If You Danced to LaBelle - Lady Marmalade - in the 70's .... Hollah! This is my Hoffman Challenge Doll.

I decided to enter the Hoffman Challenge for the first time after seeing the traveling exhibit in March of this year at the Quilt Show at Garden State Convention Ctr. The Hoffman Challenge fabric was something I never would have picked to work with, but I guess that's why its called a challenge. I purchased the challenge fabric and several of the coordinates - and was stuck for several weeks on what to do with it. One night, while I was sleeping, I awoke with the thought of a peacock as the bird of paradise. From there, I thought of Nona Hendrix, one of the original LaBelle trio, singing the original Lady Marmalade in the 1970s. Thirty something years, and I can remember dancing to those ladies in their feathers, leather and plumes as if it was today. That was the inspiration for this doll, who I call "Lady Bird of Paradise Sings the Blues. " (Hey Sista, Go Sista, Go Sista, Go Sista...)

This is the African-American counterpart to Rebecca Gets Married. I made this one for me, and for show and tell.

Goddess Dolls

I made these mini-goddess dolls for the secretaries in my office for Administrative Professionals Day. They were a big hit.

Mary Lou Klawatter is a very talented doll artist and member of Garden State Doll Artisans. Mary's beautiful dolls with their unique hand embroidered faces made in the tradition of her Icelandic heritage have been featured many times in Art Doll Quarterlymagazine. She will be holding her first show on Saturday, May 10 at 600 Mule Road, Toms River, New Jersey. Congratulations Mary Lou!

Rebecca Gets Married

My co-worker, Pat, asked me to make a doll for her daughter-in-law to be, Rebecca, for a shower gift. Pat is the keeper of the wedding gown, so she let me sneak a look. I took some pictures and made some sketches. The doll body is from a Mary Tressler pattern. Here is the finished doll.

Colleen the Green Goddess

Colleen visited our March doll club meeting. I was so happy to see her, especially since I have been using the clay over cloth technique she taught at Day with Dolls. Our assignment was to bring the finished doll from the heads we worked on in the February meeting. I brought with me for show and tell my Frida Kahlo doll and an unnamed doll.

Coincidentally, my doll who had not revealed her name to me looked alot like Colleen! With her permission, I named the doll Coleen the Green Goddess.

My new favorites...

Last summer at a Day With Dolls, a lovely and vibrant woman named Colleen demonstrated a technique for making paper clay over cloth doll faces. I was a bit shy, and just watched, but didn't participate at the time. I did take her instruction sheet home, and filed it away.

But I was never quite satisfied with my needlesculpted faces. They all tended to come out looking the same. This January, I started experimenting with clay over cloth. I loved the results. The clay gave me more control and is very forgiving. If I don't like it, I just take it off and try again. Coincidentally, in February, Maria and Stephanie gave a class in clay over cloth with cloth overlay at doll club, which extremely helpful in refining the technique.

"I dream of Africa", "My Funny Valentine" and "Jill Scott Bless My House" are my new favorite dolls. They are one of a kinds using a modified Culea body and paperclay over cloth heads.