Ten Hours of Driving Was Worth It

The planets aligned so that during my husband's vacation time he could be with our son, making it possible for me to get away to visit FIVE Izannah Walker dolls which will be offered at auction by Withington's on October 20th. Visiting these dolls together was like taking a Master Class in Izannah Walker dolls. A huge thank you to Larry and Marcia Leizure of Withington's.  I will be sharing more images of dolls on the Izannah Walker Chronicles. 

I drove 10 hours total to spend 4 hours visiting the Izannah dolls. I spent the night at a hotel the night before so I would be somewhat fresh. But as you can see in the non-professional selfie above, my hair was askew. Just before I left I remembered to take a picture with the dolls. It was a magical time, and who cares about hair?  

Studying Izannah Walker dolls has been a thread in my life since 2006.  I have been lucky (and thankful!) to have opportunities to see Izannah Walker dolls in person. These opportunities required effort on my part and spending money and time to get there to see them. I am so thankful for the doors which opened when I have asked to document dolls. In the next week or so, I will share some images on the Izannah Walker Chronicles.  If you can travel TO Withington's for the auction, you should do it, because there are MANY treasures to be auctioned in addition to these wonderful Izannah Walker dolls. 

Izannah Walker Doll and Maggie Bessie Doll at the Withington Auction

 I went away for a couple of days to the auction held by Withington's. They had an Izannah doll they would be selling, and I wanted to see her in person. Modern phone cameras tend to over-emphasize the lines on stockinette dolls, so it's important to see these types of dolls in person. In almost every case, the stockinette dolls looked better in person than in the pictures I took. I have posted more pictures of this doll at the Izannah Walker Chronicles, for those who like to study Izannah Walker dolls. At the auction someone asked how many dolls I have featured there, and I didn't have an answer for that. I know it's more than 50 Izannah Walker dolls which have been featured with some images, thanks to collectors, and doll shops and auction houses. 

The Izannah Walker doll being auctioned had some significant wear in some places. The face itself was so beautiful, with a slight smile, and the painted curls were divine! 

There were other very interesting dolls at the auction, but I sat on my bidding hand because I am saving up for a special doll when she comes along. Here is another interesting doll: 

Maggie Bessie!  This doll was owned by Shirley Temple Black, and was in near pristine condition. I took some closeups so you could see the intricate work in the cap of the doll, and the closure below the chin. 

Hopestill Izannah Walker Reproduction Dolls by Dixie Redmond

Interested people have questions about the pressed cloth reproduction Izannah Walker dolls I am making. YES, I will be offering Hopestill dolls to find forever homes after they are completed. 

I will be posting to my email list, on my Facebook business page, and here on my blog, when one of my Hopestill doll clan is ready. 

Reproduction Izannah Walker Dolls: There's More Than One Way to Sing a Song

Not long ago, on social media, Jorgen Dahl Moe's version of Bruce Springstein's song Dancing in the Dark came across my feed. I was amazed at how such an iconic song was interpreted in a spare way with only guitar and vocal and no driving background beat. It made me listen to the lyrics more closely, and understand them in a different way. You can watch that video here. 

Jorgen felt freedom to take an iconic song and express it very differently. That video was an encouragement to me in making my own version of pressed cloth Izannah Walker dolls using the mold I made of my antique Izannah Walker dolls. 

In 2010 I wrote a blog post about Reproduction Izannah Walker dolls over on Maida Today. It's been fun over the years for me to see people express their love of Izannah Walker dolls and make what I think of as "Izannah Walker honor dolls". It's been fun to sculpt dolls of paperclay of my own design, and it's fun to make pressed cloth dolls and poured composition dolls made from my antique doll. It's been fun to see how we all "sing the Izannah song" using a variety of materials in different ways. 

As I posted over on MAIDA twelves years ago, I will still be sculpting my own Dixie dolls, even while I bring the Hopestill clan alive from the antique Izannah Walker doll mold. After all, there's more than one way to sing a song! 

Izannah Walker Reproduction Doll in Progress

I have a "painting station" in my basement, but I decided to make my painting supplies portable so I can paint in my kitchen. It's usually brighter there and it's something I can do when I'm caregiving. I had just made a video showing the Izannah Walker reproduction doll in process, and had fashioned a "tripod" for my iPad out of a Pyrex bowl and kitchen towels. And I LOVE tomato cans for organizing paintbrushes. I suppose I could give them a coat of paint or a slipcover, but gotta keep things *real*. 

I like some things about this Izannah Walker inspired doll, so I'm going to pause the painting process and let things marinate while I make limbs and a dress for her. Then I will go back in with paint and clarify what needs emphasizing, and glaze the whole head to unify it. 

