Norwegian Forest Cat best friend

Today I’m working on the face painting of the Norwegian Forest Cat best friend of the little girl with a coiled braid coiffure, featured in my last post.  This is the first of many layers I will build up to create the personality and expressions for this cat-faced-doll.  This layer wasn’t completely dry and I wasn’t 100% certain when I snapped my photo that i won’t make a few changes to it.  For that reason it hasn’t been sprayed with a sealing coat of Testor’s dullcote.  I like to seal after any layer I am completely happy with before adding more color, brush strokes or details.  This way if I dislike any future work, I can easily remove that work and revert to the last time I thought the work was going in the right direction.  This layered approach allows me freedom in my expression because no errors become irrevocable.  You’re getting a peek at the very first face-up.  It should be interesting to see how she turns out...

The media used for this work (after 4 gold tinted coats of my special flexible ‘gesso’) has included three products from FaberCastell: polychromos hard pastel sticks, watercolor pencils, and Gelatos, and Grumbacher soft pastels.  I only use water media in developing the layers of color and detail so it remains easily reversible. 

Another important step in the creation of these animals is the creation of their furry parts.  You can see the flaps of what may become ear furnishings (that bit of charming fluff in the opening of the Forest cat’s ear.) I may keep it, though it will definitely be trimmed and fringed or it may be completely removed and a different fiber used to create the furnishings.  I’ll make that decision when I add the wool felt for the ear, back and neck fur. All those details unfold as the work progress. I’ve already dyed a boiled and felted length of wool in shaded grays, browns and blacks to be stitched and shaped into fur.  it’s all so much fun!

I’ve used the term ‘daemon’ to describe the animal part of my Topsy Turvy best friend.  This is in the spirit of the Ancient Greek use of the word describing it as a companion and guiding spirit. I’ve found my life enriched by my animal companions and often have felt they had a wisdom about my life of which I was, as yet, unaware. Probably my imagination at work, but none the less comforting to me.

I wonder if any of you have an animal With which you have a spiritual connection?

Topsy Turvy Girl + Forest Cat

Routines help in times of chaos, so I’m committing to write about my work on a consistent basis with new posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  

The history of the Topsy Turvy doll and the unique way I can present storytelling in the doll form really appeals to me.  I am much more interested in it than in the form of the dress up doll.  That isn’t to say that coming up with wardrobe ideas and picturing a child playing out the imaginary activities of a doll’s life doesn’t bring joy, but it is a different kind of experience.  

Of the four projects currently in progress in my workshop, two are Topsy Turvy upside down dolls.  This it the girl side of a doll + forest cat I wrote about previously,  I finished her braided coiled hairstyle created from a length of vintage chocolate brown boiled wool last evening. She’s ready now to have her undergarments applied, and then the forest cat face and ears can be completed.  One step at a time and a new personality and friendship is born!

I’m excited to show you how she and her best friend come together.  I promise to continue to document the completion of this project and the others I have in progress.  I hope you’ll check back with me to see the steps
I take, and enjoy the process with me.

Stay well and safe.  All my best wishes to you and yours in the midst of the our times of uncertainty.

Progress of a Doll’s Face

Here are the steps towards a finished hand painted face on one of my molded doll heads, made with my original sculpted moulds.  The last picture shows all the color ways worked out, yet not with the final sharp crisp details that will bring her face to life.  I’m saving that face photo for when I reveal the completed doll, with her felted wool hairstyle and unique clothing and accessories.

This first photo shows the sculpted face with its organic cotton jersey skin stretched over the mask:

Next I apply multiple coats of a tinted acrylic medium that contains fine marble dust to create the texture I desire while still allowing the ‘skin’ to retain some flexibility.

I build up multiple layers gradually allowing for complete drying between layers.  After these base layers are completely dry I rub the powdered Faber-Castell polychromos pigments into the doll’s face. This is my preferred medium rather than painting on her skin tone.  I believe it gives her a translucent complexion and creates vitality.  

As I work, I occasionally lightly spray the face with a matte sealant to preserve the work thus far. This allows me to remove future layers if I am unpleased with any step in the process.  I use a 000 sized brush and Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils to create the facial details.  

Here she is, one last step for final sharpening and defining of her facial features, nearly complete.

