…Is not as quick as I’d like it to be since I’m concentrating most of my efforts now on creating new dolls for the solo show in Berlin, and managing the inflow of entries for the Enchanted Doll birthday contest. For reasons already covered we were forced to move the entry deadline from the 13th to the 16th, which is tomorrow, and on Friday the 19th I will announce the winner of the contest.

I haven’t had time to test out my new airbrush yet as I’m still learning about it, but I can’t wait to put it to use and will show results when I have them. And did I ever mention that I’m having brand new boxes made for this line? I seem to remember mentioning something about their awesomeness… The first design went to the factory for proofing on correction last week and we hope the the full production will begin as soon as next week. I’m contemplating showing you the lid designs now, but my sixth sense is telling me to wait on that. You might have read in Doll Reader article that Nati is involved in this project.

Anyway. The wheels are turning on the Resin doll line, and there ain’t no stopping now. Things are looking very exciting at the Enchatned Doll studio! More information to be revealed soon.

The wait list for resin doll is still open, so if you haven’t signed up yet for the first release or Resin ED, please email me.

The deadline for the Enchanted Doll Contest has been pushed back to March 16th, to allow for the entries that got delayed by the Olympics (Canada Post put all packages coming to Vancouver under extra scrutiny the past few weeks) and other shipping problems.  With the cut-off deadline being pushed back to the 16th, the announcing of the winner won’t be until the 19th.

I have started going through some of the entries and you guys aren’t making it easy on me to pick a winner.  So much incredible work already, I’m having Chad document everything so that it can all be seen on the site (if anyone had anything that they didn’t want posted on the site, entry/description/name, let me know in an email at contests@enchanteddoll.com)

Yey, here is the cover of the April issue of Doll Reader Magazine. Isn’t she pretty? There is also a spread on developing my resin line in the magazine.

That’s so awesome that the very first resin doll i make also ends up on a magazine cover! I usually spend so much time painstakingly setting up every single shot and framing and composing, but this photo was taken so spontaneously and quickly that I probably spent a total of 2.5 minutes on it. And it turned out beautifully and even made a cover. I realize that there must be some sort of choosing criteria or politics that determine what makes the cover and what doesn’t, but it still reminds me that sometimes the best thing to do is just relax and let creative flow take its course instead of forcefully and agonizingly pulling ‘brilliant’ ideas out of your brain like wisdom teeth, in search for that perfect solution. Sometimes the perfect solution is the first thing that comes to your mind.

Which, in turn reminds me that I should probably go with my first instinct on the Cosmos Exploratum project. I feel like I’ve been going in circles with that one.

I’m slowly working on more resin prototypes and will be posting new updates soon. Right now I’m splitting my time between creating a new body of work for my upcoming solo show in Berlin and organizing the resin line production. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

Anyway. Pick up a copy of the April issue  of Doll Reader so that you have something I can sign next time we meet. I’ll wear my big sunglasses, and Chad will wear a dark suit and an ear piece. Also sunglasses.

So guys, I think that I finally finished that mask I had in my drawer for almost a year. It was modeled by a doll in my solo show at Villa Terrace museum last year, but it was acutally an unfinished project and that’s why I hadn’t put it up in the galleries yet. In this shot Sapphire is modeling the mask because I am still making the doll. She will be officially unveiled sometime next month.

The mask ornament is heavily inspired by the Bronze Age death masks in which people of status and wealth were buried. It was also inspired by the art of ancient Aztecs. It’s carved in wax, cast in bronze and gold plated with 24 k gold. The mask is decorated with Rubies, Pink Tourmaline, Opals, dyed shell and glass beads.

More pictures of this doll is coming soon.

Speaking of accessories: With the Olympics over, I had finally been able to get some castings of my shoe orders done. I was trying different color ribbon combinations for fun. I’m very pleased with how they look. I’ll continue the experiments when I get the next batch of shoes cast.

This is an old doodle from my Emily Carr days. During particularly boring periods of three hour long lectures in a semi-dark auditorium with a hundred and fifty other students scribbling notes around me, I would get distracted and start drawing random things. I’m sure many of my other fellow students did the very same thing.

At the time this sketch was made, I have not made a single porcelain doll, but my mind was heavily preoccupied with planning of how to go about making them: what I had to do, what I had to learn, what equipment I had to buy,  what my dolls should look like- stuff like that. For several months I just thought and thought and thought about it and sketched my thoughts out. These sketches appear to be dealing with doll’s accessories.

