Human faces and figures, ancient or contemporary, fascinate me as summaries of life stories in the moment. The longer I work as an artist, the more focused my work seems to be on interpretations of those themes.
Clay, paper, beeswax, and fiber are my instinctive, beloved media, all of which lend themselves to representations of faces and figures as small sculptures, spirit dolls, and earthenware faces.
Below are two of the latest little figures (sticks, clay, found objects) which I just dropped off at Marta Stafford’s gallery in Marble Falls. They are called “StarSeason” (top) and “Pastime” (bottom)
Creating an assembled piece related to human form is different from creating an abstract painting – there’s still a lot of intuition, technique, and trust involved, but these small sculptures seem to function as creative “guides.”
It’s easier to tell what element a figurative assemblage “wants” than it is to tell what color a painting “wants,” at least to me. Yeah, I know, it sounds weird.
I discovered this when I started teaching Spirit Doll workshops a decade or so ago, and then re-learned it in the latest Spirit Doll workshop, now up on Teachable.
If you look at the second lesson in the Spirit Doll workshop (which is a free preview) you’ll see how a bunch of stick almost pull themselves together to become something with strong opinions and a personality! It’s really fun to be involved in that process.
I remember when I was putting this piece (below) together a couple of months ago (it’s kind of a cross between mixed-media sculpture and Spirit Doll), I felt strongly guided on what to do next. For example – when it came time to represent the hair, she wanted horsehair.
I didn’t even know I had any horsehair, but then I remembered that a friend had brought me some a long time ago at my old studio. I finally found a hank of pale, coarse horsehair in a buried Ziploc, and used it. The sculpture/spirit doll was right! Nothing else would have worked!
Then there’s Mojo Woman, who wanted everything but the kitchen sink – I listened to her, too – not sure about this one 🙂 See how smug she looks with all that stuff?
Anyway, join the new Spirit Doll workshop if you need a new imaginary best friend who can be a bit bossy. But if you don’t like having somebody telling you what to do, you may regret it!
Take good care,
Lyn
I love your spirit doll creations.
Thank you, Karen!
I know what you mean. Sometimes the creation has ideas of its own. I once walked all around a fabric store with a half-finished mermaid art doll, waiting for her to tell me which fabric she wanted. Good thing they’re used to me.
This cracked me up!! And I understood it completely! Big smile, Anne – ♥
Greetings Lyn from Michigan,
What a treat to see your Imaginary Friends, beautiful Star Season & Pastime.
Can you give me any suggestions as how I can make some Shard pieces to dress my Bossy Gal with. ?? Or do you by any chance sell a small sample collection ?
I sent for my faces this past Sat. Sept. 2023, I have a stick doll about completed
except she’s waiting on one of your faces. ( She’s being very patient ).
Thanks ever so much for your time.
Gail
I love your dolls too! My spirits definitely are in control when I am creating. And they are greedy for my attention. If I just pop in the studio on the way to do something else, I know I will be trapped into their creations.