For the past seven years I have created Folk Art Dolls that were created in a variety of themes from whimsical to cultural to spiritual. They have allowed me to explore endless possibilities in mediums, sometimes evolving from Gourd and Paper clay, all Clay sculpts, or Beaded Cloth and Clay. But one of my greatest joys in the creating, is expressing myself through my Art Doll Miniatures.
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| Beads, Cloth, and Clay to create an Art Doll Miniature |
Folk Art Doll Miniatures are known as Art Doll Ornaments, Ornies, Mini's, and Poppets. I call mine Wisdom Keeper Poppets, because they carry bundles of inspiration in each little Art Doll.
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| Mermaid Folk Art Dolls by Jeanne Fry |
Each of these Art Dolls are based from cloth and clay. I hand stitch each of them from batik, cotton, one of the many fabrics I have collected over time. Their faces are crafted from Art Doll Clay, and then hand painted with layers of acrylics and sealed with a satin or gloss finish.
Once I have stitched the body and attached the face, the possibilities are endless in how they evolve. I add hair using fleece, fibers, and silk mohair from alpaca or sheep that has been hand dyed, or knitting yarns. Sometimes I even just bead their hair using seed beads.
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| Folk Art Doll Miniatures with hand dyed fleece locks for hair |
Once she has formed, I begin embellishing with lots of different seed beads, glass beads, clay beads, and beaded trim. I attached small metal charms, ribbon, organza, paper flowers, dried botanical.....the list is endless. (This would account for the countless boxes, bins, and jars of embellishments that fill my studio)
For those that will be Ornaments, I sew a small leather loop on their back. Some have pin-backs so that they can be worn on a coat lapel, attached to a tote bag, or even to a curtain. Some of my Art Doll miniatures are designed to be Wall Hangers, with a loop on their back to hang on a picture hanger on a wall. This alleviates the need for shelf space that many of us have a shortage of.
Many of my collectors carry them in or attached to their purse of tote bag, others hand them in their car or on their office wall.
I tend to create my Art Dolls in themes...Inspirational, Empowering, and Whimsical. I make separate lines of Gnomes Dolls, Mermaid Dolls , and even Rabbit Art Dolls for Easter.
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| Gnome Folk Art Doll Miniatures |
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| Rabbit Folk Art Doll Ornament |
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| Trinity Goddess Folk Art Doll Wall Hanger |
And of course I create Frida Kahlo Folk Art Dolls too, one of my favorite inspirations.
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| Frida Kahlo Folk Art Doll Ornament |
Creating Folk Art Doll Miniatures or Ornies, are such a joy...to create a small piece of Art with large meaningful impact.
If you would like to see my current Folk Art Dolls you can find them in my Etsy and Indiemade shops here
