Dolls
All cultures in human history have had dolls or figures based on human
and animal forms. Dolls are used in festival displays and religious ceremonies
and for more mundane wordly story telling too.
Most early French dolls were not playthings at all, but miniature displays
of the dress designs of the times, used in sales. It was far easier to
ship or carry miniature ensembles to show potential customers, and less
expensive too!
Very elaborate ensembles still exist in the collections of fashion doll
enthusiasts, and there is a brisk business in collectable dolls and their
clothing and accessories that grows every year. Children and adults alike
still take great pleasure in miniature couture and "playing with dolls".
Many cultures attach religious significance to figurines
and dolls--and other religions ban them entirely.
Early egyptian figures were meant to serve the godkings reborn into
their many lives. Chinese emperors were buried with detailed figures of
warriors, horses, and servants of all kind, meant to accompany them in
to the Next Realm.
Some figures are meant for children---for instructive play, including
toy soldiers for learning military maneuvers and baby dolls for learning
nurturing skills. Amish dolls have no faces, which reflects their tradition
of not showing faces in pictures at all. And then there are fashion dolls
for learning how to shop and accessorize with outfits galore!
Dolls and maquettes, another word for "figures", are sometimes
made by artists for use in rendering characters in animated work. Polymer
clays have been used in animations all along---"Gumby" animations
used a form that never hardens, called Plastolina. Above right is shown
a Crone Doll in a picture digitally edited for use as a story illustration.
Puppets are like dolls that have the ability to move and react and say
things, and you can never be too sure what they'll be up to next.
Hand puppets, finger puppets, marionettes, and ventriloquist "dummies"
are all forms of animate-able figures. At right is a Purple Faerie Puppet,
made with Premo head and hands, a hand dyed and decorated canvas body,
and dyed wool hair. There are pointed ears wearing those earrings!
The Blue Mermaid is another fantasy character. All her scales are hand
cut using several sizes of circle cutters, and then individually applied
to her tail. Her nine strand necklace is made of tiny crystal beads and
polymer shells & coral, which took almost as long to make as she did!
She's shown holding a larger single strand necklace that
was featured in a how-to article both in Jewelry Crafts Magazine, and in
Create A Polymer Clay Impression.
Both the Faerie and the Mermaid have heads that are formed over real
(blown-out) egg shells. This makes the head lightweight
and also the correct shape. Much of the armature inside polymer clay dolls
is either paper or wire or cloth---or aluminum foil. Often is a combination
of many things.
Since their first appearance in DOLLS magazine,
and in the book "Creating with Polymer Clay" (Lark Books, by Steven Ford and Leslie Dierks),
my "Shady Lady" series has always caused comments... these dolls
are not for children, and aren't toys at all!
These are grown up dolls, each with a story (or three)
of her own.
Each is a custom order, and prices for a 12" doll such as "Pearl"
begin at $250.00. Larger and more elaborate means more expensive, especially
with lavish use of beading, special fabrics, and other details.
All of the ladies are made of hand modeled polymer clays, such as FIMO ,
Premo, or Cernit. These are the firm end of the clay spectrum, and take
well to sculpting and to making miniatures. Kato clay, newer to the market,
is exceptionally strong.
Dolls are dressed using my carefully gathered treasure trove of fabrics,
laces, and trims.
Some of the ladies were photographed by Bob Grieser, and each lady had
her own room with furniture and accessories made of polymer clay. (Such
as Bon-Bon Bertie and her accouterments, on pg. 51 of the aforementioned
book.)
Along with the "Shady Ladies" in
the DOLLS magazine article were my very first dolls made with polymer clay.
(The Lady was the very FIRST thing I made when becoming aware of polymer
clays --we immediately ordered some more!)
Shown here are the Baby Princess Aurora, The King and The Queen, a Lord
Chamberlain and a Lady In Waiting, as well as the Good Fairy.
The set is of Sleeping Beauty's Christening, and is lavishly costumed...and
though the dolls are a long way from polished, they showed the potential
in the medium, and were a lot of fun to create.
Any medium that so immediately allows the user satisfaction in creating
is one to explore further... The arts of needlwork, modeling, millenery,
cobbling and more go into making successful dolls, and polymer cvlay has
applications for all of them.
Even those with crude modeling skills can find the fun of polymer clays---and
practice makes them better. Books on anatomy, as well as those on sculpting
and working with other artistic media can be a great resource.
Visit your local library, and also remember that having your favorites
in your OWN library makes for easier reference.
Click here to see some recommended
books.
The King is also shown here on a crimson couch.Polymer clay can
also be used to make very detailed miniature furnishings
and accessories.
The dolls have a wire armature, and cloth wrapped bodies, with polymer
clay heads and hands, with wigs of mohair.
A sense of the theatrical comes out in all of
my dolls.
Puppet shows were the first "animation" and there is more
to explore in the potential of polymer clays for animation or graphic story
telling.
