Chinese Book Edition Update

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Exciting news guys! The Chinese edition of the Enchanted Doll book is almost ready! There will be 999 signed books available. That may sound like a large number, but an even bigger number is 1,357,000,000 which is roughly the population of China. Another number is 21,196, which is the size of the Great Wall of China in kilometres. Numbers are fun.

Pre-sales have started, you can order the book here: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=43715713846&If you need any help navigating that site and ordering, please contact yuanmuhe@qq.com, they will be able to help you with ordering even if you don’t know Chinese.

The book is expected to be ready to ship by May 2015

 

Tiny hair pins - jewels for dolls and people!

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This comb design was loosely inspired by an antique French Ivory comb I had seen in Paris a few years ago. I longed to wear it in my long hair, but as a recent art school graduate I couldn't even imagine being able to afford such luxury. Perhaps it's still out there and I'll find it again one day.

The full set of different doll combs, from which this jewelry was made, hasn't been photographed yet, but will be very soon. I'm very excited to show you!

I made a set of silver combs for my dolls earlier this year, and then realized that I wanted to wear them too - as jewellery! The smallest comb was my favourite of the set, so I converted the design into a pair of human earrings and a pendant, thus killing two birds with one stone. Disclaimer - no birds were harmed in the production of this jewelry. I love birds.

In the meantime, email me if you're interested in having these little Haircomb Jewels for yourself. They are available in sterling silver as a set of three or separately. Each comb weighs 2.4 grams. Hooks are hypoallergenic surgical steel, chain is not included. Pendant is $190 CAD, Earring set is $380 CAD. A full set of all three is $550 CAD. I've some available to ship right away, and can take several pre-orders for May.

And now I'm back to working on a new porcelain doll that will be wearing these! 

Enchanted Doll is back on: I'm un-retiring!

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Having spent the whole afternoon yesterday arranging my house plants, I've decided to end my retirement from doll-making effective immediately. Turns out one can't just quit dolls. To celebrate my return, I made these shoes. It's good to be back!

April Fools!

I'll never retire from dolls. I'll die at my desk, while making a doll at the age of 125! That means roughly 90 more years of Enchanted Doll! 

And Then There Were Ten

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Greetings Contestants! Welcome to the second round of eliminations. You are the finalists still in the running to win a resin Enchanted Doll! I'm going to give a short critique on the strengths and weaknesses of each work. I hope it helps those who didn't make the finals, win next year! Here we go.

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Pencils Down!

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Times up!

The contest submission period is now closed! Thanks to everyone who entered, I'm seeing some amazing entries and it's going to be another tough decision. I will spend the next couple days going through each one in detail. It's such a treat to be able to see all the different approaches people took. I'm blown away by the creativity.

I will announce the winner on March 16th, but it will likely be later in the day (might even be the 17th in some parts of the world). 

Cinderella of the North

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Hey folks, I finished a new costumed doll! Presenting - Cinderella Of The North, inspired by Johan Vermeer's 1665 masterpiece Girl with a Pearl Earring, nicknamed Mona Lisa of the North! This doll actually started out in 2011 as a Chrisitian Andersen's Matchstick Girl, but in the 3 years it took to make her, she had subverted my original intent and evolved almost of her own volition, into a Flemish Cinderella with Dutch, Belgian and Norwegian costuming influences. I photographed her in chiaroscuro, or Rembrandt Lighting, to allude to Flemish portraiture of the Golden Age and Baroque periods, which featured dark atmospheric tones, deep shadows and dramatic contrast lighting. My goal was to capture a look of a 16th century Dutch oil painting.

In allusion to the Cinderella's formerly affluent childhood, her once opulent - now 'peasant' dress was stitched up with 170 richly colourful patches and embroidered with hundreds of Swarovski crystals, seed beads and Freshwater Pearls. I imagined that all those patches are fragments of her outgrown childhood gowns - now rags, which she's been using for years to keep her one remaining tattered dress intact, while her pristine lace bonnet and precious silver slippers are the only legacy and inheritance from her dear late mother. Cindrella Of The North is a an exploration of the darker side of the fairy tale - before the ball and the happy ever after.

The other three key influences that informed this work were a 1919 Cinderella illustration by Arthur Rackham, a novel Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire, and fairy tale illustrations by Sulamith Wulfing.

To see more pictures of this doll, please visit her gallery here.