The Mysteries of Broceliande Forest: beginning the journey

          I am starting a new complex project that is inspired by one of my favorite books by Gillian Bradshaw. This is going to be a learning experience for me, since it is not just one doll, but a composition… Don't want to talk too much about it yet, since there is so much to do and to learn. I am sure there some bumps and frustrations are on the way…

However I am happy to share my first steps on "The Mysteries"

 Research is a big one. I had to look at a lot pictures costumes of nobility in of 11-13 centuries, since this is what my personage "Marie" is going to wear. Pinterest is awesome source for things like that!

Yet it is too early for that yet. Good armature and sculpting of head and hands took a couple of weeks… Here are the first steps:

This time, the polymer of choice is "Fimo Puppen"  

"Genesis" heat-set oils is my favorite medium for painting on polymer. It allows more control and time to work, but also is applied in gentle even "blush", that acrylic doesn't provide. I heat-set my oils in between layers before I add more. It helps to avoid mess and blotches of color.

Here is my "Marie" The head is ready along with her hands and neck.

Time to work on strong armature and put her body together…

"Little Red"

"Little red" is a relatively small doll for me, only 9.5
inches tall.

"Little Red" is the name that I gave this creation of mine. "Red" was born when I decided to try  "Fimo Puppen" polymer and see if it works for me. As soon as this sweet face emerged, I could not stop until he was completely finished! I have been busy lately, but had enough time to work on him. So here he is, quite a dandy, in his bright red suit. Made of scraps, in a scrap of time…

Precious

I was thinking about it for a long time. It was very interesting to try create different skin color range. I love dark skin: it brings the deep and reach brown and gold tones that pale skin doesn't have. I also love characteristic features of the face, dramatic contrast between darks and lights…

In order to achieve the effect, I mixed "Fimo  Pippen" and "Cernit. It was my first attempt on blending polymers.  So the new project "Precious" was born.  She is going to be a big girl of whole 67 centimeters.

The preparation took a long time: deciding on size and proportions, several samples of polymer blends to get the skin tone just right, search for reference images…

Blue print of the figure with samples of blends and proportions

Finally, a new little character was born…

 Today I finished with polishing  and painting the face. 

A "Little Creature"

Yes, this is how I call this little guy. I He is only 10"tall (without the stand). I started him only to play with "Fimo Pippen" for the first time… As soon as the little face emerged I wanted to continue working on him. Who is he? I have no idea. So I refer to him as a "Little Creature" it is difficult sometimes to invent a name. Often, name defines character and a story. He has neither. Just a "Little Creature" for now…

"Tea Rose" Completed!

I am very pleased that I finally finished my "Rose" I started her back in October and it took me longer than I thought to finish. One of the reasons was that I wanted to do a lot of details on her clothes , and well… I am not very good at sewing. Although idea of "Tea Dress" was exiting it also was very hard to execute.




















Here is the source of my inspiration












And here is the result of four months of labor (on and off…)
Meet  "Rose" in her full glory!
Well, as full as it going to be, I don't think I can do more for her.

Sunny "Dandelion" complete at last!

Finally, after so many hours of hard work, searching, planning, and yes, some frustration  this little girl is complete!

This work is very personal to me: it was inspired by my childhood memories. One of the brightest memories is when my friend Olga and I went to a picnic with my parents to a forest (not a park). It was bright sunny spring day and we found a picturesque clearing, full of bright yellow dandelions…  we played  with them all day long. Our easy camaraderie and beauty of the warm breezy day are still one of the most precious  memories I have…


I have to say, friends, I am pleased with the results! It was a great joy to dedicate my hours to her. Here she is, my little beauty!




I have to give credit two wonderful people, who helped me along the way: my friend Natalia Olievska, who knitted this beautiful jacket for "Dandelion".


 Also, thanks to artistic vision and technical confidence of my husband Sergey Briginets, you are
looking at these beautiful expressive pictures!

"Dandelion" is a "big" girl of almost 20 inches tall (while sitting)

She has soft flexible body mounted on strong wire armature,
which allows her change positions. She even can stand on her own!

The girl's head, arms, hands, lower legs and feet are sculpted in "Cernit"polymer clay

The flowers of the wreath are made in "Premo" polymer and gently glazed over.

"Bumps and Frustrations" 2

NOT happy…

I don't know what is going on with me! Some kind of "Artist Block" I think…

For two weeks I try to create a good dress for my Dandelion, yet unsucsessfully.  I made two dresses so far and teared them down, because I just not happy with the result…


 Today I am going to fabric stores for new sources of inspiration…

Not happy at all…