Art Doll Exhibit

Last night was the closing reception for Art Dolls 3 at the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination.  The show was on display for a month and it was well received.  Art Dolls 3 was a collaborative doll making exhibition and education project of the Jane Street Art Doll Collective.  

There was an excellent turn out & sales were good.  

I enjoyed watching people interact with my art.

The Jane Street Art Doll Collective.
Chris Fondi, Joyce Compton & Emily Eckel

The show was a wonderful way to end a year that contained a number of challenges.  It was particularly meaningful that so many friends from out of town came to the opening night.

Friends from "Summer Camp".

Displaying Art Dolls

I'm preparing for a show of my dolls at the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination.   It opens the first Friday of December.  Showing with me are Joyce Compton and Chris Fondi.  About half of what I'm showing are wall dolls and they are easy to display.  Standing dolls need to be on platforms or pedestals.  That's a bit more challenging.  I've been busy making pedestals and platforms.

Fortunately I have access to a great place to build my displays.  The Lillian Street wood shop is a supportive well equipped  studio.  I always have fun when I'm there.  I also have studio space at home where I can do finish work on the displays.

Each doll will have a distinct pedestal or platform geared to it's display needs.  Most of the materials in the displays are repurposed wood.  Here you can see pedestals I made from recycled porch posts purchased at Construction Junction in Pittsburgh.  I build them in batches of similar design.  They become more differentiated when they are finished.

After the displays are built I take them home and paint or stain them to suit the personality of the doll that will be on it.  The white pedestals in these photos just have a prime coat of paint.  They will be painted in coming days.  In a few cases I've added fabric or trim to the pedestal.  

Several of the pedestals have turned out to be fancy such as the one below.  They are especially fun to build.  I've been restraining myself from getting elaborate with the displays because it's a show about doll making and not woodworking.  

Saturday at AFIC

Yesterday was busy with doll making and evening activities.  I was trying to max creative time and didn't get everything else done.   Here are photos from the doll exhibit.    If you can identify any of the artists that are unnamed I will update to give credit where it is due. 

Making the mannequin in Stephen Rausch's class.

Jody Miller's doll: I Have All the Time in the World.

Beautifully beaded doll on an interesting shape.  Dayton Doll Club?

This artist did a terrific job of giving context to her doll. 

Susie McMahon's doll.

Linda Apple won first place in original design with this doll.  She does a great job of presenting a strong profile and interesting details.  Note the position of the foot on the base.  This adds to the sense of action.

Nancy Forsythe's "Look Ma No Doll stand.

Jody Miller's doll flying a kite.

This is the best I can do with dial up quality internet service.  Edited May 3, 2011 to add captions.

Preparing to open my solo art exhibit

This weekend I have been hanging my show of dolls in the Chatham University Art Gallery.  I am trying to have a professional quality exhibit and there are many things to do.

The art has to be transported to the gallery, displayed and the lighting adjusted.  All the art must be labeled and priced. In some cases I have also hung interpretation notes with the work. The postcard invitations to the reception were ordered last week and they must be addressed and mailed as soon as they arrive.  The press release must be sent to the media in the hopes of getting a review of the show in the newspaper.  The poster went to the copy center last week and will be ready monday.  Next I have to order the food from the university food service for the reception.  

This show is the culmination of several years of work and I'm very excited to see it finally happening.