Forgotten Pagan Goddess
I like to explore mythology and to look at the world through our ancestor’s eyes – their world was so colorful, full of gods and goddesses and magical spirits – a prayer to one, an offering to another – and your life will be surrounded by good luck and blessings, and if something still goes wrong – there is always a god or two to blame.
This time Budintoya (Budintoja) has caught my attention. Her main and only task was to wake everyone up from sleep. It seems a small task at the beginning, but can you imagine, what would happen to the world if everyone would fall asleep and no one would wake them up?… No bird would sing, no dog would bark, people would not get up to do their daily tasks… And now that I think — all those times that I have overslept and got up late – I must had offended the goddess of awakening somehow, and she didn’t wake me up on time.
And I think I have found a new hobby – I just love making short stop motion animation of my dolls. (more…)
Tiny post
Hello my dear readers, just writing to let you know, that I have some new listings on my “For sale” page, and the newest of all is a fantastic chair for the display of tiny dolls.
Hugs to all!
Dorote
It Is Time
Time is running and here I am realizing once again, that there are simply too many ideas in my head and my life time will not be enough to make them all come truth. I am working on too many projects simultaneously and I am starting to feel the impact on my health that this eternal rushing is causing. So yes, I have to give up on some things, and move forward with others.
Today I have decided to sell my unpainted “Tiny Tender Demons”, because I simply can’t find the time to finish them all myself. I know that some of you were waiting for this, so, here is your chance to get one and to customize it yourself.
I have sculpted this doll in 2014, it was cast by “Star Dolls” in milk white resin. All “Tiny Tender Demons” are sanded and stringed. I will add a pair of handmade eyes that I have made myself (if you prefer glass eyes or resin eyes, you may look for the ones that fit a 6mm eye socket). Tiny Tender Demon is 21 cm tall. It has a magnet installed in their forehead for a magnetic wig. Thanks to the 20 points of articulation, the doll can be posed in various poses.
The doll is coming in a wooden box made especially for her.
The number of dolls is limited.
The dolls for sale are here.
Warm memories and dreams of summer
I have finally received two of my dolls that have been traveling the world and representing me in shows and galleries. After our happy reunion I am offering them for my dear collectors.
“The Fields of Gold” doll is telling the story about the late summer the bloom of roses and golden sunsets upon the fields of barley. I have made her tiny wings, because her fragile and delicate appearance reminds me of dragonflies that one can see only in summer.
And here is a short video to show you how I was making the wings. (more…)
I have got two news!
My dear reader, I have two good news today: a good one, and …another good one!
First of all, I am happy to announce, that I have finally finished a Ribbon Jointed Doll making guide for everyone who wants to make a doll by themselves.
I have started this tutorial in January 2016 by making a doll and taking photos of all the process and, after long months of selecting and editing those photos and writing the comments and putting it all together, and then editing…endlessly editing, I have finally brought it to the end. I must confess – making tutorials takes much more time than making dolls.
I am not sure when I will make a next one, because right now I am absolutely exhausted and need to have some pure doll making away from the computer.
And you, my dear reader, may purchase the tutorial on my revived Etsy store. (click here)
p.s. My Etsy store is going to get a little more of my attention soon. I am planning to be selling some doll making supplies, and maybe more tutorials (someday), and maybe something else that I will come up with. How ever the dolls will stay on this page, and only here they can be purchased.
And, the second good news: The Ribbon Jointed Doll from the tutorial is available for purchase too!
You can find her here, on my website “For Sale” page.
Doll Summer in Preili – 2016
Here I am – back from a wonderful 3 days doll show in Preili.
Preili is a cosy tiny tidy Latvian town where all cultural life is circling around dolls. Thanks to Vladlena (Vladimir and Lena Michailovs) Preili has a new tradition – a yearly doll show, where doll artists from different countries are bringing their works for the appreciation of local public and a great number of tourists and collectors, who come to Preili specially for the show time. Wonderful and appreciating public, enormous hospitality which has followed us in every step, tasty food from fresh local ingredients and free Wi-Fi all over the town – exceeded all our expectations. The attention to the detail made us feel at home and has set a new standard of show organizing. The charming mayor of the town Maruta Plivda was involved in all our activity, the attentive public relation specialist Maija Paegle made sure so we do not miss any of the activity planned, and the head of the Cultural Center Guntis Skrimblis was teleporting all over the tawn at the speed of light and was always there when needed.
When it comes about the doll collectors – the show has offered them an interesting selection of art dolls, OOAK bears, and exclusive souvenirs for any taste. Each artist, from more than 30 participants has brought works of unique personal style and high level craftsmanship.
I am sure you will find a lot of photos from the show online, and here are a couple of myself – the proud participant of “Doll Summer in Preili – 2016”.
