How I made the Rococo wig

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It took me almost 3 full days to make the tall, Rococo wig for the Little Aristocrat Lily doll. The doll, which will be auctioned off on Ebay on Dec 27th. Here is the general idea of the process.wig-processThe construction begins with making a wig cap and attaching the padding and supporting infrastructure to it. Then, extra long hair is glued down and it is determined which parts will be going up first. Hair is spread into isolated sections. At this point I sit and look at the doll for a long, long time, visualizing what I want her hair to be and devising a plan of action and steps to make it happen.wig-process-11Because a lot of wig-making methods are designed for humans or much larger dolls, I often improvise with various materials and contraptions and find new applications for my kitchen utensils, woodworking, jewelry and porcelain tools. Sometimes the least likely thing will provided the most desired results.wig-process-2This wig was probably the most complicated one I've made so far. Because it was very sculptural in essence, I had to think of hair and treat it as a sculpting medium, sort of like a lump of wet clay or wax, which you then shape into a form. But now that I think about it, this is how I tend to approach most of my projects. I have a very sculptural frame of mind. After determining where certain locks will go and how many of them I want, I began to pin them up in their approximate locations, keeping in mind the desired size, direction and angle of each curl.wig-process-3I used traditional and not-traditional hair styling products to put this hair into shape. Luckily, I have a huge arsenal of all kinds of painting, diluting, thinning, thickening, texturing etc. substances in my possession, which were acquired for various, non-hair related practices. Some are poisonous and others you never ever want to put on your own scalp. But this is porcelain we are talking about, and porcelain to my knowledge is impervious even to acid. Water was one of the main agents in trying to control the vast mane of hair that was required for the wig this size.wig-process-4Pinhead. Kind of like this one.hellraiser-pinhead-7860141I hate gore horror. Whenever I watch it, I'm not so much    scared, as I am disturbed and at the same time fascinated by the kind of sick imagination one would need to have to write and film stuff like that. I much prefer ghost horror than blood and guts. But getting back to MY lovely Pinhead-Lily.Ah, that's better.wig-process-5After a few hours of construction and a night of drying and setting, the curling phase is over and now it's time to take everything apart in a carefully choreographed order and arrange it in a desirable way. The problem is getting the curls to lay on the head instead of well, curling up. For this I use an experimental method of applying a synthetic, transparent primer to the hair with a brush.wig-process-6My concern was the eventual coming apart of the wig. I realized that simple hair spray will simply not be enough. That's why I went with a much tougher alternative. The primer literally glues hair to itself, making it firm and tough, while maintaining the appearance of hair. By the time I was done, there was more plastic in that wig, than hair. Seriously, the thing is almost bulletproof.Warning: Do not ever use this on your own hair. Unless you want a permanent hold and the same hair style for the next few years until new hair grows out. Then go ahead.wig-process-71Stylin'. She has hair spray and primer all over her face. Once again, because she is porcelain and her face painting is molecularly bonded to the surface of her skin at high temperature, I can for allow all kinds of things to be stuck to her face, knowing that I will easily be able to remove it without removing her entire face. You never want to do this with a resin doll. When the wig was done, the primer was so tough that I had to scrape from her face with a surgical blade and fine sand paper to get it all off. And you would never know it.wig-process-8Finished. Drying. Setting. Looking lovely. But still missing something. I had to send Chad to the drug store to buy me some cosmetic powder for her hair. Apparently they don't really make loose face powder anymore since it's 2010 and not 1710. All he could find was fancy moose powder and sheer cover and stuff. So, we had to get some Johnson's baby diaper powder instead. Oh, well-if it's good for babies then it can't be bad for my doll.wig-process-9Cough, cough, cough! There. Cough, cough, cough. Now she is complete! Cough, cough, cough.white-wig-21What? I've sat at this desk for how many hours?! 48? You don't say.....felt like 48 minutes to me.Was all worth it, as far as I'm concerned.Thank you and good night.

Preview snap shots of ebay auction doll

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Well, first of all-at this point I've been up for 28 consecutive hours and working like a dog for 25 of those hours, to bring you these quick preview shots of this doll today. I believe the last time I had stayed up this long was during the final week of my senior year at art school; feverishly finishing essays, presentations and studio projects all due at the same time. My body is surprisingly energetic and refreshed, but my mind is beginning to descend into an exhaustion-induced stupor and numbness. Also, I think I might be hallucinating...... Sorry if my writing is a bit jumbled. I'm not even done yet. I have to get ready for a full photo session of this doll tomorrow morning.Ok, here we go. The pictures. Meet Lily-the Little Aristocrat.white-wigAs I've said before, this doll will be auctioned off with 3 wigs. Two are shown here. This is Rococo wig; made with fine, long mohair and styled into shape with synthetic primer strand by strand over the course of many hours. It's also powdered with perfumed powder for a more authentic, period look. This wig is light and very strong, reinforced with several coats of primer. You can juggle with it, and not a single lock will bend out of shape. Ideal for hard play.white-wig-1This second wig is the exact opposite of the first one: it's incredibly long, loose, organic and soft like silk. It is also made of very fine, high grade mohair. There is no rigidity and structure in it, only streaming white strands, which can be styled, brushed and braided into almost any hair style.Third wig is on its' way. Pictures will be ready tomorrow. I'll also show a series of pcitures, documenting the making of Rococo Wig. The auction will begin on December 27th.Time for a nap.

