This is a hilariously accurate account of the doll-making experience. He gets me. So. Much.
For those of you who don’t know who he is, Louis C.K is a brilliant writer and a stand up comedian with a distinct style of existential humor. His take on life is brutally honest and can be dark or even downright depressing at times, but it’s very funny and compelling because it’s so real.
Chad put together this short video of our trip to the Big White winter resort with a couple of our friends, earlier this year. This little reminder of the good times on the slopes, will help us get through the summer and until the next riding season. I’ll miss you, snow.
Chad and I are on boards, and our friends Nate and Theresa are on skiis.
They contain all kinds of hidden treasures, including a couple of my older, first generation Enchanted Dolls.
There are lots of things pinned up on the inspiration board above my work desk, but I think this picture of Chad and I, is the most important one. Others around it come and go; get put up, get taken down and replaced with new ones, but this one’s been there for 12 years.
Happy anniversary Chadasaurus. YOU are my Inspiration.
Your Marinamal.
Dear Doll Collectors and Makers everywhere, from the bottom of my heart I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays full of cheer! But most importantly I’d like to wish you a wonderful and a truly prolific New Year 2013!
My little stuffed animals send their greetings too!
Artist toys from the left: Fuzzy bear by Sandra Kranenburg, white bunny by Lada Gromova, pink bunny by Irina Starkova, blue elephant Monty by Diana Unusova, white Cooky bear (originally also Monty, but I already had one, so…besides, he is sooo Cooky, just look at his face) by Natalja Fjodorova, Shy bear by Diana Unusova and a nameless rescue puppy in the foreground.
Merry Christmas to All!
Day two of the photoshoot featured The Weight of Light. It’s so refreshing to work with a team on a photoshoot, I’m learning so much. Sorry for the low quality iphone shot, but I’ll have some awesome things to share soon.
Also, a reminder that the eBay auction for the Rubenesque Enchanted Doll, Salome, ends tomorrow!
Chad put together some video clips he took during the “Buried Treasure” photoshoot from the other day. The clips were taken with the intention of showing some “behind the scenes” footage, since it’s not everyday you bury a doll in the sand.
We had an incredible trip to China this August! Having been invited by friends from Beijing to show us around the country, the four of us traveled from North to South to see some of the most beautiful places in China. It was so exotic, vibrant and different from all the other places we’ve been to before, that I can’t wait to go there again! I drew this map of our journey to remind me of it. Click to enlarge it.
I loved it there so much, that I couldn’t even choose a favorite experience, but one of the highlights of the trip was in Huangshan, where we were guests of a film producer Zhang ZhenYan, who has worked on such films as the House of Flying Daggers and Hero, at his boutique Xiuli Village resort, which originally started out as a movie set for either the Curse of the Golden Flower or Hero, I can’t recall exactly, but has since evolved into his private conservatory project of cultural heritage.
Set in a lush valley at the foot of green mountains in the southern Anhui provice, the village was assembled from parts of authentic 400 year old Chinese buildings that were rescued from disrepair and brought there to be preserved and reassembled into new structures, creating interiors in a unique fusion of ancient Chinese and contemporary architecture, all set inside seemingly ancient buildings.
As parts of the village are still under construction, with the exception of some staff, the place was empty. Alone, we wondered through a disorienting maze of narrow streets, bridges, ponds, great halls and tiny rooms, as if walking through a dream filled with humid summer heat and an incessant singing of a million Cicadas all around us. Insulated from the world in the quiet country side, staying there felt surreal and kind of magical, like being inside of a painting or a movie.
It struck me as very sentimental that Mr. Zhang was using his knowledge of film set production to bring his fantasy to life and build his imaginary place in a real world for people to visit. It’ll be a lovely place to stay at once it’s finished. I’m grateful for Mr.Zhang’s hospitality and for allowing us to see his work in progress.
Although our first tour of China wasn’t really that grand in terms of the distance we covered relative to the size of the country, it was truly grand in terms of the experience it gave us. Gongli and Lily, thank you for being our guides on this unforgettable journey!