The longest project I have ever worked on
I have started this doll in 2010. I was working on it for several weeks or months, then putting aside, and coming back to it again and again. My vision of her had been changing, I have re-sculpted her for a couple of times, and beading the costume has taken me for ever. During those years I have made many dolls, and my followers will remember the three sirens, which were smaller versions of the women with bird legs, how ever this doll, the first birdie of mine, was standing in my studio half made, and waiting for it’s turn to come once again.
Today, after six years since I have started creating her, the bird-woman is finally finished. I have named her “The Blue Bird”. Blue bird is a magical creature who makes our most beautiful dreams come truth.
The doll stands 65,5 cm tall. She is the tallest doll I ever made. Her body is soft and her head, upper torso and hands are sculpted from air dry clay and painted with oil painter quality paints. The legs are made in my special technique and appear pretty realistic.
The doll’s costume is decorated with thousands of seed beads, and some “cat’s eye” stones. All beads are sewn to the fabric, no glue was used. The doll holds a miniature, but completely functional fan. The hair of the doll is made from hand dyed cotton threads.
It’s gonna be a boy
I think it is right about time to make a Tiny Tender Demon Boy. Sometimes I get an impression that doll industry is dominated by girls, and boys are taking a very small part of it. Why is it so? I think boy dolls can be same beautiful and charming as girl dolls. Let’s give it a try, and see how it goes. Another month or two and I will have a master model ready to be casted in resin. 🙂
Magic Eye Demon
This Tiny Demon doll was supposed to be the last doll for 2015th, but the year appeared to be too short for finishing all my projects, so she has become the first doll from 2016th.
I love dolls wearing black, there is something magical about that color, how ever I think this is the last one that I am making in black at this size. My eyes are failing. I can’t work on black clothes for too long. I am embroidering and sewing for few hours a day and then I have to put the dress aside, as my eyes go tired and I simply do not see what I am doing anymore. What a pitty… Well I guess this is a sign for me to move to dolls of bigger size.
I just had to make it
Sometimes there comes a moment in my life when I feel an extreme need to challenge myself and my audience with something that I have never done before. I call those moments “what if moments”. So it all has started as a simple master model for porcelain BJD. Then there were long months of sculpting, the breaks and then resculpting, and more resculpting, and then molding and remolding and then finally casting and then, like if I wouldn’t have spent more than a year on this project already, came “what if moment”. “What if I would decorate a porcelain doll with sculpted roses?” – I thought to myself, and started sculpting tiny porcelain roses and adding them to a casted torso. I had no idea if they will come out nicely or if they will fall off after firing, if the doll parts themself will fall apart because of different thickness of the porcelain, if something will explode at the end… you never know when you are doing something for the first time and you have noone to ask about it… but well – it had to be done, because I would not be able to sleep without knowing the answer to “what if …?” Just in a case I have sculpted a couple more doll bodies of this type and placed everything to kiln for the first firing. WIth a trembling heart I had opened it the next day and – voila! – the doll parts didn’t fall apart and all the ornaments and blossoms were still in their places. This was encouraging. After sanding and adjusting I went for the second (the high temperature) firing, and again the tremble of the heart. Eleven hours to fire, ten more to wait for the kiln to cool down and… nothing happened! All doll parts came out nicely! What a relief! And a small moment of pride – I did it 🙂
And the a second “What if moment” has hit me. “What if I make the joint lining not the most ugly part of the doll, but the most beautiful?” A fancy lace collar on the leg joint? Some beading maybe? Yes, no matter how crazy it sounds, I have to try it! And so I did. And I absolutely love how it looks, how ever the fans of doll’s mobility and functionality would be disappointed, because the doll has lost a good part of it… well beauty comes at a price 🙂
The other “what if moments” that happened during the creative process:
“What if I use a crackle glaze on a porcelain doll” – ordered glaze, experimented a couple of times mixing different colors and firing until I have found the shade and texture that I needed for this doll. It came out beautifully. yay!
“What if I string the doll with help of a flexible wire” – bought flexible wire of different thickness, tried out several ways of stringing, spent some days on rethinking the scheme – it didn’t work, and I had to come back to a classical way. pfff… not all experiments end up successfully, but it is still a useful experience.
So let me present you my first fully jointed porcelain BJD:
“BLOOMING”
That feeling of harmony with the world and oneself, that feeling of being able to accept and to give, that feeling of fulfilment…simply blooming.
Why is my blooming full of cracles and scratches? Because it didn’t come easy at all…
43 cm
English bone porcelain
Glaze and overglaze paint
Mohair wig
Linen laces
Glass beads
The doll is stringed with metal springs.