Marie Antoinette Lives

My dolls from the last post were recreated from my sketches. I also decided to try them out for an illustrated recipe thanks to They Draw and Cook books. So Marie and her friends are baking a cake called Let Them Eat Cake Cake. Although, according to confirmed historical accounts, she never said this but it makes for a good story...and recipe!

My Sketches Come Alive with Dolls!

I love creating dolls. It is creating a character from scratch, Patterning the clothing for these dolls helps me learn for large scale fashion design. My inspiration came from sketching every evening in my notebook ballerinas or 18th century dresses with my love of Marie Antoinette as a theme. I thought that my drawings could come alive in the form of cloth dolls and moving joints. And so 4 recent doll creations were born. They measure about 18" but add that hair and she may be taller than that! The hair starts with the wool wound up in a coil to get the framework then curly mohair is added giving that exact Marie-look. One of the dolls has a Venetian mask. I loved my time in Venice over the holidays and fell in love again with this 18th century style.

Tutu Success!

I managed to complete a tutu this past week and probably more proud then I should be. The details, terminology and desire to create something as beautiful as those I've seen seemed insurmountable. But I am ready for another. Of course my favorite part was creating the design of the embellishments.

Tutu Obsession!

I recently participated in a class on how to make a tutu. It is much much harder than I thought. I took the course in London at www.theshoemakingschool.co.uk In two days we were able to construct a tutu and leave with all its ruffles in place. I for one was always behind and needed a lot of help. The layers and sewing and construction just needed more thinking on my part and 2 days wasn't enough for me. I am continuing on my tutu making education by finding other instructions and few and far between Youtube videos. My goal is to create beautiful one of a kind ballet costumes here in France.

Creative Visionary

OOAK Miniature Teddy Bear -

Recently I've decided to pull together all my creative endeavors...well, not all that would be impossible for a Scanner as myself. I created a sort of portfolio demonstrating my doll making and illustrations to costume design and styling of photo shoots. How does one take a melting pot of creativity and meld it together as a marketable skill and a cleanly designed resume? If anyone reading this has the answer, I'm open to suggestions. It is frustrating knowing that you could contribute to a company but unable to focus what you want to say. Too many employers seek creative people with a title already established. How about a company that says, find me some creative people and then find them the job. This is what I was told Google does but I have yet to be solicited by Google!

Paper Dresses

With all the social media platforms to share one's work, it can be overwhelming. I love love love Instagram and with that you don't have to write as much! I realized I hadn't posted in some time so catching up...I have made paper doll brides getting inspiration from all the bridal magazines and the beautiful gowns and couture. I now have created fashion in the haute couture realm inspired by Chanel and Versace and all in paper again. I was working recently on my children's book pages and was just in the zone with this medium and asked myself why I got distracted with other media when paper has always been my passion!

Paper Passion-Illustrating with Paper Collage

Focus is a difficult word for me but I've recently decided to be more adult and focus on my paper illustration passion. I have loved creating with paper all my life and not sure why all the distractions from the medium occurred. So 25 pages of an upcoming children's book with about 13 more to go.

Details have always been a double edged sword for me because with details your illustrations are engaging and rich but then lots of details and it slows me down. I have also begun hiding an animal on each page. He's always there hanging out. I won't say what he is but it should be fun for children to start to spot him as they read the book.

Illustration Friday "Heart"

I have been working a lot in my paper medium so participating in this week's Illustration Friday's theme had to be in paper.

HEART

2013 watercolor painting for Garden Walk

This year's poster for our annual Park Hill Garden Walk 2013! Each year I have some sort of bucolic vision of what I want the brand to feel like. This year, however, I didn't have something pictured. So I perused my photos and found this one of a window in Venice, Italy and decided that was the look I wanted for our Garden Walk this year. So, Voila! There are homes in this neighborhood with a Juliette balcony and pots galore in many homes so I'm not too far from reality!

Paper Doll Ballerina

I am still in love with making my paper brides which, by the way, will be featured in Art Doll Quarterly's June 2013 issue but I needed to try another silhouette -the ballerina. Both give me the opportunity to create costumes from paper with delicate details and lovely paper doll movement. Here is my first ballerina drawn from a newspaper article about a ballet which was in Denver recently!