The Other City

Rune

Rune steps softly on bare feet, ducking her antlers beneath hanging cobwebs. In the freedom of solitude, she finds what she needs here.  Sometimes, solitude is nothing but a blessing. In the emptiness left by humanity, strange creatures return to this city. And I can dream of their scarred faces or twisting horns.

This is Rune, my wild girl.  I splurged on Malabrigo yarn for her, and it was so worth it.  I do miss working with that stuff regularly.  But I worry that if I do, my dolls will eventually succumb to moths.  Acrylic does have its advantages.

Rune is to serve as a model and spokesdoll for the Gossamer Girl series.  I shall make one more model and then focus on clothing and other items for them.  I did not originally intend to make her the eyepatch, but once I thought of it, I could not resist.  Horned does do happen in nature from time to time, so she is plausible.  Perhaps she likes other girl dolls as well.  I have no idea how she came to lose her eye.  Does anyone have any ideas?

Automaton VI

She carries her peace with her. She carries it trapped tight in her heart. Slow breathes and soft features. Dreaming, she walks through dim forests and places candles before forgotten statues. But always she returns to the calm darkness of her sleep.

This is an 18 inch doll crocheted doll prototype. She can wear American Girl clothing, but the shoes will not fit her. Her hair is a combination of darker and lighter brown and is rooted for easy styling. Her face is embroidered. She is very durable and can withstand quite a few adventures. She will come nude, ready to be dressed and styled however you would like.

Another sleeping doll.  I do enjoy sleeping dolls.  I figure I am going to have to work closely with these prototypes.  Even though they are for sale, my record shows that they will take a long time to actually sell.  So, in the meantime they will serve as models for clothing and accessories I make for them.  Once I stop desperately focusing on getting their feet right.  I do think I will be able to make them wear American Girl shoes.

In the near future, I think I will do a giveaway of some of my older pieces.  They are not up to my current standards.  They do not have rooted hair or embroidered faces.  But I figure someone may still enjoy them.  So stay tuned for that!

This doll is also for sale!

Lost in the Snow

Stumbling, head down on a cold winter day.  Darkness is pressing upon you, but you peer out of your hood for a breath, a moment.  And there she is, silent as they all are, but staring at you with hope in her eyes.   Black skin, coated in snow and warm, sad eyes.  How did she come here, on this cold evening?

This is the 5th automaton and one of the prototypes I've been working on.  She can wear American Girl clothes, but not the shoes.  She is 18 inches tall and features rooted blue hair for easy styling and an embroidered face. As you see, she is durable enough to withstand the snow without any ill effects, unlike her maker.

I got so frustrated trying to get her face right, with the embroidery on the black, that I nearly gave up.  But the blue hair is lovely. I've noticed that once a doll has hair, it is immediately more lovable.  The pattern for the dolls to wear American Girl clothing is not perfect yet, so I don't feel comfortable setting up a listing for them.  But it is coming along and getting closer with every try.

Next prototype I do will be silver with red hair, in honour of the book The Silver Metal Lover, by Tanith Lee. Honestly, it is one of the best books I'd read in a long time.  It took me ages to find a copy but when I did I plowed through it in less than 24 hours.  I highly recommend it.

Does anyone want to see anything in particular from this series of automatons?

 

Update:  The 5th Automaton is for sale on Etsy!

Bird

Bird totters on painful feet. Sea creatures on land and sky creatures on earth both share an infirmity.  One step and another and she can walk no more.  But give her a rope or a bar, let her climb and watch her fly.  Frozen feet mean little in the air.

This is Bird.  She is two feet tall and is made of acrylic yarn, embroidery thread, and Sculpey.  Her feet are hand sculpted and securely set into her legs. She is slender and spindly, designed to lounge or hang from a bar rather than be cuddled.

Bird was featured in the recent Cirque Voltaire.  I had her hanging by her knees from a chandelier which looked beautiful.  Although the area they had the art in was rather dimly light, she showed up nicely.  Indeed, she seemed to glow.  Her head is tilted back so that she is looking at people beneath her.  

Bird is for sale on Etsy.  I've been neglecting my poor little Etsy shop in favour of local sales.  I had to renew a bunch of expired listings just now.  I really need to keep on that more.

Absinthe

Absinthe sinks into green vapour dreaming of impossible things. In green fields she walks and feels the grass brushing her legs. But when she opens her eyes, filthy wooden floors spread around her. A dream of peace is better than no peace at all.

This is Absinthe.  She is 2 feet tall and is wearing an old dress I made for a BJD years and years ago.  It fits her pretty well, though. She is made of acrylic yarn, with interestingly textured black and green hair.  I am very  pleased with how her face came out.  My embroidery is improving dramatically, which is a huge relief.  It is turning into a huge part of my work.  But then, you can get so much more detail with it than with intarsia for example, so I'm surprised more people don't use it. 

I've been working lately, but I haven't been motivated to photograph what I finish, unfortunately.  I need to overcome that.  It is my least favourite part of my process, actually.

Although, that is one of the cool things about having work at Thread.  I don't need to photograph the stuff I have there.  I sold a piece there last week.  It was such a nice suprise tog et the check in the mail.

In other news Cirque Voltaire Duex is coming up shortly!  I have three very nice pieces for it.  Well, one is a new automaton that is still in progress, but it is coming along nicely.  The second is an aerialist doll that is finished.  And the last is Chalice, who has already been featured on here.

I also just applied for the 3rd Art By Craft show and market.  I really enjoyed it last year, and I hope I can participate this year.  Wish me luck!

