Down the Rabbit Hole... Wonderland Blog Event

Welcome to my own little corner of Wonderland. The day has arrived and I can finally introduce you to my Wonderland challenge doll. This was my first doll challenge ever... and I had such great fun! Here he is in all his finished and completely mad glory... The Mad Hatter.

My Hatter is inspired mostly by Tenniel's classic Wonderland illustrations. I'll admit there are hints of the goofy Disney version and his wavy red hair pays slight homage to Tim Burton's recent incarnation, played by Johnny Depp, but the similarities end there.

He is 13 inches tall from the top of his hat to the toes of his striped stocking feet. The head and face are sculpted from Creative Paperclay, over a base of aluminum foil. Hair is hand-dyed Romney wool fleece. The body is a stuffed and weighted cloth construction; forearms and lower legs are polymer clay. All clay body parts were painted with acrylic paint and sealed with matte acrylic spray.

 

I used cloth-wrapped wire armature for the upper arms, as I was shooting for the particular pose in this Tenniel drawing, and needed extra stiffness and support.

Costuming was by far the most enjoyable part of this doll, once color and fabric decisions were made. The hat... possibly the most distinctive and essential part of the Hatter's identity... turned out just exactly as I'd planned, which made me a very happy hat maker! It is made from muslin, painted with several coats of thinned acrylic paint and trimmed with a shimmering bronze grosgrain ribbon.

The Hatter's jacket was a challenge to my garment making skills, as I was starting from scratch and designing my own pattern. I made a scrap cloth "mock up" first to do his fittings and fine-tune the pattern. The lightweight pinwale corduroy turned out to be just the perfect weight... and the result was quite a handsome jacket. Glass beads serve as buttons on both vest and jacket. Collar and cuffs are starched white cotton, stitched in place.

I wanted to make his vest from the same vintage cotton madras plaid I used for his pants, but he chose this bold Hoffman batik instead. He even has tiny wool felt shoes... but can never manage to keep them on!

Here's my original working sketch...

Oh, my.... tea parties can be so exhausting!





Thank you all for joining me... it's been grand!

Wonderland.... sneak preview!

Just can't help myself. I'm having so much fun creating this challenge doll that I can barely wait until the event (one week from today! *GULP*). I've decided to tease you all with a little advance peek of the "work-in-progress".

My character of choice was the Mad Hatter... mostly because I thought there would already be plenty of Alice's, and because I really wanted to try making that top hat!

No, I haven't seen the new Alice in Wonderland movie yet... so I'm not trying to recreate Johnny Depp in doll form. My Wonderland preference is for the original book illustrations by John Tenniel, so I've printed off copies of his Mad Hatter drawings for guidance and inspiration. My Hatter will be my own interpretation, but definitely informed by Tenniel's vision.
So here are just a few WIP photos to whet your appetite, should you have one!

His basic body parts have now been completely sculpted, constructed, painted and assembled. I'm down to dressing him and attending to details. One prototype hat has been made, but I may work on at least one more and choose the best for the final product. Enjoy... and please join me here, one week from today on July 8th, as we all fall down the rabbit hole together!!

 More construction details will follow on "the day".

Wonderland Blog Event

Art Dolls Only is having a Wonderland blog event... and I've decided to participate!  I will be making some kind of doll that is inspired by Alice in Wonderland... I have no idea which character yet... by July 8th, and will then be part of a weekend long "blog visit" where we all share our Wonderland creations!  I've never entered a challenge or a blog event of this kind before, but I'm really looking forward to it! My entry will be posted here on Thursday, July 8th. Stay tuned! And be sure to go visit the Art Dolls Only blog:  http://artdollsonly.blogspot.com/  ... and look for them on Facebook!

Cashmere Critter

Go ahead, ask me...  How much fun is it to cut up an old cashmere sweater and make something crazy fun for a kid? It is incredibly fun... once you get past the scariness of taking shears to cashmere! My granddaughter, Stella, is turning eight this week, and I've had a blast creating this silly stuffie for her.

This is my own design... part bear, part monkey... and a little bit blue monster.

This oh-so-very-soft critter is about 14" tall, completely stitched by hand and stuffed with polyfil. She has darling little shaped pink ears- one big, one small. The head and body were once a sleeve, and the hair is the knitted cuff, simply  gathered up tight and wrap-stitched at the crown, then snipped into locks. Her weighted bum sports a rolled and wrapped tail with a fringed-out poof at the end.

She may look a little worried... but she's really quite adventurous, in her own quiet way. She likes to sneak up and surprise you!

 My darling girl was running a fever today and feeling punky... but cashmere is SO comforting. :)

Art Journaling

Art journaling... what's that? That was my first reaction, about a year ago when I first heard of it. I've checked out a number of exciting books from the library since then and joined a couple of online groups.

The whole point of this is to delve into one's inner self and dredge out the "stuff" that is getting in your way... blocking creativity. So, while this is just an exercise, for me alone... not really a piece of art, per se... I am posting it here anyway. This particular page is my first completed art journal page ever... so it merits a little honor.

I joined Rachel Whetzel's group A Year In the Life of an Art Journal. The group is given a "prompt" word every two weeks... and we're all encouraged to use that word as a take-off point. The current prompt was "MOVE".... and this two page spread came together from there. I'm using an altered copy of The Secret Garden as my art journal.