A Question of Izannah Dolls

Just as I was finishing the last of the UFDC commissions, and was looking forward to working on Jan-dolls, I got another Izannah order.  And I said yes.  Again.  This puts me in an odd position...and while it'll sound dumb to fuss about it, I really do feel the need to make a change.  I really want to spend my time making original dolls! 

Yes, I spent many hours and much effort learning the Izannah dolls, and getting my sculpts to where I was happy with them.  Looking back over the last several years I realized just how many I've made!  From first to last there is an interesting progression, and I love seeing them all lined up.  Here is a good cross section of the ones made since I began in the summer of 2011.

 

My first three, taking Dixie's class.

My own pattern designs in 2012.  (The one on the right is one of the first three above.)

 

2012...sisters.

Study, study, study.  Sculpt, sculpt, and re-sculpt.

2013 Izzies...give us limbs, please!

 

She was hard to let go of...still my favorite of all the ones I've made.

For the last six months or more, the limitations required to make these dolls correct for their period have me longing for work to be play again!  Color, shape, texture...so many other factors to create with!  I said as much to the hubs one evening, and he looked at me like I was stupid.  I thought the look meant, "Why spend so much time and energy getting Izannahs the way you wanted, only to complain when you get commissions?"

But then he said, "Seriously?  That's a pretty easy fix.  You still like to make them, once in a while, right?"  Right.  "So raise your price enough to make it worth the hours you put into them, and let it stand at that."

Now I've always known he was the business brains behind our cooperative venture, always has been.  But my inner scairdy cat shot off little flares of caution--oh no!  What if no one buys another Izzy--ever?  So I had to look far into the future and see what I'd be happiest doing.  And I came up with this: if making these Izannahs keeps me from working on original Jan-dolls, then I need to give it up, or at least take Phil's advice and the inherent risk.  If I never make another Izannah, I would be sad (and might have to make one for me, once in a while), but if I stop having time to work on my own dolls, I will have to stop making dolls--period.  And that ain't happenin'.  

I have learned so much from these babies with their sweet homely faces and odd little bodies.  And much of what they've given will be part of new ideas for Jan-dolls.  Maybe only doll-makers who have been badly bitten by the Izzy bug will understand the vague worry of disloyalty.  At any rate, once I told the scairdy cat to shut up, I realized that this was a concept I must put into practice.

So this commission I'm working on might be the last.  It might only be the last of the frequent orders, and I only make one a year or so from here out.  Either way, I'm glad she's turning out as the customer wanted.  I believe I've gotten her almost-smile just right, along with her little bare feet.

Pictures of finished dolls soon, but for now, here's an in-progress photo.  Hope your week is going as you would wish.
Jan

  

Welcome to our house.

Just farting around with the camera this morning.  Okay, part of the reason why is that I got the living room and dining room cleaned up enough to actually have people over (not dusted, yet, just tidy.  So don't look too closely.)

So other than a few doll pics, this is home.  I'm definitely not a decorator, I can't afford antiques, and (to fans of minimalism), my house is busy.  But it is home, and we like it.  Pardon the picture heavy post...it just worked out that way.

These are the Izzies I'm still working to dress, lined up by the hearth in the family room.  I like to keep them in "found" old clothes because when they're all sitting around naked, they whisper at me. (Dresssss usssss!!!) They're a motley crew, but it'll get better.

Remember after reading captions that you can click on the photos to enlarge them.

16" and 21" Izannah Walker repros...I love the red coat, but it doesn't fit her well.  I'll make a revised pattern from it, though.

21" Izannah, in a chair my Father-in-law made, with her lamb. 

16" and 21" Izannahs, one with only her petticoat and the other in a flannel nightgown.

These are tucked in behind the Christmas tree, under the living room window.  One is the Harry Coleman Walker Doll, the others are jan-made and up for adoption.

Waiting for Santa.

Here's a series of views from the chairs in the room.  I love chairs, and the hubs says I have a Chair Orphanage in our house, because I bring home strays.  But it makes for plenty of seating, right?

Our house defies a color scheme.  Blonde pine and dark Brazilian cherry?  No problem.

Stained concrete floors...easy to clean, tough and beautiful.  I carved the fish with a Dremmel out of a pc of 2 x 12.  Upper right is an antique calendar page/print of Dogs Playing Poker.  There's just no accounting for taste.

This coffee table has been with us since the kids were little...proud of its scars.  I painted it in (?) 2007.  The hubs created the leather insert for the mirror...his Triple Horse Celtic Knotwork pattern. 

The man I love is a skilled carpenter/cabinet maker with leather working talent.  Am I spoiled much?  :~D

View from the glider chair.  The Thoreau quotation tapestry is embroidery cotton on linen...I worked on it for years, but finished the border in 2010 while sitting with my Daddy in hospice.

View from the blonde pine chair toward the kitchen door.  Schult's purple pig goes well with the rug, don't you think?

View from the dining room.

Our simple Christmas table.  The big map on the wall is of San Antonio.  We love maps.

And of course, these rooms are full of dolls, tucked here and there.  I don't have an organized way of displaying them (although the hubs has offered to build a couple of glass-door cases next year for the more fragile ones...woohoo!)

Crazy Wax doll has found a friend, and so has the Martha doll, although she's still mad at me for leaving her in jammies with a people-size Santa Hat.  Humiliating.

Messy bookshelves, dear dolls. 

Martha-baby and friends.  She's still not talking to me.  I don't blame her.