Oh, what a titillatingly uncertain and intimidating time of my life it was! I think most of young, fresh-out-of-high-school art students are terrified all throughout art school, because as they progress with their degree, they begin to realize that they are not being trained for any specific trade. While an accountant student became an accountant after school and a medical student became a doctor, an art student is a very confused creature in a very confusing situation because they don’t get a straightforward, this-is-what-you-will-be-doing-until-you-retire career training. Which in retrospect, is not such a bad thing. The feelings of incompetence and uselessness haunts most of art students at one point or another through their schooling. In 2nd and 3rd years most of us began to wonder why we’re paying so much money for a useless degree and how the hell are we going to survive.

This acute uncertainty and fear of the future is  the most vivid memory I have from my art school years. It was a very powerful, if hellish experience which I’m grateful for and which I probably wouldn’t choose to go through again. Well, maybe. If I had decided to go back and do a 2-3 year master’s degree at this point in my life, I probably would have a very different and a much more enjoyable and productive time in school than I did the first time around, because I wouldn’t have the element of fear of the future and lack of security. My career path is fairly determined and I think I would concentrate more on refining my creative thought, than trying to desperately devise a way to survive after I graduate. I’ve already been through all that.

Ultimately, an art degree is not useless. Its usefulness is like art itself- subjective and dependent on how much effort you put in it. Today, thinking back to those desperate, fear-filled days brings a smile to my face and a light pang of nostalgia to my heart.  I learned more than I ever thought I did. I am still only beginning to realize the full scope of what my seemingly-useless-at-the- time-art-education had given me.

Please feel free to write me and share your post secondary education experience. I would love to hear it.

This is the best Christmas ever!

Uhm, I mean Birthday- it’s the best Birthday ever! Feels like Christmas though, since I’ve never gotten so many birthday gifts.

I wasn’t going to open the entries until the contest deadline of March 13th, but then I thought about it and realized that we would never be able to process, document, judge and display all the gifts on the website in only three days! Therefore, I had decided to begin opening them now, 2-3 gifts a day so as to not get totally overwhelmed when it comes time to choose the winner. Yeah, sure it would have been awesome to open them all on my birthday, but I don’t think it would be fair to contestants because I wouldn’t have time to do it properly all in one day. So, my birthday came early this year and will last for two weeks as I open new surprises every day.

The gifts are beautiful. I’m loving them all, but I’m already wondering what I’ve gotten myself into, because I will somehow have to choose the best one……it will be a very, very tough call. I almost wish I hadn’t started the contest just so that I wouldn’t be in this position of having to choose only one winner out of so many fantastic entries.

My 28th birthday continues….best birthday ever!

All month I’ve been doing interviews for different media outlets, but mostly glossy magazines about fashion and pop culture. My brain is a bit fried from all the writing and talking about my work because the interview questions get a little repetitive after a while. Some of them have come out already in winter issues, while others are coming out later in the spring. This trendy Ukrainian EGO magazine from Kiev, printed the longest spread on my work so far. It’s 10.5 pages long. Woo-ho.

Most of these upcoming magazines are European, but a couple of them from the States. My resin doll Clymenestra got a cover of April’s issue of Doll Reader magazine with a spread about my upcoming resin line. I’ve requested a preview of the cover from the editor, but they are still thinking about it, I guess, since they apparently don’t usually pre-release those to the public. I hope they will make an exception for me and I can post a preview here. I’m pretty excited about it as it will be my 7th cover of a printed publication. One day I’ll frame them all and hang them up on the walls of my studio. I’ll wait until I have an even number of covers. And enough wall space.

The entire Enchanted Doll spread in EGO magazine can be found in my Published Work section and CV. I haven’t put the text up yet. It’s in Russian.

European magazines are so much more liberal than North American publications. I love it.

Pencil sketch of the Enchanted Doll logo. I’ve since inked the drawing and passed it on to Chad for digital processig. The purpose of this logo shall remain a secret for now, but soon you will find out what it’s for. You will have to trust me that it’s something really cool. Soon…..

My beloved Lolita’s outfit is finally on ebay. The auction has started today on February 21st and will go on for seven days, ending on Sunday, February 28th.

The outfit includes eight pieces.

1) Sterling Silver Corset with 24k goldplate
2) Sterling silver bra with 24 k goldplate
3) Bronze Stilettos with 24 goldplate
4) 100% poly Stockings with hand stitched floral design.
5) Detachable Garter  straps
6) White slip  with Ruffles
7) French Fan with 24k gold beads, peals and appliqué embroidery.
8 ) Cubic Zirconium and Austrian crystal Hair band

The starting price is $2,320.00 USD  (Two thousand, three hundred and twenty US dollars). Here is the link to the ebay page.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the auctions.