Izannah Walker Workshop Giveaway Drawing

This is the doll that I will be giving away to those who register for the Izannah Walker Workshop in December. You have til midnight on December 31st, 2009 to sign up to have your name added to the drawing! :-)

Goal Setting Revisited

A few years ago, I picked up a book. It's one that has been life-changing for me on many levels. It's called The Magic Lamp: Goal Setting for People Who Hate Setting Goals. Buy this book. Read it and do the exercises - it's really about helping you identify what you really want to make come true in your life.


The title is a bit misleading - as if there is some special gadget out there for helping with setting goals. There isn't. Our lives and what we accomplish, or don't accomplish is about choice making, really, and following through on those choices daily over time. What gets in the way for some of us is focusing and choosing what we want to do. What I particularly like about this book is how the dry dusty "goal setting" framework gets reworked into "making my wishes come true." Because if we all saw goals like that - as making our wishes come true - then we would be more focused on working on them.

Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we don't have time. We have the time. Sometimes we choose not to make our wishes come true because we'd rather watch NCIS or The Little Shop of Horrors. Or more likely for me, surf the web and find 10 Questions to Ask to Help in Decluttering. Or we think our wishes will only come true if we can work on them full time. Not so. The author says:

Spare time wishing may not feel like the ideal arrangement. It may not get you where you want to go as fast as you want to get there, but it will get you there faster than going broke (i. e. quitting your job). And it really works. As a young man, Albert Einstein worked as a patent clerk. In his spare time, he invented the Theory of Relativity. Anything is possible if you give it enough time."

Wishes can come true at any age. It's important to have dreams and goals, and then to work to make them come true. They come in all sizes, too. In a couple of weeks one of my wishes is going to come true. It's something I dreamed back in 2007. It's not the theory of relativity, but I'm happy to see this happening.

Making A Sculpting Tutorial

I'm making a sculpting tutorial for the Izannah Walker Workshop. I have two head sizes I'm working with - one is larger and really only needs paperclay additions. The other is smaller and will allow for a layer of clay all over the head and shoulders. I'm starting with the larger head. I've made the doll torso, and gessoed the head and shoulders. Now it is time to add paperclay. I am trying to simplify what I do and break it down into steps to be followed. This is hard. How to describe some of the sculpting moves? Words like push, smush, cut, flatten, add, remove, smooth, all come to mind. Here's Phase 1 of the sculpting process...

Start by wetting the surface
of the head & shoulders thoroughly.

Add a roll of clay at chin and forehead.
Add 2 balls at the cheeks.
Add a small ball where the nose will be.
Poor girl. It will get better.

Press those down a bit.
Wet your fingers and smooth
the surface of the paper clay.

Check the symmetry often.
Look from the top down over the nose.
Look from the chin up.
Look at either profile and compare.

I see some clay that needs
to be removed at the neck.
I use the flat side
of my trusty
pumpkin carving tool.
You can buy tools
made for sculpting, though.

That's better!

More smoothing with wet fingertips
will take away some of the lumps.
But this is the first sculpt,
so you don't want to have excess zeal.
Adding less clay is better at this point
because you can always add more later.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Into the oven she goes to dry for a few hours
until the paperclay is totally dry.

If you've found this tutorial helpful and interesting then you will want to sign up for the Izannah Walker Workshop. Two more days to sign up in December and have your name added to the drawing to win one of my creations.

Design, Simplicity and Excess Zeal

"Make everything as simple as possible,
but not simpler."

-- Albert Einstein

This quote is an interesting one to think about while designing a pattern. One of the tension points I have been facing in my Izannah Walker pattern design is wanting things to be simple enough that they are do-able, but not so simple that it loses what makes it Izannah-like. A lovely doll maker who has tested my pattern described the arm and leg design as having "excess zeal." This made me grin, because in a way she's right. Excess zeal has pulled me along in my studies of Izannah. Excess zeal led me to attempt an Izannah Walker doll as my first published pattern rather than a simpler pattern. Excess zeal helps get a lot of things accomplished in life but excess zeal can also get you into some tight spots. ;-)

Izannah made things in a particular way because of the design we can't see. An example would be the second covering on the Izannah dolls. Why the second covering? Why was that needed? I'm tweaking that part of the pattern now.

