a Russian netting technique to make the ruffles you see on the front of her skirt. To finish the back, I glued a carefully cut piece of ultrasuede over the bare polymer clay, with two tiny holes cut out for the pin.
Amazing doll, I cannot wait to see your next one.
It’s been a joy to see this doll evolve! She’s magnificent!
Absolutely beautiful pin and I love the fact you gave us the technical as well as the back ground story to this piece. Looking forward to seeing what February brings along
I love your piece. Not only is it beautiful, it’s soulful. I know exactly what you mean about that feeling of isolation with a new place and that feeling is so perfectly conveyed in your piece. It’s wonderful. Teaching those classes will “warm” the space around you, too. I wish I could sign up for them, myself!
I am amazed by so much creativity! Your Snow Queen is sublime. She looks like the image that I had of a queen of a cold country which I’ve met in an old Welsh tale. You translated this idea of Snow Queen so marvelously. Thank you for this magnificent creation and for technical craftiness which you give us.
Love your doll, Kali. Very imaginative. I, too, enjoy doing beaded dolls. Nice start to the year.
I am very, VERY impressed with your post and your doll… I love how she transformed from the sketch to her beautiful, matronly doll form. I’m so glad you explained about the wire for the beads… that’s amazing and took so much pre-planning to achieve! I can sense her aloneness, yet there is also her heart and her friendly open pose, which will in time make her home warm with friends. Thanks!!!
Robin A.
Very cool! So much thought and preparation, It’s a love affair isn’t it!
Just Wonderful!
Thanks to everyone for the compliments and encouragement. It feels great to be working in a community where we can learn from everyone’s process and experience. I’m looking forward to a whole year of creativity.
What a project! Makes my BJP ornament feel like a throw-away effort (not that I would throw it away; just that it didn’t require as much time and effort as yours may have). Very impressive; I’m looking forward to seeing “who” comes next!
wow kali, i am excited about your work and your creativity.
I hope to meet you and your work soon in person!
greets
jacqueline
She is wonderful! And thank you for sharing your feelings, process, and progress. It is very much a journal. From Berlin to Bern, that’s quite a move. I remember when I moved from Connecticut on our east coast to the San Francisco area on our west coast. I was a very shy and unworldly person at the time (I had just turned 22), and it was such a struggle for me. I hope that you are getting settled in nicely and that the winter months aren’t keeping you too much alone!