"Unframed" Exhibit

Yesterday was 106 degrees and quite a bit humid. TX is not for wimps. Ruthie and I shook it off and went down to New Braunfels for an exhibit of fiber art by some San Antonio fiber artists/friends.

Let me say something about going to an opening where you know some of the artists. It's a little weird because walking into the gallery is like entering a fabulous candy store/shoe boutique/cathedral/takeyourpick,(whatever really moves you). Here was a collection of beautiful handmade works of art/craft beckoning closer inspection. Dolls hung from walls and stood on pedestals, quilted 3D house-shaped boxes flaunted bright hot colors, silks, dyed and painted, floated down from the ceiling, and garments clothed manikins here and there. My heart literally beat faster and my eyes couldn't stop moving around the room. At the same time here are folks I haven't seen in awhile, so there are hugs and handshakes first. I have to admit, I forget myself and want to dive into the art, but the people and the art go hand in hand. It's so much fun. Next to making stuff myself and with others, I love going to galleries!

I'm posting two pictures, a couple of my favorite things yesterday. Maybe it was the heat, but everything seemed to vibrate with color for me yesterday. The golden doll was made by Linda Rael, just about the sweetest person I've ever met. We met a few years ago at ArtFiberFest in Washington and hit it right off. I feel so lucky that our circles have crossed again. I'm definitely going to get down to SA and play at her studio sometime soon. Her dolls have a tribal feel to them, and she plays with color so happily. I feel I could really learn something about expressing joy in dolls through her. The other picture is a quilt by Susie Monday, whose work has a true TexMex feel to it. There are religious themes and cactus blooms, Mexican and central American vintage textiles, and riotous color throughout her work. It moves me and lifts my spirits when I see it. She is also doing some wonderful 3-D stand alone quilted pieces which satisfy my bent for sculpture and fiber together. I'm a new fan of her work and will follow her with interest. She does workshops at her studio just about monthly, so I anticipate a day of inspiration one of these months in the future.

Book Club Lady

I thought this one would be a boy doll, but as soon as I started painting the face I realized I was mistaken. Must be the eyelashes!

In the post below, mine is the second from the right, in the front.

Stick Doll Play Day

Some members of the Austin Fiber Artists got together yesterday to play with fabric. We try to do this every other month or so. Yesterday I got to plan our play day, so of course I chose to make a stick doll. Yesterday was interesting because I've always wondered if it would be fun to teach doll making. Turns out it was! And the results were fabulous, as you can see!

I posted more play day pictures on flicker under stick dolls. Check them out here, if you like.

I learned a lot, too:

About teaching:
1. People really appreciate a supply list so that they can bring their own stuff.
2. Needle sculpting is not as "intuitive" as I thought. I need to come up with an established formula for sculpting and/or provide a stuffed ball to practice on.
3. Everyone comes to a project with different expectations and ideas. (You'd think that would have been obvious to me!)
4. Some people want to buy supplies they use and are introduced to in a class, especially supplies they haven't used in the past, or those commonly used in their particular area of expertise. For example some fabric dyers wanted hemostats, and one doll maker wanted practically every tool I had brought.
5. If we'd have had 8 hours we could have done all the embellishing we needed to finish our dolls.

About doll making:
1. Eyes:
a. Close-set eyes make the nose bunchy when you needle sculpt it. Allow for extra space between the eyes.
b. To lessen the bulgy effect of the eyes, do not run the same thread through the eye and the eye socket. This will also help with directing the eye placement so the doll is not cross-eyed or wall-eyed.
c. Painted eyelashes look great with my eye beads (thanks, Diane!)
2. I'm inspired to try some different noses that the ones I usually make. A lot of people didn't like their noses, but I loved all the new shapes I saw!
3. Mary brought a pre-dyed green piece of Rayon and Jean brought a pre-dyed orange piece of bamboo to use. Their dolls turned out wonderful...I must try different materials and colors!

Anyway, the above stuff is meaningless to most people, so sorry, but I'm just really excited to try some new things. I thought I was tired when I left the play day, but I ended up going home and playing some more with my doll. I repositioned the eyelids and finished embellishing her. I thought it was going to be a guy doll, but no! As soon as I started painting the face I saw this very cute bookish lady peering out. I'll post her picture later on.

The ladies who came out to play were wonderful, all. Helpful with ideas, friendly, focused, and eager to make something new. They were all cool with the doll they made. I think they are all fabulous -- and their dolls, too.

It's all good. We increased the doll population on the planet in six short hours.

Fallen Astronaut

Now this is an image that has captured my attention since the first time I saw it in a book at my friend's place. I'm not surprised that a doll is the art form designated to represent the fallen astronauts from the various space missions in our history. My friend sent me a link about this controversial little 3" figure, which was left on the moon without NASA's permission. The artist Paul Von Hoeydonck made several hundred replicas to sell, but after negative publicity he decided not to. The top image is an ad from July 1972 issue of Art in America, advertising the sale, which never took place. (Wonder where they all are.)

