Enchatned Doll 2010 Birthday contest

This preliminary announcement is to signal the beginning of the Second Annual Enchanted Doll Birthday Contest!That's right, as a part of celebrating my birthday, I am giving away one nude doll as a present to one lucky winner of the contest. My last year's birthday contest was so rewarding that I decided to not only to give away another doll, but do it every year from this day forth.The Enchanted Doll Birthday Contest is now an annual event. And a talent competition.The general rule for entering the contest is simple: Make something in the theme of Enchanted Doll and send it to me as a birthday gift. The entry that blows me away, will take the winning prize of Nude Enchanted Doll.The competition is open to any media: drawing, painting, photography, digital art, sculpture, jewelry, doll art, writing, poetry, illustration, animation or film. Any form of creative figurative expression whatsoever. If you think you can come up with a math or physics equation for Enchanted Doll-go ahead and enter it, if you believe you should write a ballad about Enchanted Doll-do it, if you know you can bake a delicious Enchanted Doll cake and deliver it to me for my birthday- then go for it. Mmmm!Bottom line is that you can use whatever talents you have to create something beautiful and my favorite one will take the prize.This is the general information you need to know to get started on your entries. I will make a more formal announcement with info and deadlines later this week.Now, let's make beautiful things.

Art that Creeps-book available now!

Dear friends, fans and clients, I would like to announce that the long-anticipated "Art that Creeps" book by Korero publishers has been released and is now available for sale! Needless to say that my work is featured in this book along with other young artists from around the world.This project has been in the making for close to a year and I eagerly await my copies from the publisher. I am not sure how long my spread is or how many works ended up making the cut because there were lots of revisions, naturally, but I will try to find out as soon as I can and make an update once I do.Here is a link to more information about his book.Also, while in Germany I had discussed plans for my solo book with Strychnin gallery and we should have the final word on the project in January 2010. If you have any questions about it, please email Yasha the director of the gallery for details at yasha@strychnin.comNow, go and buy this book. There is so much amazing art in there.

Some Highlights from England

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has an incredible jewelry collection and the best book store I've ever been to.The books are almost exclusively about decorative art, craft and fashion, which is very relevant to my work. Unable to cope with finding so much useful research material in one place, I almost had a panic attack. I was running from shelf to shelf with an arm load of books like a crazy person: flipping desperately though pages, devouring what I could with my eyes and mumbling to myself in disoriented excitement, all the while knowing that I couldn't take my hoard home with me due to luggage weight limitations. I chose 3 of my favorite books and resorted to photographing the covers of the other ones so that I could order them online once I came home. I spent more time in the bookstore than in the exhibits.Phantom of the opera musical on Piccadilly.I've always disliked live stage shows. They make me uncomfortable. I don't know why, but after I seeing the Phantom of he Opera, I've began to suspect that it's because I've never seen a good one up until then. I was astounded at the quality of production and blown away by the experience! There is so much live entertainment going on in London...all the time. It's so dynamic and vibrant. Vancouver is a cultural ghost town compared to large European cities. It makes me sad. It's very pretty here though.London Eye is the biggest Ferris wheel in Europe and the third largest in the world.I'm very uncomfortable with heights, but not enough to avoid going up on tall, non-moving structures with spectacular views. I hate rollecoasters with a passion and never go to the so called amusement parks, but I thought it would be a great experience to go for a ride to 135 m (443ft) in a glass cabin. When we started climbing and I saw the earth slowly fall away beneath my feet, I began to regret my decision. Luckily, I was trapped up there in the sky and had nowhere to go but up. See more photos from the ride here.The Stonehenge.I've been wanting to see the Stonehenge ever since I was a little girl and finally my dream came true. I love ancient monuments because they are eternally shrouded in mystery and provide a physical link to a time long gone. Ancient places are mystical. Touching something that's been around for thousands of years makes me feel like I'm touching the very fabric of time, as if it's been absorbed by the object. Unfortunately I was unable to touch anything at Stonehenge because of the severely restricted access. I was only able to gaze at it from afar and contemplate the mystery of the place from behind the fence meant to keep all visitors seemingly half a mile away. But even contemplating was hard, because the Stonehenge is situated right smack in the middle between two big highways. Yeah. Noise pollution and traffic are super mysterious. They really add to the whole ancient feel. Reee-diculous.Who was the genius -city-planning engineer who approved the construction of highways within meters of a world heritage site?! And it's not like there was no other option; there are miles of empty, rolling land all around it and instead of moving the roads half a mile in either direction, somebody decided that those highways had to be built right there, in that exact spot. Right where they will ruin the view and the experience the most. Stupid.Although London seemed so big and busy at first that it made me apprehensive, I still very much enjoyed visiting it and look forward to coming back at one point.

