Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Keeper of the Earth

Keeper of the Earth by Marla L. Niederer
As I continue to work on Keeper of the Earth, I thought I would continue to share pictures of my progress with her.  I also thought I would take the time to share a little about her back story.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Keeper of the Earth started out as a response to a critique of my work while attending the NIADA conference last summer. 
When I work on my art dolls I generally do not have a detailed plan worked out.  They just seem to evolve into who they want to be if that makes any sense at all.
As I worked on this doll, along with some synchronicity, she started evolving into Keeper of the Earth.
 
Keeper of the Earth by Marla L. Niederer
As I mentioned in a previous post, after my NIADA critique I soothed my soul with some shopping therapy.  During this shopping therapy excursion I was quite attracted to some silk crochet thread that I wound up purchasing and brought home.  Mind you I hadn’t crocheted in over 20 years but I just had to have the thread.  Upon my return home I started brushing up on some of my rusty crocheting skills.  When I completed the skin tone and facial coloration on my art doll with watercolors I decided to do some free form crochet with the silk thread I bought to create her costume.  I really had been out of the crochet loop for quite some time and had never heard of free form crochet.  It just started doing it on my own and afterwards I looked it up on the internet and found out that it really was something other fiber artists do.  What was interesting though is if you look closely to the top of her bodice you can almost see a tree formed with the crochet stitches.
Keeper of the Earth by Marla L. Niederer
 As many of you know, I have a very strong affinity towards all that is shiny.  As a result I have quite a shiny bead collection.  It just went without saying that I needed to embellish her costume with shiny silver lined beads.
The tree is a powerful symbol that has been used throughout time.  It has been used as a symbol for the balance between Earth and Sky, balance with nature, balance within oneself.  So, I decided to carry through with that concept while creating her headdress.  I really wasn’t sure what I was going to do but asked my husband to share some of his electrical wire with me.  Before he brought it up to me, in a synchronistic moment, he played with it a little bit and created a very tiny wire tree shape at the end of one of the wires.  I saw that and of course had to search the internet on how to create a wire tree pendant.  There are several tutorials out there and they planted the seed for her headdress.  In keeping with the theme, I found some semi-precious stone chips to add to the headdress as leaves.
Keeper of the Earth by Marla L. Niederer
About this time I was considering where to go from here.  I knew that I wanted some dangles to hang from the headdress.  Of course at my watercolor group that week, in another synchronistic moment, I was gifted with some porcupine quills by one of the watercolor artists in the group.  I never used porcupine quills before but once I saw them I knew I had to incorporate them into the art doll who now was evolving into Keeper of the Earth. 
Keeper of the Earth by Marla L. Niederer
I did a little research on the symbolism of the porcupine and found out that the porcupine is a symbol of light heartedness, helpful to those in grief, but also a symbol of protection, a symbol of the warrior.  The quills could not be a more fitting symbol to add to the Keeper of the Earth than that.  So after much time preparing the quills, and concerns voiced by others on the safety precautions involved in working with the quills (I do have somewhat of a history of being somewhat of a clutz), I added them to the headdress and her earrings.
I then was left with what to do with her hair.  My first thought was continuing to use something natural such as raffia.  But as I played with it the raffia was just too overpowering for the headdress.  So I searched my studio stash and found some moss which complemented the headdress instead of overpowering it.
Keeper of the Earth by Marla L. Niederer
There is still work to be done on her before she is complete but her presence is already an expression of the hope that someday with light heartedness we can walk once again in balance with ourselves, in balance with each other, and in balance with the earth.

Until next time warm hugs,
Marla

In case you would like to learn some of the skills I use in creating my art dolls I teach both online and live classes.
Mardi-Gras Tassel Doll by Marla L. Niederer
I will be teaching Mardi-Gras a Tassel Ornament Doll at the Philadelphia conference.  You can find out more about the class and how to sign up here.

The Goddess by Marla L. Niederer
I will be teaching The Goddess at the Columbus, Ohio conference.  You can find out more about the class and how to sign up here.

Claudette by Marla L. Niederer
And if you don’t want to wait until spring to take a class, I am teaching an online class on AforArtistic that starts this coming week called Claudette: A Cage Doll.  You can find out more about the class and how to sign up here.

