Creating Marie

On my to-do-list today I wrote: 
- baking almond cookies (I didn't)
- moving the couch (I did)
- dusting (I didn't)
- vacuum cleaning (I did)
- writing (I didn't, until now when I should be cooking dinner for my starving children)
- researching website building (I did)
- washing the windows (I didn't, but my husband did - sort of)

I should compliment myself that I got half of the things done that I set out to do today. I could have easily gotten all seven of my chores done, since there was no doll making in the planning. 

However here is the evidence of what I spent most of my day doing. 


 Who is this new creature? An angel or a dancer?

Male or female?


As soon as I give them eyes, their soul appears.


Ah, Marie it is.


Giving her a bit more lips.


This is the moment when I have to stop touching her face.


Even though it's not quite done, I will leave her like this while I continue working on her body.


Introducing: wool sculptor Irina Andreeva

While browsing for felt creatures on Pinterest, I bumped into the amazingly talented Irina Andreeva. She is a Russian artist who makes unique woolen sculptures of mostly little girls and cats. She uses natural colors, lots of greys, that contribute to the pure and somewhat melancholy emotions of her creatures. 

 Unfortunately all her social media are in Russian, so I can't tell you more about her than you can see for yourself when you browse through her photos.

 I am not sure about her technique. She must be starting the sculptures by dry felting them. But there are some pictures online where she soaps the surface and rinces with water. It would explain the smooth surface.

 I am curious to see if she uses wire to support the structure. As you can see in one of the photo's, the dolls are quite big.

 It is an absolute inspiration for me to look at these pictures and I only feel more compelled to keep working on my own dolls.














Copyright Irina Andreeva

How to present one's work

Over at Christmas, I was talking to my father about the dolls I have been making recently. My family had wanted to see them and I showed them by holding them in my hands. After having them been admired, I put them down again. A pile of colored wool. Just limbs. Almost carelessly tossed aside.

I have been thinking about that image a lot. 

Making the dolls is one thing, but showing them is quite another. How can I show them in a way that does justice to the nature of their character? I need to talk to someone.

My father instantly googled the name of the artist he had just met in Barcelona last November: 

Gerard Mas (Spanish sculptor, born in 1976)

What started as a search for ways how to present one's work, turned into an intense fascination for Mas's work. Here's a sample of what I found online.

The repetition of the statues and the pedestals could work for my dolls too.


It took me a moment before I spotted the bees. The expression on her face is  powerful and distracting.

Again, a quick glace doesn't do this one justice.

Like a fish on a plate. I wonder how big this one is.

Do you see 'it'?

The skin texture is almost real.


How about a frame?

Here the pedestal is part of the sculpture.
I welcome any suggestions about how other artists have presented their work. Please leave your comment below.


Sometimes I finish something

Last week I started at least three different projects, but I also finally finished one.

 

I used yarn that I had bought years ago to crochet a poncho with. I kept forgetting the pattern and made mistake after mistake. So I pulled out what I had made so far (not much) and started an easier pattern, one that I had tried before and that looked nice. 


I made a very long scarf (I am very tall so most scarfs don't fit me that well). And I made wrist warmers using the same yarn and stitch, but I made up the pattern myself (not that hard).



I would love to make more of these to sell, so let me know if you'd be interested.
















Making a companion


Making one doll is one thing, but making another... that's a whole new challenge. I was eager to see what would happen with a new batch of wool. The only thing I knew was that I wanted to create a more pronounced nose.


Very quickly a character appears. I have no real control over it.


At this point I am still convinced I am creating a girl. Albeit an older one...


She's not a very pretty one. She reminds me of a friend of the family, so I start calling her Ruth.


She's waiting for me to finish her hand.




But then something shifts. It happens when I am working on the hair. This rather ugly girl turns out to be a boy.


 I think they look rather beautiful together.