I'm Back!

There is no place like home.Hello, hello, hello. I'm back from my European travels to my beautiful Vancouver. It' been gloomy and rainy for 4 days straight since my return, but I love it. This weather is very conducive to working. My studio feels so much more cozy and warm when I hear the rush of rain and leaves outside my window.It's time for me to go back to work. I'm still recovering from flu I picked up while in Vienna or London (or could be anywhere for that matter), as well as very jet legged and slightly disoriented when it comes to day and night. For some reason I always find it much harder to re-adjust to Pacific time than to any other time zone. On the other hand, I love waking up while it's still dark. The day feels so much longer and more productive this way.My trip was amazing, naturally. Aside from getting extremely ill at the worst possible time, right before the big show, everything went swimmingly. Chad and I met lots of amazing people and made new friends. I want to express our gratitude to our gracious and generous hosts who provided us with housing throughout this trip: Helene in Paris, Ilona in London, Elita in Vienna and Strychnin gallery staff in Cologne -Thank you. What a great time we had! Also, we got to meet and hang out with some local fans and clients of Enchanted Doll, and that was pretty amazing too. Thank you as well.Starting Monday I'm going back to working on orders, but only part time, with the larger chunk of my time dedicated to working on new projects and developing new material for my upcoming shows, primarily, the big solo show in Berlin in 2010. Meanwhile I've got lots of pictures from the trip to organize and post. There will also be a few updates to the site as well that I've been wanting to do for ages, but couldn't get around to it. So much to do......Stay tuned for the pictures and some stories from the trip.

Louis Vuitton Spring 2010 show

Yesterday Chad and I attended the Louis Vuitton spring 2010 show, at the Louvre. This is my formal invitation. Chad and I picked them up at the LV head quarters just a couple of hours before the show. Actually, the reason we flew to Europe so much earlier this fall than the Art Fair 21, is so that we could attend it. Fabrizio invited us a few months ago and I was very excited to see a couture fashion show in person.It was extremely awesome and fabulous. We took a short video of the last couple of minutes on the runway and some pictures back stage, after the show. I saw some celebrities whom I recognized and a bunch more whom I didn't. The back stage party was actually longer than the runway show itself. Chad and I hung out for an hour or so. I drank a lot of champagne.We met up with Fabrizio Viti, the LV shoe designer back stage. He is holding a bag that contains his new Enchanted Doll. He took her to the show with him!The guests and the media crowded around empty wardrobe racks and mirrors. There were mannequin heads, huge wigs and bottles and bottles of hair spray laying around everywhere. Actress Camilla Belle giving interviews.Fabrizio showing and telling me about the shoes he had designed for this collection and which the models just wore on the runway. I'm holding my favorite one.I met and talked to the beautiful Natalia Vodianova. It was rather surreal meeting her in person since I have known about this model and referenced her face in painting my dolls for a long time. She is just as beautiful in person as she is on magazines covers. I told her that I was going to sculpt her face for my dolls and she thought it was a fabulous idea. Although, I think that she didn't take it seriously. I saw her husband, Justin Portman there too. It's funny, we are the same age her and I, yet she felt quite a bit older than me because she is so tall, beautiful and has 3 childern. Very sweet girl.  We posed for a picture together but the camera battery died at that very moment.  Hopefully I will get another chance for a photo at a future show.These look just like dolls, but they are photos of the runway models in their outfits stuck to a wall. On that scale they look just like dolls.Afterward Chad and I sat by the glass pyramid and the fountains in the Louver square and enjoyed the warm autumn day in Paris. Then we went inside to see some more works of art.

