The Other City

Chalice

In passive patience, Chalice is done unto.  He knows who he is, and so turns his face calmly into the unyielding light of each new day.  Through travelling into pain he has learned what he can endure.  A cup to be filled.  He can wait.

At last!  A new doll!  I refer to Chalice with masculine pronouns, but he really is androgynous is appearance.  I have been trying to break out of the cute stereotype for my dolls a lot lately.  I think he is a step in the right direction.  In addition to being eviscerated and an amputee, he is surprisingly cuddly.

Chalice is 18 inches tall and is made of acrylic yarn and stuffed with polyfiber fill.  His face is embroidered.  The wound in his chest is done in a lovely dark reddish purple and mostly stitched closed.  His leg stumps feature embroidered scars.  I am really pleased with how he came out.

I don't know where I'm going to sell this guy, either.  I am hoping to push into more art-type venues, but I'm not sure I should wait until the next one comes along.  He will definitely fit in well at the next Cirque Voltaire.  Maybe I'll put him on Etsy anyway until then. I don't sell much on there.  It might be worth the risk of scrambling when the show comes around.

 

Update! Chalice is now for sale on Etsy!

I'm going to the NIADA Conference!

I had thought I would not be able to go to the National Institute of American Doll Artists conference, even though it is in Denver this year.  But, in a stunning display of generosity, my mother and my old friend Laura have decided to pay for me to attend! I was really shocked. Now, I am so excited.  This will be a great opportunity for me.  I shall have to be sure to have plenty of cards.

In other news, Thread opened yesterday! The shop looks great.  I am so pleased to have work there! There are also two other wonderful doll artists there.  I know Hope of Haunted Sparrow, and have appreciated her work for a while now.  We've been in several shows together before now.  There is also work by someone I have never met called Rozie Vajda. I am so excited to be sharing a space with both of them!

Busy busy

So in the past week or so, I have done two new faceups for a couple of dolls.  One is for a friend.  It is on a 5StarDoll Emma.  I had never done a faceup on a French resin doll before.  I really love the translucency of the resin.  I kind of want a French resin doll myself now.  I do think she came out well.

The second faceup is on my own Memory.  Previously, he wore a black wig and had a scarred face.  Recently, though, he decided he wanted to go blond and I obliged.  This faceup is not perfect and I will probably end up redoing it before too long.  I don't want to, however, since it generally came out well and this head is annoying to faceups for.  It does not really match the colour of the body I have it on so I have to blush it to make it match.  This is why he did not go blonde before.

His nose is a tiny bit smudged, but I guess that probably bothers me more than it would anyone else. 

 

This blonde wig used to belong to a girl doll of mine.  I've not had a boy with light hair for a long time.  But Memory really looks better this way.

I really like the ethereal look.

Lastly, I have another amigurumi doll!

I made her while taking a break from my fat woman.  I wanted to do a natural looking doll and I'm quite pleased with how she came out.  I really love the hem of her skirt.

She is 12 inches tall and make of cotton and acrylic yarn.  Her face is embroidered on and she features rooted hair, done in a braid.  Although you cannot see it, she is also wearing panties to protect her modesty.

I am not sure what I'm going to do with her yet.  I do need to refill my Etsy store, but I have not had a lot of success there anyway.  Also, I am going to participate in the Lucky Pearl Bazaar in September and I have dolls for sale in Thread.  I have to decide where she will go!

First Friday in Bordertown

My partner and I went out to the First Friday Art Walk tonight, to see new work by the Mad Tatters.  It was brilliant, as usual.  I love the way Brandan elongates forms and I love the delicacy Ellie uses.  They are both wonderful artists and I am priviledged to know them.  Really, it is always a shock when I see them and they are glad to see me.  They are so inspiring to know.

So, the NIADA conference is in Denver this year, coming up in August.  I desperately want to go, but for 275 dollars, I'm really not sure I can.  Clearly, I need to get a wealthy benefactor like artists used to have. 

I finished reading the new Bordertown book today.  It was wonderful!  Highlights were Charles De Lint's story, the last in the book, which almost made me cry at lunch at work.  Catherynne Valente's story was also wonderful.  I had heard the story by Cory Doctorow before, since Escape Pod released it and I am very glad to have it in print now.  I really enjoyed the whole book and I am glad to see the phenomenon continue.  Now, I am reading Mechanique: Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, which features a circus of mechanical people wandering a post apocalyptic landscape.  I mean, really, can you think of anything better? 

This weekend I plan to work hard on my dolls.  The fat woman is coming along, but at this point I just want to be done with her.  She has gone on long enough. I am having new dolls shout in my head, and demand to exist and all I can tell them is to wait their turn.