Doll Week in Cedar BC

My, it has been a long time since my last post!  Now that the weather is warm and sunny, it becomes more difficult to sit and write, but here goes.

Our doll group is mainly involved in cloth dolls but many of us also dabble in mixed media.  There is a group of us that love, love the work of Kate Church and we learned that she was teaching a new doll "Pinocchio and Bird" in southern France.  Unfortunately, none of the five of us could afford the trip, so we organized a week closer to home in beautiful Cedar, BC!

The cars were loaded with food, sewing supplies, fabric, polymer clay, etc, etc.  Not only did we want to attempt making "Pinocchio and Bird" on our own, but we also wanted to make a cloth doll in the woodsy style of the late, great Akira Blount!  We knew, in our hearts, that five days was really not enough time for us to finish both projects, but hope springs eternal.

We stayed at a lovely cottage at Kiwi Cove Lodge.  Yes they grow Kiwi.  The cottage had everything we needed, a full kitchen, large living/dining room (we turned that into our workshop complete with additional folding tables), two large bedrooms with a full bathroom each and an adjoining suite with another bedroom and kitchenette.  In short, perfect for our needs!
Five glorious days of crafting and we achieved our goals, we started both the polymer clay figure, based on Kate Church's creation and we started a "woodsy" doll (two in my case) based on Akira Blount's techniques.  Two of us went for a walk in the surrounding woods to collect honeysuckle vines for the dolls!

Here are the finished dolls that I made: first is the polymer clay figure "Pinocchio on his wheeled bird".  

We loved making him, so much fun putting him together and balancing him on his bird.  The feathers on the bird were made using paper beads.  The bird has polymer eyes and polymer wing/hands.  Pinocchio is made with polymer clay (head, hands, legs, shoes, hat) with a soft, wired body.  The cart was designed by one of our gang, Joan and her husband, and painted and assembled by us.

Now on to our next project, the Akira Blount style dolls:
The first one I made is called "Guardian of the Thicket"  She is about 16" tall and is a wall doll with dupioni silk dress and wings and faux rose thickets for her skirt.  She protects the birds that flock and take refuge in the rose thicket.  The birds are made of felt. I tried to make her expression gentle and welcoming.

The second doll I started at the cottage was made using the honeysuckle vines I collected on my walk through the woods of Cedar.  In addition, Bobbi and Joan supplied additional vines and woodland materials that I incorporated in my piece.  This doll I called, "Nesting Angel":

This second doll is my favourite as the costuming turned out just as I had envisioned.

We loved our week of doll making so much that we want to make it an annual event and plan to book for March of next year at Kiwi Cove Lodge, perhaps inviting a couple more doll makers to our event!
We even managed to have an outing on Sunday morning (it was hard to drag ourselves away from making dolls).  We went to the Cedar farm market and sampled local food and crafts.  We were happy we took the time as it was great fun.

Joan then took us up the road from the local pub "The Crow and Grate" to a gallery owned and managed by the talented glass artist, Ted Jolda.  Joan is a talented mixed media artist and she has many pieces of her work in the gallery.

Ted, demonstrating his glass blowing in the studio

Some of Joan's birds and robots

Ted's newest ornaments in glass, his "Dragon Eggs" inspired by Game of Thrones

Sadly, on Monday morning, our crafting week came to an end.  We packed the cars and said our goodbyes and headed home.  Next year we will choose another couple of projects, take less food and have just as much fun!

Kate Church Part II

Last week was great as I shared a fabulous beach house with 5 other ladies and was able to take lessons all week from Kate Church with delicious lunches and snacks provided!  Who could ask for more?

This week I finished all three dolls that we started in class.  The first I call "Midnight Rider", a young lad who is finding his adventures while travelling on the back of a crow!

We used polymer clay for the figure and made a cloth crow with clay beak, tail, claws, hat and eyes.  I love this wee fellow.  Unlike last year's workshop, Kate was showing us how to create a younger figure.  I think I achieved the goal!

The second figure is based on a bunny.  I used an embroidered pillowcase for the bunny and tried to make an even smaller younger face for the rider.  I call this piece "Beach Bunnies (on Kye Beach".  Kye Beach in Comox is where our rental beach house was located.  We loved it and had fun walking on the beach at low tide looking for treasures.  I used some of my beach treasures to decorate the base of this bunny piece.  The wee bunny that the figure is holding is made in cloth from the white portion of the same pillowcase from which the bunny is made.  

The stands for the following two pieces were made by Peter, a fantastic woodworker and friend.

Once again, I was very pleased with the entire effect:

Finally, the third and final piece is based on a rider on a horse or pony.  I chose a striped upholstery fabric for the pony, as I loved the colours.  Once again the pony has clay eyes, hoofs and hat while the rider has all clay features except the body and clothing.  This piece measures about 13" in height and is the tallest of the three.  I added the most embellishments on this piece and I am happy with the result.  I call this piece, "My Painted Pony" for obvious reasons:

The saddle blanket and stand features are all in wool felt.

So, do I have a favourite of the three pieces?  I cannot decide as I like all of them for different reasons.  I love the crow because of the sweet face of the rider and the mystery that crows provide.  I love the bunny because the embroidered fabric worked so well and the rider is also sweet.  Finally I love the Pony because I was able to use the most colour and fun embellishments!

Kate Church Workshop

I have just returned home from a fabulous, creative week of sculpting with Kate Church at the Blue Moon Winery in Courtenay, British Columbia.  This time around, instead of staying in a motel, six of us rented a beach house on Kye Bay in Comox.  The house and view were beyond words: (here is a view from our deck)  This area of the Bay is a Heron feeding ground and every day at low tide herons can be seen standing in the low water and sand banks staring intently at the water, searching for food.

A view from our living room up to the second floor.

Every morning our resident bald eagle flew over the water and back up to his perch in the pine tree behind the house overlooking the beach.  Need I say more!  The house was perfect and the views unbelievable (my photo does not begin to capture the magic).

Our gazebo and fire pit where we roasted marshmallows,  hot dogs and made smores!

This class of Kate's involved choosing to make an animal figure (raven, horse, or rabbit) in cloth and then adding clay features using polymer clay.  The animal has a wee clay rider on top.

Here are some candid photos of the week with my fellow artists (10 of us in total) learning from the master, Kate Church:

Preemie clay in translucent, white and ecru ready to condition:

 Some wee heads ready to bake:

 Colouring with Panpastels, a new colouring medium to try:

Kate's demo on making a wee hoof for the horse:

This is Kate's raven and rider in progress.

Kate's horse and rider in progress.

A preview of our dolls in progress:

Three bunnies frolicking and waiting for their riders

Ponies in progress

Stay tuned for more photos and close ups of my pieces as I finish them.