Fun and frog legs in Paris

Here I am, scootering in Enghien-les-Bains, the Northern suburb of Paris, where Chad and I are staying with Helene and her family. I borrowed this scooter from Sasha, Helene's sweet little girl when we went for a walk around the neighbourhood and Chad snapped this shot, which by sheer coincidence happened to be framed exactly as the shot of Enghien les Bains that Wikipedia uses.Helene, showing us around. It's a really nice neighborhood.We met up with my old Vancouver friend, Iana and her new French boyfriend for lunch the next day and I had snails and frog legs. They were ok. I don't think I will be having them again. I'll post pics of that later on Flickr. The new boyfriend then went back to work (he's a French cop) and the three of us went to explore a huge flea market where we saw some of the most amazing antiques I've ever laid my eyes on.Chad, relaxing after an exhausting day.Our connecting flight to Paris was through Los Angeles and I think that's why we saw Joshua Jackson at the airport. He flew on the same flight as us and I told him that I really liked him in the Fringe, although I don't really like the show itself. For some reason, even though I had a camera in my jacket pocket, I didn't ask him for a picture. I suppose I didn't want to be rude and/ or lame.

Sketch of the week: 14-Prosthetic leg tattoo

Finishing touch for State Property

I've decided to show State Property doll at the Art Fair 21, in Cologne, Germany this year. I originally conceived her as a part of the triptych, but since she generated so much emotional response from people, I realized that she is a very strong piece on her own and decided to break up the triptych for this show. She will be for sale and if she gets bought during this show, well, the other two dolls will get sold as separate pieces as well.I made her a halo with 24k gold lined, seed beads, four 13 karat Kyanite cabochons, four 3 karat Ruby cabochons, four Pink Tourmaline cabochons, 3 Tourmaline briolettes, 8 Sapphires, six Lapis Lazuli, four large, Check glass crystals, fresh water pearls, glass beads and Austrian crystals.Come and see her at the show in Cologne on October 29-November 1st!

Enchanted doll on Buchicho Lounge cover

First of all, I would like to say thank you to all who fought vigorously for Lolita. It was an interesting experience. I'm sorry for those who lost, but perhaps you will have a chance to win something next time. Lolita is on her way home to Tokyo, Japan and we will see what new dolls the future will bring.Now, this is the fourth magazine to feature Enchanted Doll on its cover. This is a very nice, heavy fashion magazine from Fortaleza, Brazil. It has a 10 page spread inside, but unfortunately I can't open it due to an accident. The envelope with my issue got torn open during shipping and sustained a very serious water damage. Two days later it's still soaked and half the pages are stuck together. I've been able to peel a few apart, but that pretty much destroyed them.But no worries: the editor is sending me another one along with pdfs of the spread, so it should appear on my site soon. For now, there is only the cover.Also, I am getting ready to go to Europe the day after tomorrow! I will scan as many sketches as I can to make weekly sketch posts, but i think I will only do it once a week during my trip because, well, for obvious reasons. I've skipped the last two because of the auction and all the preparations, but now that I'm on holidays I will have some free time. We'll also be posting pictures of our travels here and on Chad's Flickr page, so check it out if you like.Here is a rough itinerary of our trip give or take a few days. One week in Paris, one week in London, one week in Vienna and one week in Cologne. Then back to Paris on November 1st or 2nd to catch our return flight home on the 3rd.I'll post a  sketch tonight and make a post more details about the show in Cologne tomorrow.

Prosthetics for dolls

I've decided to try and take porcelain tattooing to a new level by tattooing a vintage, prosthetic limb on Enchanted Doll's leg.This is all you can see of this doll for the moment.I was going to talk a little bit about this project, my motivations and my plans, but I think I will just leave it at that for now and let you guys speculate. When't it's time, I'll show the rest of the doll.