Important announcement-Doll on ebay!

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new-tattoo-11Hello, Enchanted Doll fans. Lolita outfit was supposed to go on ebay auction today, but there's been a change of plans.I will be putting a new, nude doll up for an auction instead! The outfit will go to auction right after the doll. The reason I'm postponing the auction of the outfit is so that I could try it on this new doll and photograph her wearing it for a fresh look. I am also making 3 removable wigs to go with this doll. One long, for natural look. One short and stylish, and one, well, that one is a surprise. You will have to wait a few days to find out. This doll has a decorative, one of a kind thigh tattoo that was hand painted, as opposed to the usual engraving.Auction will begin on Sunday, December 27th and end on Sunday, January 3rd. The third day of the New Year 2010.This is a very important time for me, the time when I contemplate and catalog all my failures, accomplishments and ambitions. I sit down and write all my goals for the upcoming year and make a plan for accomplishing them. This is the time I firmly decide that this new year, will be better than the last and that I will do everything I can to make it better and happier than all the years before it. Every year I promise myself to make dolls ever more beautiful, so that my life can be filled with beauty and joy. Because beauty is ultimately what will save the world.In Russia we have a superstition about New Year. We believe that the way we spend the first days and hours of the New Year, will determine our quality and enjoyment of our life for the rest of the year and foretell how the remaining 11 months are spent. That's why it's always important for one to enjoy those first days and spend them doing something meaningful and important to you. Those first days is when you commit to being happy.And so, in accordance with this tradition I'm making this doll as a good luck charm to celebrate the beginning of the New Year at the end of the First Decade of the New Millennium. She is a symbol of all the beautiful things of the past, dreams of the present and promise of the future. She will be the last doll sold of the Old Year and the first one of the New Year.Pictures coming soon.Meanwhile stay tuned for another sketch for Cosmos Exploratum and my final decisions about which costume to give her.

Lolita outfit to go on Ebay

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img_266911Just a little announcement to say that the one of a kind Lolita ensemble will finally become available for sale on Ebay around December 10-11th. I haven't chosen the exact date yet, but it will be in that vicinity. Just in time as an exquisite Christmas gift for your beautiful Enchanted Doll.Starting Price and other details coming this weekend.

Cixi Gown Fragment

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dsc08327Just before I left for Europe two months ago, I was working on the doll Cixi. This is a fragment of her sleeve gown. The gown trails behind her and the sleeves are enormous. When I came back, I've decided to re-work a couple of details that I wasn't too pleased with here and there, and once I tackle those, I willl photograph her and put her on the site.Enjoy this for now. I thought that you might find some news of this doll interesting.

Sketch of the week: 15-Cosmos Exploratum

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nov-sketchI need to finish this doll. I've  never experienced this much indecision about anything as I have with this project. It's like I can't find the perfect solution for the outfit, that will reflect the headdress. When I made this sketch, I was intending for the helmet to be made of leather and cast brass, with cabochon stones set into it. But eventually I decided that the effect would be stronger if the thing was made entirely with bead embroidery.cosmos1The trouble is, that I've started making her outfit several times, and each time abandoned it after a considerable amount of effort and time. It just didn't feel right. Nothing seems to feel right. Perhaps I should just go with my original idea of giving her an embroidered, black catsuit with stilletos. That was the plan, but after considering it further, I had abandoned that because it felt a bit Star Trek-ish. Perhaps the reason I can't seem to do anything else, is because that's what I'm supposed to make to begin with. The other option that I'm seriously considering, is a heavily embroidered, black mini-dress. But that also felt a bit space-ish.The truth is- I have some sort of an artist block with this doll. Have had it for over a year, and still no solution. I should just clear my schedule for a week and work on nothing but this-start over again.

Enchatned Doll 2010 Birthday contest

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banner-1This 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!

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creep_coverwebDear 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

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dsc07947The 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.phantomoftheoperaPhantom 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.Above LondonLondon 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.StonehengeThe 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!

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img_5670There 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

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paris-571Yesterday 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.paris-68We 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!paris-64The 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. paris-63Actress Camilla Belle giving interviews.paris-71Fabrizio 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.parisI 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.paris-691These 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

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dsc07315Here 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.dsc07319Helene, 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.dsc07337Chad, 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.

Finishing touch for State Property

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state-prop-halo2I'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

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loung-coverFirst 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

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legI'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

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sketch-sirenJust 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 on ebay today by 3pm Pacific Time

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img_2705I'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.