Dixie's Prototype Doll

My theory is that second covering was needed because the lower legs were connected to the outer covering and not to the upper leg. The legs were "pulled on" when the outer covering came on. What supports my theory? This picture of a well-loved Izannah Walker doll shows a lack of connection between the thigh and lower leg. In the dolls I have personally seen, I have felt (gently!) for indication of stitching at the knee under the second covering. Either there is no connection, or the kind of joint/connection used allows for a loose swinging joint. In fact, the original dolls have a lot of movement at the hip and knee joints - they are not stuffed hard at those points. I believe the second skin IS the joint in the original dolls at the knee at least. But is this practical to design my pattern that way? I'm still deciding. So what does this have to do with Albert Einstein and simplicity and my pattern? I'm not Albert or Izannah, but there is a conclusion and it is this:

If you make something too simple,
it becomes something else.

I can simplify the pattern and eliminate the second skin, etc. And it will still be a nice doll pattern. But would it be Izannah-like, then? Not to me. And so the tension point between do-ability and authenticity continues. The second skin is coming along much better than I thought it would. This makes me happy! I am determined the entire pattern will be done with tweaking by New Year's Day. Because I have been working on this pattern since 2007...check the backposts.

Below is an update on the Izannah head sculpt I've been working on. :-) Fun!

Isaiah 9

Isaiah 9
To Us a Child Is Born

1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-

2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land
of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.

3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as men rejoice
when dividing the plunder.

4 For as in the day of Midian's defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.

5 Every warrior's boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government
will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government
and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

Merry Christmas!

Thinking of Starting a Journal?

I'm a big fan of journals. I've kept one since I was 15. I wrote about journal keeping here. The above picture shows a cupboard that was featured on Anonymous Works, and was available at the J. Compton Gallery. The owner of the cupboard wrote daily comments from the 1930's to the 1950's on it. What a great piece! It looks like something one of my odd Yankee ancestors would have done. And it brings journaling to a new 3D dimension. Love it!

Family Gatherings and Food

Like many families during the holidays, we gather together and there is always lots of food. My mom brought cinnamon rolls to last night's event. And my brother made pizza - homemade in a brick oven. If he ever loses his job I would recommend that he open a restaurant. His pizza is better than Ricetta's in South Portland, and that's saying something! The process is interesting, too.

The assembled pizzas
get taken out to the brick oven.

He watches over them
like a mom with a newborn.

He moves them several times
in the very short time
they are in the oven.

Piping hot pizzas come back to the kitchen

Where they are cut...

And served...

And devoured.
I had to edge aside
some family members
to get this shot
before the pizza was gone.

Where does he get his cooking talent?
While my dad is a good cook,
I think he gets it from our mom,
maker of the cinnamon rolls.

My Hemp Discovery

I'm sure that some of you are raising your eyebrows as I wax euphoric about my discovery of hemp. But rest easy, I am talking about hemp fibers, as in hemp fabric. If you are an artisan who likes antiques, you start to pay attention to which items stand the test of time and which rot and decay faster. Of course, you want to choose materials that have longevity if you are an artist. And does hemp fabric ever have longevity...here are some random writings shared from the web. Gentle Reader, it is up to the you to ascertain what is fact and what might be fiction... but it's certainly interesting reading!

San Diego Earth Times states "Hemp was the first plant known to have have been domestically cultivated. The oldest relic of human history is hemp fabric dated to 8,000 BC from ancient Mesopotamia, an are in present-day Turkey."

Hemp Sisters has a historical timeline showing the use of hemp.

• 1470's Gutenberg Bible is printed on hemp paper.

• 1600 Rembrandt paints on hemp canvas.

• 1611 King James Bible is printed on hemp paper.

• 1631 to early 1800's Hemp is 'legal tender' and taxes may be paid with hemp throughout most of the Americas.

• 1763 - 1767 Farmers who do not grow hemp can be arrested and jailed in Virginia.

• 1776 First and second drafts of the Declaration of Independence are written on hemp paper.

Hemp Museum.org states has a page detailing the history of hemp in early America...stating that the first American flag was made from hemp fiber. Lots more interesting reading there!