Making a felt doll

Last week I started working with wool and a needle. A sweet face grew in my hands. I draped some soft wool around her head to see what she would look like with hair.
Then I created a hand. You can see the needle I am using to prick the wool into a firm shape.
Little by little her body is coming together. 
It's very difficult to make two identical hands. Wool kind of has a mind of its own. Hard to control. I just have to let it happen.
Her legs and body before I started to work them into felt. 
Wonderful surprise! She can stand on her own.
I gave her beautiful soft long hair. And now I am working on how to style it.
After working on her for three days in a row, I decided to leave her like this for awhile to see what will come to me next. I am too afraid to 'overwork' her.

Ode to Salo



Salo 1994 - 

 How do I say goodbye to my faithful little friend of 19 years? The vet says it's time to let him go. But how can I possibly choose the moment? How can I decide for him when it's time to go?

 I have let his older brother choose his own moment, and it was very painful, for him to die and for me to watch.

 I look at Salo and I see him struggling. His heart is beating fast. Too fast. But it's beating for us, it seems. He doesn't want to leave us, faithful friend he is. 

 A beautiful cat with a gentle soul. He never killed another creature, just stared and wondered at the spider that ran away from him or the mosquito that danced above his head. 

 Most of his life Salo lived in the shadow of his older brother and when he died, a part of Cupido lived on in Salo. ...

 How do I say goodbye to my little guardian angels? When is the right moment to let go? As Salo is struggling with holding on, I am struggling with letting go...


Marie Antoinette's husband

After Joseph Siffred Duplessis, Louis XVI roi de France et de Navarre (1774)

Such a kind man, born at the wrong time and in the wrong place. Was never meant to be king. Was never meant to marry a duchess from an enemy country. Would have preferred being a simple locksmith. He was so simple they didn't think he would need his head.

Heritage

Pieter de Goede, Alkmaar 1889 - Amsterdam 1983

Pieter was the son of Cornelis (Beemster 1861), 
greatson of Jacob (Beemster 1832), 
great-greatson of Pieter (Beemster 1793), 
great-great-greatson of Klaas (Stompetoren 1767), 
great-great-great-greatson of Jacobus (Schermerhorn 1732),  
great-great-great-great-greatson of Arian (Ursum 1708),  
great-great-great-great-great-greatson of Cornelis Dirckzoon (Broek in Waterland 1677),  
great-great-great-great-great-great-greatson of Dirck (Broek in Waterland 1641) and  
great-great-great-great-great-great-great-greatson of Cornelis Dirckzoon (Broek in Waterland, ca. 1620). 
Our oldest known ancester was a milliner and millbuilder. We couldn't be more Dutch.

Pieter de Goede, Alkmaar 1889 - Amsterdam 1983

 
Pieter de Goede, Alkmaar 1889 - Amsterdam 1983

My handsome great grandfather, also probably on his wedding day. He was like a father to his bastard grandsons. They lived with him for a couple of years in the wooden house behind the fire station on the Marnixstraat in Amsterdam. He was the caretaker for the veterinarian. 
My great grandfather was a gentleman. He smoked a pipe. When I kissed him, I would smell the sweet tobacco in his white moustache.  I met him when he was already very old. He mumbled a little. Like with my great grandmother, we didn't talk much, but we smiled a lot at each other.
 
Gerarda Johanna Hardeveld, 1888 - 1986

My beautiful great-grandmother, possibly on her wedding day. She married Pieter de Goede on July 24th 1912 in Amsterdam. Together they had three children, Annie, Catharina (my grandmother) and Gerard. I would visit her once in a while, she was very old and fragile. She was always embroidering something.  She would let her daughter take care of her, which she did quite sternly. Getting even perhaps, with the old days. My great-grandmother shared her lunch with me and smiled.

Work in progress

After Antoine-Jean Duclos, La Reine Marie Antoinette annonçant a Madame de Bellegarde la liberté de son mari (1777)

In my version, I think she is trying to push Mme de Bellegarde outside of the frame. Too plain, perhaps. There are some ladies missing in this picture. Forgive me, I got a little tired of the lace and bows and curls...