Preparation Sketch

Here is a sketch and layout that I did a few weeks ago for "The Keeper of the Keys" spirit doll that I just finished. (He will be posted next week!) I don't usually sketch or plan before I create. This was fun to play with. I set it out surrounded by intention while I waited for the actual doll to come through.

My Swimming Self

I made this doll during my first year in Colorado. I love to swim. It is one of the avenues that brings me back to myself when life becomes hectic. I particularly found it necessary to swim daily during my first winter away from the sea. I did not understand the freezing weather and snow. It was foreign to me...I remember coming home from the pool and reaching for this soft purple fabric. My Swimming Self poured through in one day. I sewed her form and embroidered her face by hand. I also love her toes. They are made from amazing tiny shells that naturally look like they have painted toenails on them. She makes me smile.

A Few Of My Favorite Dolls

Some photos of my process art dolls. I allow each doll to unfold and reveal itself to me. It is fun to share my work with other artists and readers. Process art work is a luxuriously solitary endeavor. I do love to work in solitude but it is also revealing and rewarding to share my work with the outside world.

The first photo is the "Sea Shaman Woman." I made her from shells and sea-glass from the beach I lived on combined with elements from Colorado and an Eclectus parrot feather from a friend's bird.

The second photo is "My Demented Sister" who came from one of my dreams. I love her hair-a combination of horse hair and synthetic fibers.

My First Post!

With the help of one of my favorite artists, Robin Atkins of Beadlust, I have created my first Blog! I am an intuitive artist so mastering technology is one of my life-plane challenges. Robin has been very insightful and supportive of my process. Thank you, Robin!

Some of my interests include Art Dolls, Process Painting, Bones, Beads, Jungian Psychology, Shamanism, and Swimming! I am also a graduate student in Counseling Psychology. I combine my art process with my therapeutic process. I will be writing about my passion for creating art constantly in my life. My dolls seem to pour through my fingers...

The picture shown at the top of this post is my first bead project. I realized that she was an owl the moment that I finished the face. Her body is a piece of driftwood from the beach that I used to live on. And my forks, of course, for talons! I'm hooked on beading!