Etienne

 

I was painting this little boy's face when news of the Paris terrorist attacks was filtering through.......I have called him "Etienne" - it seemed apposite, and also, I think he has a kind of European look to him. He is a 12' (30 cm) jointed cloth doll with a cloth over clay head painted with artist's acrylics. His hair was formed using cotton thread impregnated with glue and applied to his head. He sports some nice warm hand-knitted winter woollies, wool fabric shorts in brown with a fine lighter stripe and I made his socks with some new 2-ply merino yarn that I sourced from  

Morris and Sons in Sydney. 

 

He has leather lace-up shoes.....blue suede, no less! He is one of my "Pensive Children" series - no. 10.

Pensive Child

My house is now listed, repairs and tidying up done, so now I can relax a bit and get back to my waiting work.......although keeping the house always tidy and free of clutter and ready for inspections takes a bit of effort!
I have a few orders pending for my "Pensive Child" dolls - both boys and girls, which is fun! I don't often get to make boys. So I've been busy making heads and sewing bodies to get these little sweeties out as soon as I can. I have other orders on the go as well, so it is nice to get a bit of uninterrupted studio time. Just chipping away at it........I do so love making these little cloth children with their serious but tender faces, sturdy jointed cloth bodies and no-nonsense unfussy play clothes!

 

Two Heads Are Better?

I'm working on these two little dolls at the same time - a boy and a girl. I am very happy with how the moulded boy hair turned out - it's the first time I've done it like this. And if they look a bit familiar I used my "pensive child" mould to make their faces, so they are sister and brother to the little girl I blogged about a few posts ago. It's been a bit damp and cool the past few days, so I've had the woodheater in the studio going - just above it is a great place to dry out works in progress!