Ruby Lane's Creative Hands Newsletter for March 2003

__________________________________________________________________
MARCH FEATURED CRAFT: SECRETS OF PAINTING BLACK
BABY DOLLS BY JUDY KAPRON OF ARTISTIC DIFFERENCES

I have been making porcelain dolls for almost 30 years, but I
particularly love painting Black Babies. The shading you can
apply to each doll, to give it a nice natural skin tone, makes
each doll uniquely individual. I invite you to experiment with
my painting suggestions to achieve the desired effect you want.

Start with your head poured in a light brown of your choice (I
use French chocolate). Clean and fire head to cone 6 as you
normally would. Do not put oil on your dolls face like you
usually would. Once the initial firing process is completed the
fun begins:

1. Add extra mixing to your brown paint (I use chestnut brown)
to give it a more oily consistency than you would normally use.
Using a cosmetic sponge, dip it into your paint and spread the
paint mixture on your dolls face. Be sure it gets into every
crevice. Blot your sponge on a paper towel and then begin to
remove paint with your sponge. Work from the center with an
outward motion. You will remove more paint in areas that are
naturally highlighted, such as cheekbones, chin, and the tip of
the nose. Blend with a china mop brush until color is even and
there is no streaking. Fire to cone 018.

2. Repeat step and fire again to cone 018.

3. Put your painting medium on your doll then paint, lips and
brows. Fire to cone 018.

4. Put medium on doll head. Paint brown around areas you want
to accentuate. I do a line around the side of the nostrils and
in the corner of the eyes. Put paint in between the top and
bottom lip. Blot with paper towel and then blend with a shadier
brush. Fire to cone 018.

5. Put medium on doll. Paint a fine black line around the lips
blot and blend with a shader brush. Put blush on the cheeks with
a china mop. Fire to cone 018.

6. As doll comes from the kiln from your last firing and is
still hot hold the head with a hot pad and rub a stick of
paraffin wax over it. The wax will melt and give the doll a nice
sheen.

I hope you try the technique I have outlined for you. I believe
you will enjoy the process as much as the lovely result.

We invite you to take a moment and visit Judy's Ruby Lane Shop,
Artistic Differences.

__________________________________________________________________
THE DOLL AS ART

Scientific surveys show that the thing we like to look at the
most in the world is people; it's a simple fascination for the
face and figure (so who doesn't love to "people-watch"?)

Is it any wonder then that we are drawn to dolls and as with
many other collectibles, we must possess them!

Contemporary art dolls are not the popular fashion dolls of ones
childhood, the glorious antiques of old or the cherished cloth
dolly who has been slept with, drooled on and perhaps dragged
lovingly by her leg and displayed as a family heirloom.

Contemporary doll art has combined that need to re-create the
human form and express and create something that we love with
unique individual artistic crafting and personal expression. You
will find that Art Dolls represent a kaleidoscope of styles and
subjects ranging from the sublime to the whimsical, from
eccentric character pieces to classically designed and executed
historical figures, and works that defy classification! Many of
the creations are like the pages of ornate fantasy illustration
art come to life, or portraits, or perhaps even some dark corner
of our own mind!

A true contemporary doll artist must combine the talents of many
arts: sculpting, painting, ceramics, needle crafting, wig
making, costuming, design, pattern making. The Doll Art creator
will and also need knowledge of anatomy, proportion and scale as
well. Of course the artist must be creative and have a unique
talent to make their work stand out from others. Many artists
have a background in fashion design; animation, puppetry,
portrait painting, theatrical and special effects, graphic arts,
and illustration are some examples.

There are a wide variety of materials used in Art doll making:
wood, ceramic, clay, polymers, stone clay, paper, porcelain,
resin, cloth, latex, wax, etc, (as well as a combinations of
these such as a papier mache over fabric).

Those who collect art dolls are just as diverse as the methods
of making the dolls: Some prefer to decorate with fabric
sculptures only, many hanging from the walls as
three-dimensional painting, another may have select pieces
displayed on pedestals throughout their home or office,
displayed along with other treasured art works, while many
others line their walls with glass cabinets artfully displaying
many unusual one-of-a-kind finds. And the prices, well they can
range from an exquisite small $75 fabric or clay piece to an
elaborate $15,000 dressed sculpture.

For more information and research on the Art of the Doll, try
these resources:

A Collector's Guide - Contemporary Artist Dolls by Susanna
Oroyan & Carol-Lynn Rossel Waugh

The Doll by Contemporary Artists by Krystyna Poray Goddu & Wendy
Lavitt

The Art of the Doll - Contemporary Work of the National
Institute of Doll Artists.

__________________________________________________________________
MARCH SHOW SAMPLER

Here's a list of upcoming shows around the U.S. featuring fine
art and handcrafted items:

Mar 29-30, 2003, Weston Spring Arts & Crafts Show Weston Town
Square, West Ft. Lauderdale, FL

March 20-23rd, 2003, The 21st Annual Native American Art Show
Civic Center in Great Falls, Montana.

April 4-6, 2003, Sugarloaf Craft Show, Art Fair, Art Festival
Gaithersburg, MD (Washington, D.C.)

April 5-6, 2003 Heart of the Ozarks Spring Craft Festival Ozark
Empire Fairground, Springfield, MO

April 12-18, 2003, 18th Annual Spring Fair Owensville High
School, Owensville, MO

April 26, 2003, 2nd Annual Spring Charity Craft Show AshCreek
Recreation Center, Mechanicsville, VA. For information, please
contact Tracy Rohr at (804) 550-1214.

__________________________________________________________________
SHARE CREATIVE HANDS WITH A FRIEND

Did you enjoy this issue of Creative Hands? Do you know others
who would enjoy receiving it? We invite you to forward this
issue to those you know who also appreciate and enjoy arts &
crafts.

__________________________________________________________________
ABOUT RUBY LANE

We are one of the largest Internet sites for collectors, with an
active community of hundreds of shops from all over the world
offering antiques, fine art, arts & crafts, and collectibles.
Ruby Lane displays quality inventory in over 2,000 categories.
Visit us at www.rubylane.com

__________________________________________________________________
CONTACT US:

If you have a suggestion on how Ruby Lane can better serve you,
or if you have an article you would like to submit or a subject
you would like us to cover in an upcoming issue, contact us at
newsletter-artsncrafts@rubylane.com Creative Hands is a strictly
opt-in email newsletter with verified subscribers. Advertising
inquiries are welcome!

For previous newsletters, view the Creative Hands Archives.