Art Dolls & Figures

Q.  What’s your greatest influence today?  Do you get your ideas from other dolls, other art, or something else altogether? I read Soft Dolls & Animals, Art Doll Quarterly, and I belong to several internet doll lists. I love all of these, but things and people influence me the most. Things?  Well, here’s an example:  … Continue reading "Alice C. W. Dennis – doll artist interview – part 2 of 3"

Alice C. W. Dennis makes art dolls with wonderful facial expressions.  In this interview on three pages, she shares her insights, inspirations, resources, and recommendations for new dollmakers. dolls by alice c. w. dennis (c)2005 The interview starts here… Q. How do you describe your dolls? I sometimes have difficulty with this. My “creations” are … Continue reading "Alice C. W. Dennis – Doll Artist interview – part 1 of 3"

Note: This is the second part of a two-part article tracing the history of paper dolls.  See The History of Paper Dolls, part one to read the first part. 20th century paper dolls – A brief history In the 20th century, other magazines followed this trend, including Ladies’ Home Journal  (Sheila Young’s “Lettie Lane”), Pictorial … Continue reading "History of Paper Dolls – Part 2 of 2"

Today’s paper dolls evolved from ceremonial and performance figures, and dressmakers’ fashion dolls. General history Paper was invented in China around 105 C.E. by Ts’ai-Lin, a courtier from Lei-yang. Although the word ‘paper’ is derived from ‘papyrus’, this early paper was not a papyrus product. With paper’s development in nearby China, it should be no … Continue reading "History of Paper Dolls – Part 1 of 2"

Many years ago, I taught at Artfest.  It was a golden era, and for many years, I had a wonderful time. At one Artfest, organizer Teesha Moore gave us simple cloth dolls.  I think her grandmother had assembled them. When I received mine, I promptly embellished her.  Here’s the result. (I apologize for the size … Continue reading "A 2001 Artfest Doll"