The face for this doll is from a mold taken from my antique Izannah Walker doll. She has a pressed cloth face, as Izannah's dolls did. I really enjoy sculpting my own one of a kind dolls with paperclay. There is room to be inspired by Izannah's works in a variety of different ways. I also have a poured composition version of my antique Izannah Walker doll, Hope. It's great to be completing this circle. 

The Hopestill Clan is Established!

My husband encouraged me to buy an Izannah Walker doll when I turned 50. She is a worn example of Izannah's work. But I love her nevertheless.  I named her Hope. 

A few years ago, before the pandemic I had a mold made of my Izannah Walker doll's head. My plan is to make some poured composition and pressed cloth dolls from the face mold, to paint them differently to see what Hope might have looked like when new or with different hairstyles, etc. All the dolls made from this mold are part of the Hopestill Clan. Now that I've made two of this mold we can say the clan is established. ;-)  You can see Starr if you click here. This doll is the first of composition Hopestill dolls and will stay with me.  I've also been working on pressed cloth Izannah dolls to mark my 60th birthday. I'm working on the first pressed cloth doll from this face mold. Show below is the BACK of the doll I'm working on. She will be revealed next week. 

Making pressed cloth faces is a very different process from sculpting my own one of a kind dolls from paperclay. It's takes as much time, and is more finicky.  You don't have the option of adding clay or sanding off stuff you don't like.  It's interesting, though,  and I'm going to have fun with the process. 

Like all dolls, they will bear my own fingerprint in a number of different ways. After all, they are Dixie Redmond Izannah Walker dolls. Keep your eye out in the coming weeks to see more Hopestill dollies! 

Becoming a Beginner Again

I've been posting over on Facebook the progress I'm making on creating Izannah Walker dolls with pressed cloth faces. 

I've been sculpting for 16+ years now and have learned some things in that time. But I'm a beginner at making dolls with pressed cloth faces. But I'm having fun and I will learn with each one I do, as I did with sculpting paperclay. 

I want to complete a doll I am satisfied with that has a pressed cloth face before my 60th birthday, which is right around the corner. I'm really focused right now on completing some circles for myself. And I'm making progress on this circle. 

Here are some of the dolls in process which have pressed cloth faces. These are made with the molds I generated from my antique Izannah Walker doll. The dolls from this mold will make up the Hopestill clan. 

Making things with your hands is healing.

Small Changes Can Encourage and Inspire

Last week we rented dumpster to get rid of all of the broken and worn out stuff in our house. We hadn't done a full scale clean out in the fifteen years we have lived here. As is often the case, we still had boxes unopened from when we moved. Those were interesting little time capsules. We emptied the storage shelving in the basement laundry room. We emptied the garage. And now I am looking to smaller spaces. Like my sewing room. 

Thirty years ago my husband and I banged together these particle board shelving units for necessary storage. We were poor and they were cheap. They were a kit you could get from JC Penney. Long before IKEA, long before the internet, there was the Sears catalog and the JC Penney catalog. Oh the books and the projects they have held in those thirty years. 

As I am trying to reduce all my possessions by 50%, I am also looking at how can I make this space work better for me. Before, the space where the dolls are in the middle unit, second shelf was a basket of patterns I had purchased over the years. I decided to move patterns to the bottom and make that 2nd shelf a showcase and reminder of my present project, which is making Izannah Walker inspired dolls from a mold taken of my antique Izannah Walker doll Hope. Now when I walk in that is what I see, front and center. Small changes can encourage and inspire. 

P. S. Keep an eye on my FB Business page as I will be offering for sale some good and interesting craft supplies. Because I am going to reduce all the books by 50% and all the supplies. I sent all the wood carving tools to a friend  who may actually use them. I am going to stick to making cloth and paperclay dolls, and 2D paintings. Maybe I will do some miniature quilts to go along with the dolls. 

Itty Bitty Izannah Walker Doll Finished

Here are some pictures of my Itty Bitty Izannah Walker Doll. She was fun to make and she's soooooo tiny at just shy of 6 inches! The clothing was a huge challenge on this doll. She's being auctioned on Ebay.

Click here to check out my auction!

If Izannah Met Ludwig

If Izannah met Ludwig would they have been friends? Some of the Greiner dolls have the same stillness of expression that you see in Izannah's dolls. It must be why I love both dollmakers' dolls. But Izannahs dolls seem more like portraits. Anyway, the doll I've been working on is a kind of Izannah-Greiner hybrid. I made a doll for the Ava Grace auction that came from the thought of the maker of Hitty and Izannah collaborating on a doll.

This is the Izzy I used as a model when I was sculpting. One thing I keep missing on my sculpts is the high broad foreheads.

Antique Izannah Walker Doll

I ended up doing a few more layers of painting on my doll - hey, if you're gonna over-paint, then really overpaint!

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm definitely happier with her at this stage. And she's already trying on fabric so that's a good sign. Thanks for the encouragement from you artists out there!