Best Friends with a Norwegian Forest Cat

This is the doll I’ve been dreaming about for a few weeks. I’ve finished sewing the body and the arms, and all have been tightly stuffed with a non-allergenic doll filling. I need to stitch the fingers and wrist dimples, then attach arms to the shoulders at each end.

The face masks for a young girl and a long-haired cat have been cast in Paperclay, cured and had organic cotton jersey stretched over the masks for ‘doll skin.’  The masks are attached to the body and ready to have a skull created from the excess cotton jersey. This is stuffed to give the dolls a more lifelike profile. I usually prime and seal the cotton jersey before I attach the face mask to the doll, but today I’m getting all of the stitching done before I begin any of the wet processes.  I’m always trying new things and changing up my production process to see if an innovation gives me a better end product.  

I just finished stitching and stuffing the ‘skulls’ and decided to attach the arms now, too. I’ll be honest; there’s a very good chance I’m going to regret that decision. The arms may end up in my way while I’m painting but they may give me a more secure ‘hold’ for the more delicate features.  We’ll see. The benefit I’m assessing by attaching the face masks before I begin painting them is that the cotton jersey becomes like fine glove leather after it’s been primed.  This makes it paradoxically tough to sew through yet easy to tear when I sew it onto the doll’s body. I’ll let you know on a future post how these experiments in production turns out for me. 

I’ve shown this photo on an earlier post. These are the textiles I chose for dressing this doll.

Toby, the cat

It’s always an honor when I’m asked to create something another person dreams of, or envisions. I was asked if I could create a felt cat, working from photographs, in honor of a beloved cat lost in a tragic accident.  The tray below holds some of the shapes I cut from a vintage Pendleton wool blanket (you’ve seen that show up before in the sister’s doll hair) and a little roll of 1950’s era cotton bunting. Once upon a time that cotton bunting was a baby blanket belonging to me or one of my sisters.

He has quite a bit of personality with his cashmere ear tufts and a wired tail that can be repositioned. His eyebrows aren’t  always easy to see, so here he’s bowing to show them to you.

Toby was presented in an archival box with a tag describing the unique elements he is created from, and a note for his new owner.

Starting at the beginning

I’m creating another pussycat and little girl Best Friend doll.  The Paperclay masks have been cast from my original sculpted moulds, partially dried and removed from the moulds to finish drying.  I like to sand and refine them one or two times, sometime more to perfect the surface and details. Next, I’ll stretch the organic cotton jersey skin over the mask and prime it with acrylic medium and marble dust.  The really fun part comes next - tinting the skin with my polychromos and painting on the features with watercolors and colored pencils.  This pussycat is going to be modeled after my beautiful Norwegian Forest cat, Princesse Marthalouise, seen here in her summer coat.

The doll’s 100% linen skin has been sewn and is ready for stuffing.

I’ve chosen fabrics for her skirts and aprons, including a vintage cross stitched guest towel and a tatted lace oval I gathered in the middle to a satin ribbon. I’ll select wool or cashmere for fur and hair after the faces have been painted and personalities revealed.

A Bespoke Doll

Anwyn and eKaterina are best friends.  This was a bespoke doll commissioned by a collector in northwest Ohio.  It was a great joy to imagine who this doll would become, and choose from my treasure trove of textiles and fibers to bring her to life. I am especially grateful for this friend and her trust in me, and support of my art, in commissioning this doll.

A few of the unique elements in her costume include an antique tatted lace student’s sampler round gathered to make a delicate lace cap on Anwyn’s auburn felted cashmere hair.  The solid beige linen skirt is fashioned from a small length of hand loomed linen, and eKaterine wears a striped linen and cotton skirt.  Each doll has an apron hand stitched from antique tissue linen handkerchiefs.  You can see a tiny bunny tucked into Anwyn’s canvas and leather tote bag and an Eastern Bluebird perched on  her wrist, while eKaterina has a teeny little mouse in her apron pocket.  These tiny friends, as well as the flowers on Anwyn’s infinity shawl, are stitched from bits of felted wool.  A girl need bling, and you can see that on the collar encircling eKaterina’s ruff.  The rhinestones came from the shoulder straps of a 1940’s evening dress and were stitched one at a time onto the black collar.

I present my bespoke dolls in archival boxes made by Gaylord Archival, with a Sweet Violet Dolls label  and a bit of violet ribbon fastening the doll securely to a backing in the box and on the lid, and a note for the doll’s new owner.