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Art Doll Creation: Taking Many Paths to One Place

Needle sculpted Figurative Fiber Art Doll by Marla L. Niederer
Okay, so I have mentioned before that I have a propensity for chasing all things shiny down the artistic rabbit hole.  My artistic interests have been varied throughout my life and continue to be so.  That can be very distracting when trying to focus on refining skills in one area but it also can lead to growth in the area of focus.  I have currently been working on a project that has been taking considerable amount of time.  But the more I work on it the more I see all my varied artistic pursuits falling into place.
The project I am working on is a Figurative Fiber Art Doll.  I started it in response to the critique I had on my work at the NAIDA Conference last summer.  I completely revamped my Art Doll patterns to create this doll and this is the latest of many revisions.  If truth be told, it is definitely not the last.  Although I still need to make further revisions in future Art dolls, I wanted to see how things flow together so decided to complete this one.
Needle sculpted Figurative Fiber Art doll by Marla L. Niederer
As I have been working on this doll I have started painting watercolors with a group of watercolor artists.  When I paint with watercolors on paper there are no expectations, no classes to put together to teach, no paintings needed to be painted to sell.  It is just the flow of water, paint, paintbrush, vision, and being in the moment.  It has been a very calming experience for me and one that I plan to continue.
Watercolor painting by Marla L. Niederer
I have been using watercolors to create facial features and skin tone on my art dolls for quite some time but the added practice with watercolors, even though it is not doll related, seems to be impacting my painting of my art dolls.
Needle sculpted Figurative Fiber Art doll by Marla L. Niederer
Before I started working on this project I was going through this renewed interest in crochet.  I hadn’t crocheted in over 20 years but when going for some shopping therapy after my NIADA critique I stopped in a fiber shop and came across some fine silk crochet thread that made its way back home with me.  I didn’t know what I wanted it for when I bought it but it was silk and shiny and soothing to the soul.  I played a little bit with crocheting motifs with the thread thinking I was going to make some earrings with them.  That never happened but………
Needle sculpted Figurative Fiber Art Doll by Marla L. Niederer
Needle sculpted Figurative Fiber Art Doll by Marla L. Niederer
I have been an avid jewelry maker for quite some time.  I typically make jewelry for myself and gifts with an occasional sale here and there.  So I started getting a beading magazine this fall and decided to make this pair of earrings amongst other things.
Hand beaded Maple Leaf Earrings by Marla L. Niederer
Of course I also had to embellish my art doll with some beadwork. 
Needle sculpted Figurative Fiber Art doll by Marla L. Niederer
Needle sculpted Figurative Fiber Art doll by Marla L. Niederer
This work is still in progress.  I’m hoping to have her completed to exhibit at the Quinlan Philadelphia Art Doll and Teddy Bear Conference and the Artistic Figures in Cloth and Clay Conference in Columbus Ohio this spring.  I will be teaching Art Doll classes at both conferences. 
Mardi-Gras Tassel Ornament Doll by Marla L. Niederer
I will be teaching Mardi-Gras  Tassel Ornament Doll at the Philadelphia conference.  You can find out more about the class and how to sign up here.
Goddess by Marla L. Niederer
I will be teaching The Goddess at the Columbus, Ohio conference.  You can find out more about the class and how to sign up here.
Claudette by Marla L. Niederer
And if you don’t want to wait until spring to take a class, I am teaching an online class on AforArtistic that starts this coming week called Claudette: A Cage Doll.  You can find out more about the class and how to sign up here.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Claudette A Cage Doll Shrine to Romance

Claudette by Marla L. Niederer
I am so excited to be teaching the online class Claudette starting next week on AforArtistic!
Claudette by Marla L. Niederer
I have always been a bit interested in Cage dolls and when I woke to the words left over from a dream, “Romance is the Music of Life,” I decided to create Claudette. 
Claudette by Marla L. Niederer
Claudette is my own version of a cage doll with a mixed media shrine to romance.  While searching for a picture to place in the mixed media frame I found a portrait of Queen Charlotte painted by Esther Denner in 1761 on Wikipedia.  I fell in love with her costume.  The bodice and choker created for Claudette were inspired by this painting.
Queen Charlotte by Esther Denner
If you wish to join me in the online class Claudette click on the following link to AforArtistic for more information and to sign up if you wish.