Sketch of the week: 13-The Siren

Just a quick post this time because this is the last thing I'm doing before going to sleep.The Siren is my mother's favorite doll after Safia. She was also my first attempt at tattooing porcelain. I tried painting the designs onto her body with china that once, and realizing how difficult it was , didn't try it again for over two years. Though the designs turned out quite well for my first try, i was still deterred from attempting it any time soon. Then, it had occurred to me to engrave the design into porcelain prior to firing in order to give me reference points while painting, and that's how my present technique was developed.Sadly, I can't even remember what had given me the idea to do that, because I wish I had memory of that moment. I think that for two years after the Siren I was subconsciously trying to solve the problem of tattooing dolls, until the critical mass of mental exercise was reached and one day I woke up and thought:"My god, it is so simple. How could I have not thought of this before?!" And then, I tried it and it worked, but by this point in already knew it was going to work. Although the idea was simple, the execution was still very difficult, but the results were much more successful than before. I loved tattooing so much that I just can't stop experimenting with it. I have such grand plans for it. You'll see.Meanwhile, I think that tomorrow I will show you the work in progress of my latest tattoo. The reason I haven't done it yet is because I've had my hands full with ebay and pictures of Lolita have flooded my blog. Time for fresh stuff.

Lolita Auction is Live

The auction is now live and will run for the next 7 days (until Sep 28, 200918:26:02 EDT).listing # 330361964245 on ebayMore pictures of lolita can be found in her gallery

Lolita on ebay today by 3pm Pacific Time

I'm just in the process of creating the listing for Lolita on Ebay. The auction will last for 7 days and will close on Sunday, Sept 27th. The highest bidder will have until Thursday, October 1st to pay in full. I am leaving for Europe that weekend and the doll must be shipped before 4pm on Friday, October 2nd. If for some reason the payment is not received and the shipping  doesn't take place on Friday, then I will be forced to void the whole transaction, go on my trip and consider the second highest bidder as a buyer after I return from Europe in a month. Or, list the doll again. So, ladies and gentlemen, please make sure you've got all your funds in order when bidding.I've thought long and hard about making a longer layaway plan, but after considering it very carefully, I decided against it- four days is all I can do this time around. Lolita's outfit will be auctioned off upon my return.I'll see you on Ebay in 2 hours.Good luck.

Lolita is going to ebay auction on Monday.

These are Lolotia's one of a kind undergarments. I wanted to photgraph them on her even though she will be sold nude. I'm very thrilled with how they had turned out. She is wearing a 24k gold plated corset and bra with 24k plated bronze stilletoes. Her stockings and a French fan are hand made and embroidered with applique designs, pearls, Ruby and 24gold plated beads. Corset stocking laces can be easily unclipped so that the corset can function as an outer garment and be worn with any skirt or pants. A hair ornament of Zirconium, Austian crystals and swan feather completes the period look and can be work with different wigs.I've just shot these earlier today and Chad just finished editing them. All day I've been playing with different looks, combinations and compositions and definitely want to have another couple of photo sessions to capture them, but I don't want to make you guys wait any longer so I will list the doll on ebay on Monday and shoot later. I think these are pretty descirptive already.I'm very pleased with how gold plating looks on this corset. It doesn't always work for everything, and I had my doubts about this one. It was quite expensive to have a piece of this size plated with a heavy plate and I had spent a lot of time considering whether the result will be worth the effort and the money. But like with everything else, considering only gets you so far and then you just have to do it, to really know. Sometimes you regret it and sometimes you don't, and this was definitely a very successful experiment. I find that once I get some project or experiment into my head, there is really no choice for me after that point than to try it. I may spend days or weeks or months thinking and agonizing and weighing my options but at the end of the day I know that I'm just delaying the inevitable. I'm going to do it- no matter what it costs or how much time it takes. If it persistently captivates my imagination then it's worth doing it. What else am I supposed to do: Not do it and wonder about how it would have worked out for the rest of my life? Anyway. More photos.The corset laces up at the back.Love these shoes.And finally in this photo I'm just being silly. I think. Maybe I'm serious. The ship ornament is so out of proportion to the body that it's almost like a parody of the flashy, over-the-top fashion of Rococo period. This wig is not meant to go with this doll, but I just wanted to try this composition and see what it looks like. And to be quite honest I love the result.Funny story with the ship ornament. It's a found object. Remember when I mentioned that sometimes I have magic thoughts that can materialize into actual objects and occurrences? Well, I think that I dreamt it into existence. After I had made this wig months ago, I thought I need to put something crazy-beautiful in there in the high style of Rococo. It sat in a box all summer until last week I took it out and decided to do something with it. A ship ornament was such an obvious  cliche that I amost dismissed it as tacky.Yet, it stuck with me and I found myself mentally returning to it. So, a few days ago I was walking home from a dentist I decided to stop by and look for my ship ornament in this antique shop on the way. Why not? Incorporating found objects can be very effective. I didn't actually expect to find one though. I mean, come on: what are the chances of me finding something so obscure right away? I stepped in and walked straight to a shelf filled with old, useless rubbish and the first thing my eyes happen to rest on was a tiny, filigree tall ship figurine, sitting amongst a pile of disappointing clutter like a diamond.I couldn't believe it. It took me 3 days of thinking about it and less than a minute of semi-actively looking for it to have it in my hands. It's like the universe just dropped it into my lap. Pretty cool. I took it home, removed unwanted parts and the base stand and embellished it with Rubies, Emeralds and Pearls. Not sure how this experiment will end yet. But that's the fun part.And that's all for now. Thank you and good night.

