website
about me
- I am a dollmaker. I love antique fabrics and hoard them. I collect old china doll heads without bodies and leather doll bodies without heads and never put them together. I have stacks of old photos of people I don't know. I have two smart and funny kids who complain that I hang plates on the wall instead of pictures. I have a great husband who travels with me and who I used to garden with but now don't because all I do is make dolls. Luckily he still likes me. So all in all somewhat normal ...depending , of course, on who you ask.
Copyright
December 03, 2009
November 12, 2009
That most wonderful time...
Yes, it's already that time of year! I have been sorting and sifting and unpacking all of my Christmas treasures in the studio. I've surrounded myself with holiday trinkets and shiny baubles for inspiration.
I just love this patina and soft colors
there is nothing in the world that can duplicate the colors and texture of antique metallic lace
tiny slippers and antique engravings are my inspiration.
I am as busy as an elf in the toyshop creating wonderful holiday offerings.
I just wanted to let you know I've added a holiday show to my calendar ...
Dec 5 10-4
at Paris to the Moon in Costa Mesa CA
Let the Merry-making begin!
October 23, 2009
Home again!!
Oh my goodness, when I read the responses to the previous post I nearly fell off my chair howling with laughter!! I loved all of your guesses ...picking apples... apple pies..apple-cheeked dollies and more!
And I know it is nearing to Halloween but..."having a baby??!! " now that is really frightening given my advanced age!!
Several of you got it right!! I was off to the Big Apple with my oldest daughter!
We spent 5 lovely days strolling the city with the intent being to check out the grad programs at Columbia and NYU where my daughter would like to pursue her Masters degree in Global Affairs.
We had a wonderful time! Shopping and eating,lot's of walking and dinner with friends! With stops at the United Nations, the Met and the New York Public Library. If you have not been to the Library..you must go!!! It is spectacular!
I did not know that the original stuffed animals from Winnie the Pooh books live there. When I saw them I was absolutely moved to tears!
We walked all over the city....last count was about 153 blocks in 3 days.. allover Greenwich Village and Soho , from Columbia University through the park to the Met and then down to Macys at 34th and back up to 57th. From the United Nations up through Times Square...oooh my aching feet! But NYC is so "walk-able" compared to the ups and downs of San Francisco!
The windows of the Ralph Lauren store in Greenwich Village are so my kind of Halloween!
Although I never intended the post to be a game...I am so glad you made it so!!! Perhaps we'll do it again sometime! Maybe even with a prize!! What do you think?? xo N
October 17, 2009
the next adventure...
September 30, 2009
Halloween!
Look how festive it was at Halloween and Vine! This was right before the show opened and shortly afterward the aisles were thronged with shoppers. It was another great show!!! The artists really outdid themselves with fabulous pieces! With all of the hullabaloo I had going on before the show I can't believe I pulled it off.... I had ten more pieces than I did last year and sold nearly all of it!!....thank you so much to my wonderful customers! I love you all!
So now, more wonderful Halloween pieces are winging their way to Northville, MI for the
Ghoultide Gathering!
I am so excited about this show .... the second time for me. Set in a wonderful historic village it is already the talk of the town. So if you're in the Halloween Spirit come see some amazing art by very talented artists!
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....if you thought my studio was a mess in the last post...you should see it now!!!!!!
September 13, 2009
The real me.
This is the brutal reality . One event after another leads to this chaos and no matter how much room you begin with it all becomes reduced to a twelve inch working space. Honestly ....ask any other artist you know and they will relate.
**** if you find these images disturbing and would like to perpetuate the fantasy please disregard this post ....( perhaps I will. ) ********
September 10, 2009
Let the bewitching begin......
The witches have taken flight and are descending upon the Forbidden Castle
this Friday Eve Sept 11 from 7-9 pm
Please join us at American Harvest for a bewitching good time!
September 01, 2009
Things are not as they seem.....
tis the season for disguises and masquerades...
Join us tomorrow night Sept 2 at 9pm Est
at The Best We Can Do
August 28, 2009
Call me old-fashioned...
I wish to send a heartfelt thank-you to all of you who have invited me to be your friend on FaceBook. And truly...I want to be your friend. But, I tell you, I don't have the brain capacity these days to learn something new. Not that I am that technically challenged mind you.... I do update the blog but sporadically, and I do have a cell phone and can text passably...a necessity when you have kids although it is laughably slow! I try to spend less than an hour each day attached to this silly machine or else I would never create anything. Not to mention that my family would completely disown me if I took on anything else that took up more time. So maybe when the rush of the fall season is over you just might see me there ...i'll let you know. In the meantime... perhaps I will get out my pointed pen and ink you a verse
Or I'll stitch you a sonnet
or perhaps even spell out a message in pins on a silk cushion
but until then...go ahead and call me old fashioned... I won't mind that a bit.
August 10, 2009
Cabinet of Curiosities
At the entrance to the studio is my wonderful antique display case full of all manner of curiosities I've gathered from far and wide. Just gazing at all of the little bits and bobs sparks my imagination and I can keep all of my treasures within easy reach and easy viewing.
I love my collection of antique velvet boxes and victorian autograph albums. Spilling from their depths are locks of antique hair tied up with silk ribbons.
A French ormolu box showcases a trio of tiny bisque dolls and woven hair ornaments share space with tinsel bits, buttons and old steel-cut buckles all laid out on a bed of 1860's french paper.
Wee little doll shoes stand in pairs and singly amid doll parts and prints of long-ago fashions.
When I've gathered something new from the flea-market into the case it
goes and I can arrange and re-arrange to my hearts content. Some of
the treasures will make their way into the arms of a doll and still
others I may never be able to part with. My little cabinet is a feast for the eyes and the senses.
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Last week I spent at the Golden Glow of Christmas Past convention. We exhibited as The Best We can Do and had a wonderful time. Scott and Loriann came to stay with me afterward and as I was scrambling at the last minute to get dolls made they saw the studio in it's frantic before-a-show state. We had some happy times in it brainstorming and talking and sifting through all of my treasures. Fun!!!
