"The Guardian"

He and Frenchy, on his right, are mirroring each other...


Here is an amazing being who came through a few months ago. I call him "The Guardian" because his presence is so powerful. I came across a piece of an old fur coat that I had discovered in the garage of an old house. The moment my fingers touched the thick, soft fur, I felt this doll beginning to emerge. I worked straight through as he poured through my fingers. This was the first time that I started using my kitchen forks for claws...I finally had to buy a new set of cutlery!

I love his expressive face and lanky, long, legs accented by the forks. He has a wonderful long, feathery tail that gives him a bird-like quality. He is kind of a combination human, cheetah, and bird...Magical and mysterious! I am featuring him today because I have been spending some extra time with him. I will be selling him to help pay for my upcoming surgery...In fact, I believe that he is already sold...to a very good home!

"Sea Lioness" Revealed

I had to take a new close up photo. Blogspot was misbehaving and refused to put the original on horizontally! Now you won't have to crane your necks to see it! I am increasing my technical skills daily...


This is the only photo that gives a full view of her tail. It has cut-out beautiful fabric flowers sewn onto the trim.



She looks like she is swimming underwater in these photos...

"The lion's roar is to silence what the shooting star is to the dark of night." Laurens van der Post

Art Doll Soup has been quite a journey this week! I have spent the week recovering from a cyst that ruptured on my ovary. I feel like fireworks are taking place inside of the constellation of my feminine self. Surgery, a hysterectomy, has been scheduled for January. I have been struggling with multiple issues related to my uterus over the past year. I have missed many weeks of work. The emergence, finally, of this lovely doll has helped me to get through a very difficult and, at times, very dark week filled with emotion and grieving. I am beginning to emerge as well...

I am actually now grateful for parts of the challenging process that is taking place. I have only been able to drink liquids. Craving carrot juices and now intensely green drinks. I am both a mad scientist and an artist in the kitchen with my juicer in my determination to restore and supplement my health. (Frenchy, my tiny, wise dog, runs for cover each time I press the on button of the magical, roaring, cacophanous machine!) I am beginning to have clarity on issues that have been clouded by the foods that I used to stuff some deep emotions. Once again, the light is beginning to come out of the darkness.

So here she is! The "Sea Lioness." I used the cover off of one of my pillows for fabric. There are five different types of yarn incorporated into her wild mane of hair. I LOVED making her hair. It is delightful!

I cut the body design freehand based on my design for "My Swimming Self." She ended up with a wonderful curvy shape. I used shells once again for her fingers and toes. She has a beautiful piece of abalone over her heart for protection and radiance.

I used mung beans to stuff her legs and some small baggies of brown basmati rice inside her body to help with her balance. (I realized after doing this that those two ingredients help with my balance as well in one of my favorite Ayurvedic healing foods-Kitcheree.) I do hope that Frenchy doesn't try to eat her!

The word that kept coming to me as I was making her is "Courage." I thought of the lion in the Wizard of Oz. I may embroider some courageous words onto her body. Possibly a ROAR as well! I will also add a picot beaded edge...I'll wait and see what else she might ask for...

My Plastic Self

I made this doll from a dream. She is "My Plastic Self." Making her was a powerful and transformative process. I used the sketch that I made following the dream. She is made of clear plastic. It was a fun experiment to hand embroider the stitches that define her through the plastic. I was wonderfully surprised when a clear pocket in her chest began to fill with jewels from the sea and sky, hearts, and a glow-in-the-dark fairy to watch over it all. Her hair is from a horse's tail and mane. She is so simple and so very complex all at once. Just like me...

Seven Things People Don't Know About Me

When Carol tagged me last week, I went into a panic. I didn't know what it meant to be tagged. I was certain it must not be good. I have since learned that it is considered a compliment to have someone tag you. Thank you Carol!

Seven Things People Don't Know About Me:

1. I love to swim laps at the pool on Christmas Eve. I think about all of the frantic preparations that are taking place in people's homes and relish each stroke as I glide through the water in peaceful silence.
2. I like watching DVD movies with the Director's Commentary activated throughout.
3. I love my dog, Frenchy. He is a five pound, black Pomeranian who is addicted to mini tennis balls. He even goes wild when he discovers pieces of felt that I use in my Art Dolls. (I finally made the connection that tennis balls smell like felt!)
4. I love to collect bones on my mountain hikes. My studio is rich with sun-bleached white bones! For me, it is like discovering sea glass and shells on the beach where I used to live. Both activities give me a thrill like I have just discovered hidden treasures. I use these treasures in many of my Art Dolls.
   
5. I like to eat chocolate for breakfast on my day off while I write in my dream journal. (This is now a joyful memory...I stopped eating sugar in October to enhance my health-yes, that even includes chocolate!)
   
6. Care packages from the sea. Friends send me boxes of driftwood, sea glass, and shells from the beach. I rip them open with abandon when they arrive. Sand and the smells of the sea spill out along with the treasures within.
7. Placing my Art Dolls that I am working on onto the pillow beside me while I sleep. Sometimes they come through in my dreams...