At this point, you are probably thinking, "Hmmmmm. What's Dixie been up to? Why the passion about hemp? Should I be concerned?" Fear not, gentle reader. No wacky weed usage going on here. ;-) Having been dissatisfied with modern muslin, I was searching for a fabric that has the feel of old homespun and muslin. I have found a heavy weight fabric that has the feel of homespun at Hemp Traders. It's the 5.7 oz. hemp/cotton muslin. It is too heavy for intricate work, but is great for body parts that will need strength in the stuffing process. There are also some choices for hemp linen which I'm going to try next as a possibility for the intricate parts of the doll (hands/fingers). Finding out that hemp was integral in the early history of our country underlines for me that it is a good choice to use in making antique inspired dolls. Here's a picture of my prototype doll (no clay additions as of yet). She was made with hemp fabric, with the exception of the arms, which were vintage muslin. Almost done!

Doll Made with Free Izannah Walker Pattern

A while ago I posted a free updated template pattern for people to use in making Izannah inspired dolls. Recently Lina Janosi finished the doll pictured above and allowed me to post it here. This doll has so much presence and Christmas spirit. :-) It is fun to see that someone took a basic pattern and made it their own. As did Elaine McNally, in the sweetheart shown below. Both of these women are in the Izannah Walker Dolls group - one of the best groups of people on the web! But I'm biased.


In case you missed the post with the free pattern, you can find it below. This pattern has issues - I would decrease the thumb size by about 20%. But hey, it's free. :-) In early January my newly designed Izannah pattern will be released which is based on the original antique dolls. I've put hundreds of hours into that pattern and it's not free, but I hope it will be fun!

If you make a doll with this pattern and post online, please provide a link to my blog. It's fine if you use this pattern to make dolls to sell, just please credit me with the design. Thanks!

A Fun Memory

Making an Izannah Walker type pattern has been an interesting process. In the making of the pattern, I realized that I was trying to recapture the feel of this little original Izzy. I was so thrilled to look at and get to hold this doll. It was definitely a moment when the clouds parted and the sun broke through the clouds. I can see it on my face. I look different now - my hair is much more gray and longer, and I have different glasses. Seeing this doll set me on an Izannah quest.

This quest has made an impact on my husband and sons and even extended family members. Enough that my young son and nephews were talking about it one day a few years ago. I was working in my workroom, within hearing distance, while they were playing in the playroom.

My son said, "Yeah, my mom really likes to make Izannah Walker style dolls. She sells them."

His cousin said, "What's an Izannah Walker doll?" You could hear the question in his tone.

My son answered, "Hmmmmmm. How do I explain Izannah Walker to you?"

They were 7 at the time and were playing something totally male like Batman or Pokemon or Ninjas or something. That cracks me up.

Transitions

Sometimes I draw on my sculpts while they're in process. It helps to see how they're shaping up. The sculpt on the left is coming along okay....

But the guy on the right at top
has developed some major ego issues.

He'll have to go to the operating room
to get some cranial matter taken off...
or become a pumpkin for next Halloween.
While I've been making these I have been
documenting the stages with excrutiating detail
for a tutorial in the upcoming Izannah Walker Workshop.

It's good to have a sculpt that is at a bad place,
so I can figure out how to save it and document that, too.
One thing I learned is I need to use a smaller head
if I want to add paperclay all over the head.
Luckily in the development of the pattern
I have a number of smaller heads
that will work for adding clay all over.
Yay!

Miracles

There are only two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as if everything is.


- Albert Einstein, physicist

Yesterday as I was carefully making an Izannahesque hand, I was thinking about the intricacies of how we are made, and the wonder of the way our hands work. It is easy to take them for granted - at least until arthritis or an injury makes us notice them in a different way. I am very thankful for my hands, for being able to paint, to sew, to cook, to create, to comb my puppy's hair, to scrape the ice from the van, to cut my kids' hair, to play the piano....the list goes on and on.

Anonymous Works

In the way of the internet, someone posted a link to Collectors Weekly, I went to the link to look at antique dolls, and then clicked on a sidebar link and found myself in the most wonderful world of Anonymous Works...written by Joey. Joey, whoever you are, I love your blog! Any blog that showcases "Alda Carlson's Collection of One Thousand and Fifty Four Leaf Clovers" is my place to hang out. Alda's collection is on Ebay right now...

Sculpting

Sometimes sculpts
look really dorky
in the process.