Sketch of the week: 12-Safia

Another clear example of my obession with Middle Eastern costume during that particular period. Safia has a lot of sketches but I didn't want to post them all because one, it would be too overwhelming and two, I have to save some surprises for my book.Speaking of which: I'm still planning to have it done in time for my solo show in Berlin. There has been some more discussion with the parties involved and it seems that a publisher is interested in the project. I don't want to disclose too many details yet because ther aren't any concrete ones at this point, but I'm anticipating to have a more definite outline after I return from Eurorope as we hope to meet with the publisher and discuss it further while in Germany.What i think I will do is start a wait list or a sign up sheet for those people who wish to purchase a copy when it comes out. Chad and I are going to discuss it and see what the best format for that would be. Maybe it would look like a doll request for or something of along those lines. But I strongly encourage every one interested in signing up as it would help me a lot.

Lolita portraits

More photos coming tomorrow. A sketch of the week post is coming later today.

Another photo of little Lolita

Click the image for a larger view (the auto-resize is distorting it) More coming soon.To answer Noxy's question:Chad doesn't seem particularly concerned about his slightly disfigured right thumb, so much so that I'm beginning to think he likes it this way. I don't really mind it either. It's quite beautiful in a way.I don't mind it if it shows up in photographs with dolls either-it adds character and highlights contrast between eternally perfect porcelain and the vulnerable imperfection of human skin. Although we spent almost an hour setting up and shooting the hand pose, we settled on this particular composition not because of the thumb, but because this angle looked best.I love photographing dolls in Chad's hands, but to be quite honest he is not the most co-operative model at times. Because I'm so meticulous at arranging the shot to perfection, changing angles, adjusting light and taking a million test exposures, it usually takes a while and he starts complaining within 20 minutes about cramping up and discomfort from being unable to move a muscle. (Sorry honey, it's true)We also start fighting and arguing over creative differences during the shoot. Things can get intense. So, some of the best photographs of my dolls were actually taken under duress. I still enjoy working with Chadasaurus. ( my nickname for him, I call him that almost exclusively. He calls me Marinamal. Chadasaurus and Marinamal. I love it.) I enjoy working with him because despite the character differences and occasional work-related tension, most of the time when we work together we create something beautiful.

Sneak peek at Lolita-a nude doll for ebay

Well, today i did something I swore I would never ever do-I photographed one of my dolls holding another doll......and liked the result. And that, ladies and gentlemen, makes me a big, fat hypocrite. But in my defense- it was very fitting in this context because you know, she is Lolita. She is my take on Nabokov's Lolita. She is the one to be auctioned off on ebay.I know I've sort of gone missing since I announced that a doll will be auctioned off on ebay; sorry about that-i had some urgent matters to attend to. I'm wrapping up Lolita's shoot tomorrow and will post some more pictures of her. I'm really tired right now, so l'll be brief: she will be sold as a nude with two removable , un-accessorized wigs and a stand. She has bit of a costume, which I will photograph tomorrow, but i don't know if I will include it in the auction yet. Perhaps a separate one.The two wigs are the ones shown in these pictures: long ringlets (without bows) and a short crop. The two drastically different wigs are meant to give her very different expressions and foreshadow the fact that this innocent-looking child is not what she seems.Well, that's all for today. It's four in the morning and I desperately need to crash. More info about the auction and more pictures coming tomorrow. Enjoy.

