Frankenstein lives

Here is a picture of Jolie giving hugs to that good old Frankenstein doll, my original sad attempt at doll making. I had left her for dead, but the other day, my friend Kim was babysitting while I ran errands, and during that time, Jolie suddenly made a connection to the doll, picking her up, hugging her and patting her back... showin' the love, how sweet! Only, poor "Baby" as we had been calling it, was still faceless, and Kim said Jolie would turn her around and around, seemingly looking for some features to identify, which makes sense since that is her most current obsession. My mom had stitched a nose bridge into one side so perhaps she was confused. "If one has a nose, shouldn't one also have eyes and a mouth? Where are they?"
Mother guilt kicks in... here I am making art dolls with rosy little cheeks and smiling lips while my own daughter's handmade doll is rolling around unfinished and faceless at the bottom of the toy basket.
That evening I grabbed needle and thread and went to work. And now, "it's alive!" Muhahahw... but, there was one teensy problem. See, I really am not equipped for embroidering hair and eyes etc... so I used some rather improvised materials, and as a result, I somehow turned Baby into a rather mousy looking person. Daniel, upon looking at her declared, "well I know one thing, she's not Baby anymore. She looks like some sort of schoolyard know it all..." Of course this made us all laugh, and I had a good chuckle, but on the inside, a nagging worry...
Had I ruined the rustic beauty that was Baby? Would my daughter reject her, or worse, cultivate a deep seated anger for the wrong that I had done to her little snuggle companion? Of course not you neurotic newbie mom! When I nervously presented the doll to Jolie the next day, she snatched it out of my hands and excitedly tapped at her eyes, "eyh eyh!". Yes! She was pleased with my work. Mother guilt dissolved... So now Frankie is enjoying the view from the top of the toy basket. May she live in peace and not fall apart too soon.





Frankie wearing the dress my Mom made.

Ella

Here is Ella...
Sometimes, I'll finish a piece of art, look at it, and realize it looks like someone I know... then I'll think back and remember that I bumped into them, or was thinking about them around the time those characteristics showed up in the process. It's an amazing thing to actually be able to see where and when your subconscious had an influence on what you created.

Hello World

Well, I decided I would give a few little sneak previews of my latest projects which are dolls. I remember a few people asking me when I was pregnant whether the whole experience of having a child would change my art, and I'd reply with "I'm to tired to think about it" or something equally as evasive. Truth is I had no idea what direction my art would take. Didn't really think it would change it at all. Then one evening, I was remembering this cute soft doll that my aunt made me when I was little and I thought, I could do that! So I got out some materials, and went to work... making the Frankenstein of all Dolls. I was a bit disappointed so I put the strange thing aside and moved on to painting a few canvases for the nursery. Stick to what you know right? Well, as it happens, a little while after I had Jolie a friend mentioned I should take a workshop being offered by a dollmaker I had admired for a long time, Jane DeRosier, (she's listed on the blogs I follow, Gritty Jane, check it out). So I took this workshop and Woosh! Inspiration hit me like a truck. I had been wanting to do something 3D-ish for a long time and this satisfies that urge. But what is really making me love doing them is the reaction I get from Jolie. I've made 3 dolls now and she gets so excited when she sees them. It's pretty cool. I mean she can be in the middle of a cry and I'll bring her over to where the dolls are hanging in my studio and she'll stop crying and immediately start waving at them, saying hi and giggling. Talk about rave reviews eh? So my idea when I started them was that they would look cute on the wall above her crib.... but that turned out not so practical. I'd have her ready to take a nap, walk her into her room, be humming lullabies to her sleepy face and be about to lay her down and she'd pop up and start jumping up and down and screaming with joy over seeing the dolls. problem. So now they are my art studio companions, and instead of turning into the cat lady I thought I'd be, I'm might now be well on my way to becoming the doll lady. I've even caught myself saying "You have fun sweetie, I am going to stay home and work on the dolls". Hmmm...

The Wine Lover II

This is a photo of The Wine Lover II, a work in progress. It's the under layers and sketch of a piece I'm doing on request, which will be very similar to Wine Lover. I'm still figuring out the draping of the shawl over the right shoulder. I might have a friend come over and sit for me to figure that out sometime this week, I was never happy with the right arm on the first painting, so I'm thinking some drapery might add more visual richness in that area. Also I'm going to challenge myself to work on lighting (noooo!) I'm a stubborn, non realist, or maybe I'm just lazy.... but I think a little glowy light on this piece might look cool, so I'm going to put in the work. The dress is going to be the same. I'll use my favorite GOLDEN color ever, Green Gold, to do transparent layers for the flower designs. Can't wait for that part! OK, well, I will hopefully give an update on this painting in a week or so.

Greasing the Gears

Here's a little painting I just finished. It's what I'd call a "decorative painting", lots of color, not much thought. Something to help me get back into the swing of things. These kinds of pieces are like chocolate for me... that is, I can't stop myself from indulging in them :)

My First Blog

Well here I am, I've finally made it into blogville. Let's hope I do a better job at this than maintaining my old rickety website at www.karenminton.com, poor old pile of circa 1998 html that it is, it's served me well.

My goal with starting this blog here is to provide a little more insight into my artistic process, projects, inspirations and whatnot. I'll post little bits of info along with each new painting. So here we go, and if you're following this blog, I hope you enjoy the ride...