Wax over porcelain Frieda Kahlo Fairy doll Dress is silk with silk ribbon embroidery and antique seed bead embellishments in a shadow box. Won best in miniature show at 'Miniature at Archive's Gallery'. |
These figures were made using my receipe for Bread Dough: 2 cups of rice flour, 1 cup sea salt, 1/2 -2 cups warm water, shredded Kleenex (4 tissues), 1 TBS. glycerin. Mold, bake in low oven until hard. I like this method as the dough stays white and retains the Dr. Martin's Brilliant Water Colours well. |
Daddy's Girl. doll in pink, bone bead body, papier mach head. |
Parfum and Silent Screen Star Doll, papier mache head/mask, silk fabric in a gourd. |
Ghia, all beaded heart shaped doll/clay face. Not sequins but metal heshi. |
Dragon ladies, these are four stick figures with clay faces Instructions are given below |
Bead and Button Dolls |
SPIRIT STICK DOLL INSTRUCTIOS: The sticks I use are from elm tree branches from my back yard. I pick about 20 and end up using only 4 or 5. The size depends on the width of the stick.. and each stick sort of decides what sort of doll it wants to be. This may sound odd but this is the way I make my dolls. The faces are made from SCULPTY after they are baked they are painted using water color sticks Different hues and moods can be achieved by using light colors, then rubbing the color almost off then applying a darker shade over that color and rubbing that color almost off until you get the right look. Stick bodies are wrapped with natural fabrics like silk and cotton. Sometimes in order to get the right combination of colors I rip and then dip long narrow ribbon like pieces of fabric into cups of warm water and a few drops of Dr. Martine’s watercolors. The wet pieces are then hung out to dry. To assemble the doll I first hot glue the face in place. The stick is then wrapped with complementry colored ribbons of fabric sometimes incorporating various interesting pieces of antique fabrics and occasionally dried cornhusks or thin sheets of moss. The “clothes” are hand sewn in place then tied or belted with leather, string, floss or trim The piece is finished by embellishing with bone or glass beads, dried mushroom, shells, river rocks, semi precious gem stones, handmade paper, pods, seeds feathers twigs, and other found natural objects trying never to use plastic. Thin wire wrapped around the sticks doll’s waist serves as a hanger. When the SPIRIT STICK DOLL is finished I give it a name. Bambi Doe Blake, 5 04 |
THESE DOLLS ARE pretty scary. They are made from discarded dolls and found antique/ vintage items(salvaged) Mrs. Talkalot is made of wood and so is Mon Grasshopper. They're baby is called school fool wears a long dress made of a beaded wedding dress panel, he sports a dunce paper hat and has illustrations on his face. He was once a wax over composition doll gone bad |
Living in new Mexico the hot summer morning sun would baked my straw, water and mud
dolls as hard as rocks. Decorated with small stones for eyes, and mouth they
were covered with a dusting of white chalk ( this was made by rubbing a piece
of white chalk on a small screen. ) In the afternoon the Mud Dolls were sold
to the elderly retired men that lived across the street at the Elk's Club (
B.P.O.E) for 5 cents each.. My parents were school teachers and the idea of me
selling mud dolls for money was pure embarressment to them. I was 5 years old
.. Even as a child I enjoyed altering dolls, soon after reciveing them their clothes, head, limbs were removed and placed on other dolls until I had what I thought the perfect doll. Forty years later I'm still buying, making, selling, collecting and altering dolls which I now sell through galleries.. My whimsical Spirit Stick Dolls are an assemblage combination of sticks, silk, charms, a clay face, dried corn husks, bark, herbs, shells, milagros and secret messages placed close to their hearts. Bambi Doe Blake doee@cybermesa.com |