Well, I have more photos, but this post is too full as it is.  I hope you all are enjoying the season, taking time to just breathe and enjoy the wonder of lights and music, and each other.
Be well.

Back in the Day?

I was going through my doll photo files, trying to clean and sort.  This happens to me every fall, the urge to clean, clear, sort, and organize.  Dunno why, but I know well enough not to fight it.

At any rate, my photo files were a mess, and now they're not.  Yay me!  Getting ready to list a bunch of stuff in my Etsy store, and needed to see what I have/have not regarding listing pics.  But while I was digging through the virtual closet, I found quite a few of my old photos, dolls I made back when I was still VERY new at the whole process, playing with all kinds of new ideas, techniques and materials.

I'd say don't laugh, but some of these are pretty mirth-inspiring, so chuckle away if you feel the need.  I'm still proud of some of these starts, because they represent the very best part of finding out what I can do.

"Good Bones"

Made of a cornucopia basket, paper clay, and found stuff.

Her wings move on their hinges...but she's pretty lazy.

Josephine, Witch in Green Plaid.

Old Gardeners never die...they just become great compost.

Lord Elfwin, my second gourd art doll.

He's the Keeper of Santa's list...don't tick him off.

My FIRST gourd art doll...Tiamat.  I think she weighs 8 lbs.

Six months after she was finished, the clay finally dried and she cracked all over this nice smooth bottom.

Marcelle...made with a wooden spoon, various toys, wood bits, and paper clay.

Dreaming Bunny...she's preggers, and dreaming of the baby clothes she'll sew.

Jack Frost was a challenge doll when I belonged to Art Dolls Only.

He is proud of his skills.

This one is called "Twa Corbies" after a very old Celtic song...

...again, mixed media, with lots of found stuff. 

My first wooden cat doll.  These are so fun.

Learning cloth and clay...

Mostly these days I'm making the Izannah Walker dolls, wooden jointed dolls, and gourd art...but I can't completely get away from the mixed media, because I will always look at things and see something other than what's on the surface.  That is another Best Thing I've learned from doll making.

Ciao, y'all.

Is it Autumn yet?

No, but I can see it from here.  It didn't begin to get light outside until twenty of seven this morning, and at the solstice it's already dawning at six.  So we have that going for us.  I have nothing against light, you understand, but weeks of 103 and 104 (in the shade, yes) gets tiresome.  We don't have anything like what my in-laws in Phoenix get, but then our humidity goes a way to make up the difference, I think.

So I'll take the later dawn as a good sign, keep watering the new landscape so it can survive its first summer, and I'll look forward to Autumnal colors to remind me it's not just about the temperature--Autumn is a state of mind.

I've got a doll show coming up in a week or two--and I think I'm ready.  Since the move, I will have to reconnoiter the set up stuff and make sure I know where it all is, but it's all here.  A few new Izannahs will go this year, and a few silly dolls that I have played around with in designing clothing patterns.

Tomorrow I'll take Marie-Grace to her buyer.  She's a favorite for several reasons (the buyer, yes, but I mean the doll) and I am glad to have taken so many photos of her.  I made shoes of wool felt, and found an antique pinner apron that just fits her.

Hope your Thor's day is fabulous, dahlinks.

She's one I've been working on...long way from finished, but I've grown fond of her unpainted.

21" redheaded Izzy with a 10" brunette.  The tiny white gown is very old, but fits her perfectly.

Marie-Grace, ready to find her new home.

Embroidery on linen, antique lace on antique cotton...I love my job!

 

Hands are clay sculpted over wire, added to a cloth arm.

 

Wool felt for shoes...with a bit of embroidery and a rose for romance.

A studio doll, bees and flowers.

A friend of mine, Judi of Olde Time Dolls, posted something today about a favorite apron that she's retiring.  I know how that goes, having retired a couple pairs of favorite paint jeans that could no longer cover my aspect.  The last pair of these, I made into this silly giant rag doll, who hangs out with me as inspiration and reminds me not to take myself too seriously.  I bring her to doll shows, and have had to put a NFS tag on her.  It temps me sometimes to make dolls like her FOR sale, but deep down, I know the love of silliness, the creation of art for art's sake is what people respond to.  Any attempt to fake it would just not succeed.

I might make some silly rag dolls, for the fun of it, but this girl is mine, and makes me smile.  (Click on the photos for closeup view.)

The girl has attitude.

But a big heart, and a love of art.  Seems like we should make another rhyme there, doesn't it?

This weekend we spent two whole days just being lazy.  Reading, lounging about, with a minimum of laundry and dishes done, putzing around with a few minor chores, but essentially recharging the ol' copper-tops.  I did find the motivation to take a few photos of the Instant Fence and some other bits of landscaping that are thriving, so I figured to share those.  The bees, butterflies and hummingbirds are seriously happy with me right now. Once the sunflower seed heads dry, the doves and squirrels will be too! 

The Instant Fence, from the inside.  The tall grass looking stuff is lemongrass.

Instant Fence, fromthe outside.

These are my favorites--I love that deep rusty red.  So do the bees.

These seed heads weigh a lb apiece, and before they started drooping, the plants stood seven feet tall!

Sunflowers and palm trees.  My happy place.

This bed started out so sadly bare, but has almost filled in within the last three months.

I'm covering the mailbox with morning glories.  Because I can.  The pink flowers on the far trellis are Queen's Wreath, or Coral Vine...a native of Mexico.  That whole trellis will be covered by the end of the summer.

Hope everyone is enjoying the summer, whether that means playing outdoors, or hiding under the AC.