Sketch of the week: 12-Banshee

This is the only sketch I have for Banshee. It's very old; a lot older than the doll itself. I didn't know it was going to become Banshee when I drew it, I just really wanted to make a peasant-like, summer dress. I noticed I'm really drawn to the look of folk embroidery on white, however, i don't really like doing needle and thread embroidery myself. I learned some basic stitches as a part of home making course in grade six, but I never really took to it. I think it's because the actual application of those skills was really boring, such as embroidering puppies and flowers on place mats and handkerchiefs. You know, the kind of stuff you would buy at a yard sale after it's been sitting in  someone's  basement for 20 years. Although I was pretty good with the technique, I don't think I ever completed a single pattern out of sheer boredom and after a third or a fourth failed attempt at embroidering a flower I was like: "Alright, I am so done with that." And then the next thing I ever embroidered was Alice in Wonderland doll's stockings 14 years later. And that's when I was wishing I had had a little bit more practice.I just remembered that I have never done a full shoot for Banshee. I should really do that soon. Probably when I get home from Europe.

Enchanted Doll Announcements

I finally have some concrete news about my order schedule for the rest of 2009 and most of 2010. Some of it is good and some of it is bad, and some of it can be either one, depending on how you look at it. Let's start with the bad.1)My Enchanted Doll resin line has suffered a huge setback and has now been postponed indefinitely. I need to find a new and capable developer and manufacturer who will not only want to produce a beautiful line of resin Enchanted Dolls, but will also know what they are doing. Those of you who want to expedite this process can feel free to look around for doll producers and manufacturers and recommend me the ones you might think appropriate. I don't know how long it will take me to find the right one and right now I am back at square one.2)I'm leaving for Europe again on October 3rd until November 3rd. I'll be attending Art Fair 21 in Cologne, Germany where a few of my pieces will be shown. I'll be there on 29th, 30th and possibly 31st. I am really looking forward to meeting some of you there. Paris is another place where Chad and I will definitely be for a week or so before the show, but aside from that I don't really know yet where we will end up. We're going to travel around European Union, see places, visit friends. I would be more than happy to meet and hang out with Enchanted Doll fans while were are in Europe. Our plans are rather loose and if anybody wants to get together with Chad and I, email me and perhaps we can work out a meeting time and country. We will see.3) Strychnin Gallery will be representing me in Art Fair 21. They are publishing an exhibition catalog and an art book that will feature some of my pieces. I believe both will be available for sale during the show and if you catch me there on the 29th, 30th or 31st, I can sign it for you.4) Nude porcelain doll slots will be harder to come by after I get back from Europe in November. As you know I have a second solo exhibition in Berlin in the summer 2010. I am making a brand new collection of one of a kind and ultra limited edition work for the show and that means that I have to drastically reduce my custom nude work load in order to commit most of my time to producing the most amazing costumed dolls I possibly can. I can not do this and carry on making nude orders as before- it's becoming too much for me. For the next year I will be taking 1-2 nude orders a month. All the slots up until February are already taken. If I'm ever ahead of schedule i may be able to make some more time for orders here and there, but don't take me up on that. After my show in 2010 lots of things will have changed and who knows what will happen. Maybe more order slots, maybe a resin line, maybe both. I apologize to those who waited for a long time already and I hope that you understand. Eventually I hope to work my way through my wait list.5) I saved the best news for last. I'll be putting a nude doll on Ebay sometime next week. I made this doll for a show in St.Petersburg, Russia, but was unable to attend it at the last minute. Suddenly, this doll no longer had a show to go to. You probably read all about it in a post earlier this summer. I've been putting off making the decision on what to do with this little orphan all this time because I was tempted to keep her for myself, but I finally decided to sell her. By Friday I should have pictures of her here and then she will go on ebay a few days later.I think that's all the news for now. More work coming up. Let me know if you have any questions.(The doll shown in this blog post is not the doll that will be made available on eBay, it is a custom nude that was made for a client. I just like that picture a lot.)