I'm excited to give a short talk about doll making to the Austin Fiber Artists tomorrow evening, and I want to include a short history of the human need to leave its mark in the representation of a doll, as on the moon. This doll is supposed to represent all the fallen astronauts in the history of space exploration. A faceless genderless doll such as this shows the range of fallen astronauts, but also the human populace which calls earth its home. Just like the clay fertility goddess figures found in excavated sites of the earliest human civilizations, this doll lying on the surface of the moon commemorates a particular group of people for whomever might find it there. Dolls exemplify our humanity. We utilize them to call forth "who we are".

Exploring Gesture

The space a doll inhabits reveals something, but I'm not sure what. I've been staring at this figure(s) for several days now in all light and from all angles. I started this doll without consideration. I was playing with the eyes in the head and found a rather worried or merely diligent expression, didn't care for the chin or the shape of it's head, but fixed it to a body nevertheless. I realize I need to add to the bust to make it more womanly, but then what? The baby in her hand can stay or go, incidentally; it is not fixed there yet.

Does the body's gesture suggest a certain costume, personal characteristic, or some other concept? I am intrigued with the idea that a figure's space, that portion of space that a doll or any body (anybody!) occupies in the world, may relay something universal. I'm trying to decide if this pose is trying to tell me how to costume her or if I should consider some esoteric theme. Either way it's all play. This is the fun part; the speculation over Who or What this doll IS.

Sometimes a costume is what makes a doll. Other times it's an idea (patriotism, hunger, flattery) which provides a great jumping off point. In this case I sense it's the sweeping, almost affected gesture.

Recently my massage therapist (whose business card states "fairy godmother" -- in addition to being board certified -- can you do any better than that?) loaned me some articles on space and movement, written by a former dancer. While reading them, I didn't fully appreciate the concepts, being neither a professional dancer nor a massage therapist, yet they have crept into my thought process. See how a little information does a person no good? Alas, this is the story of my life. I resolve to re-read those papers. After all, she enthusiastically forced them on me after I told her I was working with armature and balance. Maybe she knew something I didn't. She claims the fairy godmother title, after all. Maybe there's an answer for me there. How to finish this doll!

I give you my heart

I finished this doll a couple of weeks ago and was delighted with her. As I've said before, these dolls take on a personality of their own, so once they're "finished" it's as if they are not mine anymore. This doll "Valentine" is much sweeter, gentler and giving than I thought she'd be. I think it's the lace and the expression on her face. Check out the whole doll on my website www.jenmcgahan.com in doll gallery 4.

I'm excited about the new eyes. Before this one I'd been painting over the needle sculpted features of the face. I decided to try making the eyes from Sculpy and painting them. As if they were beads, I strung them with strong thread and pulled the eyes through cuts I made between the eye spaces after the doll's head was stuffed. I like the effect, although some of them look a little bug-eyed. After playing around with these bead eyes I think they will just be another variable feature on the face. They do seem to add personality.

Valentine Doll in Progress

The Geek Squad had my computer for one month. I probably could have gone to a coffee house and used a computer there, but I just don't have time for that kind of thing. So I did without. It's alienating not being online for awhile. People don't use the phone anymore. I know I don't. I had to let a few people know that I was still alive, but other than paying bills and making doctor's appointments I let all online activity languish there without me. It's humbling and liberating to realize just how smoothly life goes on without my involvement. I only wasted a little bit of my internet vacation (I found I snacked a bit too much) but it coincided with some sick days with the kids last month so maybe the timing was perfect after all.

The main benefit: without the distraction of the computer and other email related obligations (I did shirk a few) I got to work on a couple of dolls finally. It had been since before Christmas that I'd worked on them and I was really missing them. The one above had been floating around in my head for a long time now and she turned out much more lovely than I expected. I'll post a picture of the finished doll as soon as I have one. I also attended my first meeting with the Austin Fiber Artists, formed last summer. My new friend Ruthie invited me to join when we met at the AMOA show in December. They are an active group of artists who meet once a month, attend shows, take classes, share skills, and even exhibit together. I knew I was home when I noticed that half the women had dye under their fingernails! Suddenly I feel more connected. Their Yahoo group is thriving with newsworthy and interesting posts every day, and the members seem motivated to share and educate each other and the community about fiber arts in Austin. Yippee!

Other than that, my forced break from the computer includes these highlights:

• The flu swept through our house with a little disruption.
  
• I read about 6 books, including some eye-openers -- Middlesex (Eugenides), and Real Simple Food (Alice Waters). One of my new year's resolutions was to get back to reading more. My goal was two novels and one "other" book per month and after three months I already feel like my old self.
• Christian, the family favorite, won Project Runway. Didn't you love seeing him win?
• I treated myself to U23D at the IMAX. No one local I know (and how sad is that?) loves U2 the way I do so rather than drag someone along like a wet blanket I just took myself. I was just me and Bono, the Edge, Larry and Adam, and a few thousand fans. A real "bird in flight" experience, it was, flying around the stadium, swooping close and soaring away again. I could have touched Bono's nose with my little wing. It was heaven.