Fragment

In a ruined room, I found a polished wooden box.  In the silence of dust and empy time, it had been left to contemplate its secrets.  Someone counted the petals of dying flowers into it.  She left them, one by one, to blacken and crumble into dust. A scent like the memory of sunlight comes to me as I brush a single petal with my fingers. But then it falls apart, as even the strongest memorials do. 

 

--------

A teaser for an upcoming project.

Aconite

Aconite dyes her hair in black and red, in patterns of night and blood, in darkness and life.  She lines her eyes in shades of ink and paints her lips in the colour of roses, each as dark and deep as she can make it.  And so she makes these small wrongs right.  She gives herself the life she was not born into.  In still shadows, she can at least smile into her mirror.

Aconite is 14 inches tall.  She is made of a combination of natural and acrylic yarns.  Her face is embroidered on and her dress is not removable.  Her hair is made of three different kinds of yarn and is rooted for durability.  She is a more gothic style of doll than I have previously made and she is ready to join you in all your darkling tasks.

I have been returning to my goth roots lately.  I must say it feels really good.  Expect to see quite a few more gothic and morbid dolls on here in the future.  They are a lot of fun to make!

Aconite is for sale on Etsy!

 

Clove

Clove arms herself with broken glass and dresses in wool and leather.  No silks or tattered laces will touch her skin.  She inures herself against chill and the scratches of brambles forced through windows.  And through it all, she smiles.  The Other City is dark and lonely, but she is tough enough to face it.

Clove is 18 inches tall and made of a combination of wool and acrylic yarns.  She is stuffed with polyfiber fill.  Her face is done in embroidery. She is jointed at her hips so she may either stand or sit and her knees and elbows are also articulated, although they are more stiff.  While her dress is removable, she comes modestly dressed in undergarments beneath.  She is ready to face the world with you!

I am proud of this doll.  Her face is much more charming than I expected.  She has the first open eyes I have attempted.  Also, her arms are built right into her body, rather than being stitched on.  However, I don't think I'll use this method again.  Stitching the arms on provides better jointing. I know people prefer the goblins, but these dolls are more exciting to me.  I look forward to making many more of them!

 

Clove is for sale on Etsy!

The Pale Sleeper

On soft, somnambulic steps, she pads across floors heavy with dust.  Searching with numb fingers through rusting keys and brittle papers; she will not tell me what she looks for.  But she peers through the fog of her dreams into a brighter world and moves through her sleep. I cannot say if she is getting any closer.

This doll is one of those made for the Art By Craft Market who did not sell.  However, she probably has my favourite face of the ones I've done so far. She is made entirely of acrylic yarn and polyfiber fill, so I would feel confident about putting her through a cold wash. She stands 8 inches tall. Although she has no feet, her long skirt gives the illusion that she does.

I don't know why I am so fond of sleeping faces, but I just can't resist them.  I am drawn to them for my ball jointed doll collection as well. I suppose I like the peace in them that I rarely find in my own life.  And I have this story in my head about people who fall victim to a plague that causes sleep and then coma and prophetic dreams.  I have made a few dolls now that illustrate this, including Lyric, who was recently in the Art By Craft show.  But I do not feel an end to the urge to make more.  Expect more sleepers!

At any rate, this pale haired girl is for sale on Etsy! I'm sure she would love to dream with you!

The First Sleeper

When first they drifted away from us into dreams, we barely even noticed.  As our lovers whispered futures to us as they slept, we thought they spoke of wishes or fears or simply wisps of image.  But on they slept through nights and days, waking for a moment before falling away into dream again.  Moment by moment, the flew away on sighs and thoughts of the future until we could reach them no more.

Lyric is the first of my sleeping dolls, based on the story alluded to in her description.  She stands 20 inches tall.  She is made of acrylic yarn and polyfiber stuffing for easy washing.  Although her removable top features real wool yarn as well.  She is the first doll I've done with an embroidered face!  While this was a challenge, I really like the results.  She will come with a card printed with her story.  

Lyric is for sale on Etsy!

The Girl in the Black Dress

Shut away in an attic, there is a girl in a black dress that slowly fades away to gray.  Like a memory blurring with time, she gazes from her windows onto this twisting city.  Her eyes, shadowed with the million visions behind them, travel over the roofs and pavements.  Like so many of us, she looks for something she cannot find.

 

The Girl in the Black dress is made with acrylic yarn for her body and hair and her dress is made from wool merino.  She stands 14 and 1/2 inches tall.  Her dress is removable.  Her hair is rooted into her head for durability and is ready to be styled, although loose certainly looks good on her.

She is for sale on Etsy!

Celestine Smith

Celestine, the innocent who joins the many on the rooftops to peer into skies undimmed by city lights.  He made his cap to match the daylit sky, as though it could be a conduit to pour the sunny thoughts into his head.  He works hard to maintain his innocence.

 

Celestine is made from Red Heart yarn, with a wool acrylic blend for his hair. He stands 13 inches tall. His overalls are made of a wool/silk blend and pure wool merino yarn. His hair is designed to be especially sturdy and long-wearing.  As you see, his clothes are removable.  He is designed to be a companion doll, someone to take around and get into trouble with.

Celestine is for sale on Etsy!

Psychopomp I

She comes for us, the dreamers, the seers into other worlds, the spinners of shadow into substance.  She travels out of the city and reaches long claws into the minds of the creators.  Sooner or later, she comes for us all.  We each have an appointment with her.In the end, she takes back her gifts. Each vision, each inspiration, each little skill must be returned.  But begrudge her not.  It is a fair exchange, you see.  A muse must eat.  And this one consumes lives.  

Psychopomp I is made from all natural yarn and stuffed with polyfiber fill.  She stands eighteen inches tall.

She is for sale on Etsy!