I'm just home from Chicago and so happy to report that I am now officially an Artist Member of Original Doll Artist Council of America (ODACA). This past year's odyssey of creating and critiques has truly been a growth experience, and although I have learned much, I know in my polymer clay bones that I have only begun. As a part of three supportive and amazing groups of artists--CTADS (Central Texas Art Doll Sculptors), TAODA (Texas Association of Original Doll Artists); and now ODACA--I look forward to new work, new friendships, and new adventures. I hope to be posting more regularly, and I also hope you'll be following as I showcase some older pieces as well as works in progress.
Meanwhile, if you're going to be in Houston over the next few weeks, I'll have two pieces in a show, Dolls Now, at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) that opens on July 31. There's also a reception on August 5, if you're able to stop by.
This is the piece that I made for the ODACA second round jury. The full title is "The Countess of Checkered Past Ponders Her Next Move." She is about ten inches tall, seated, and made of polymer clay with a soft body built over a wire armature. I used more than a dozen different fabrics or trims in her costume and stand, from hand-dyed lace to vintage sari silk, and her rollerblades are sculpted from polymer clay. She sits on a column of real checkers, and her hat is a stack of black and red checkers hand-sewn from miniature hat straw. While the Countess clearly has made some interesting choices in her life, she's looking ahead, not back, and she's ready to hit the track again . . . just as soon as she decides which direction to go.
