I'm at Patricia's learning more about porcelain BJDs.  The process is very time consuming but Patricia has spent months tweaking the details and after many prototypes, these are her first dolls that will marketed!  What a beautiful job she's done!  The joints move very effortlessly on these dolls.  The joints are lined with leather.  I just love the feel of the porcelain. 



We spent a lot of time playing with all the dolls, changing their costumes, and wigs, and poses. 



Of course, below is my favorite doll, Missy.  (Notice she's been in ALL the pics!)  She'll be mine come Christmas!  I can't wait!  (Thank you, Patricia!)  I'll be pouring my own mold during this visit and I'll post some pics of the process! 

For all the work that it takes to make one of these dolls, it's truly a great experience to be able to play around with them!!  I'll be posting more photos soon!

Here's an update on Echo.  I'm still working on her body.  There's some things I want to refine yet.  Not sure where I'm going with that free arm.  When I'm sculpting, I'm kind of in the moment and things usually evolve as they will.  With that said, that means I don't have any idea about a color scheme for her tail or fins yet.  I will probably stay in the blue category as she has dark blue eyes.  I'm always open to suggestions.    Hey, check out those ears!!  I'm so excited!  I think I finally got it down!  Why are ears so darn hard to sculpt?  xoxo Loretta

Well, Debbie and I headed for the Windy City bright and early Sunday morning to see the NIADA and ODACA doll shows.  The trip was fine, other than us getting all turned around in Chicago.  Garmins don't work among skyscrapers and they were filming the movie "Transformers 3" so the road we needed was blocked off.  Anyhow, the doll shows were somewhat of a disappointment.  The NIADA artists I had hoped to meet were not there and their was only 1-2 polymer clay artists there.  Absent were- Forest Rogers, Diane Keeler, Gail Lackey, the Creagers, just to name a few of those I had so hoped to meet in person.  NIADA only had a few tables, like maybe 12-15 and we walked through it within a few minutes.  We were then off to the ODACA show to see our friend Kori who had a table over there!  What a sweet girl she is!  And I'm so happy for her!  She sold a doll for $950 shortly after the doors were opened!  (the large doll in the picture below)  But again, we were disappointed.  There wasn't a lot of tables and maybe 1-2 other polyclay artists besides Kori.  I'm looking forward to IDEX as we have rented space for IADR.  We're hosting 16 artists and hoping to make a positive impact for the polymer clay industry.  In 2011, we're planning to go bigger.  This is just a trial run.   And Kori will be with us at IDEX as will many other great polyclay artists!  If you'd like to see the listing for our table, visit www.international-art-doll-registry.com/idex. 

So, the day was not a loss.  We had some great Indian food and had a great view from our hotel room.  (see below)  Chicago is really a pretty city.  Beautiful buildings.  We spent the evening in the hotel bar which overlooked the city.  We drank wine, talked dolls, and watched the city to come to life as the sun set.  So that's your report from the Windy City!

 

Here's a better picture of the head.  Patricia critiqued my head and I see many improvements I can make to it so I may try this one again.  xoxo

Well, worked on this head all day.  Planning to make a mermaid but we'll see.  Thought she kind of looked like a fish!  LOL

Got Sudi finished in some pretty browns.  She's a sweet little fairy but of course, I see plenty of things I'd like to improve.   Have some things I'm going to focus on for the next doll especially hands.  I don't ever seem to get the look I want.  Nice to finish a project though.  Now, I'm costuming my Alice in Wonderland that I sculpted last year.  Hope to have her pics up soon!  And I'm really looking forward to the NIADA show next month! 

I had hoped to finish Sudi today but it seems like I can't decide on anything for her costume or wings so I've just been spinning my wheels.  Guess she'll have to wait until next week now.  Hugs, Loretta

 

This is Sudi!  I sculpted her last Friday and I still need to do a little sanding in a few places and then it'll be time to paint her and costume her.  I love how the dolls just have their own personalities and seem to just be hiding in the clay.  I had nothing in mind when I made her.  (Debbie just challenged me to make a doll in one day, lol)  And so this sweet little gal came to be.  Hugs, Loretta

Well, holy moly!  I've been looking at this doll for months and finally finished her!  IADR is going to IDEX in Orlando next January so I thought I better get busy!  I am working on a new fairy and she's about done.  I'll post her in a few days.  I'll be at the NIADA show next month with Debbie.  If you're going, let me know.  I'd love to meet you! 

My good friend, Patricia Rose, is launching a new series of porcelain BJDs (ball-jointed dolls) and they are just STUNNING!  I just wanted to post a pic of this latest one.  Her name is Missy and I will be getting this one for Christmas from her.  I am over the moon with happiness!  Isn't she beautiful!  This doll sells for $2000!  See more of Patricia's work at www.patriciarosestudio.com and her newest site is www.patriciarosedesigns.com.   It's still under construction but will be her primary BJD site.  xoxo Loretta

We had a great time at the Chicago Miniature Show!  There were fabulous artists there and great buys too!  I spent WAY too much money but I will definitely attend again next year!  IGMA was there and they gave a great presentation.  I plan to join them very soon.  The house was made during a workshop the week of the miniature show.  Sure wish I could have attended that!  The doll was made by T.K. Designs.  I loved it!  Very delicate.  These are just cell phone pics so forgive me for the lack of clarity.  I met up with my friends Debbie, Patricia and Deena and we had too much fun, lots of laughs and lots of wine!  Great trip!

Here are some lip references for other artists.  xoxo

Many folks have asked about the HB oven so here's some pointers to make it more doll friendly.  I love this oven.  It's a nice size but not too big and beats the heck out of using your home oven.  You can get one for about $100. 

Finally back to sculpting!  I broke my ballerina's arm when removing her tutu (didn't like it) so I spent some time today repairing it.  That prompted me to take pics of the process for those of you who have asked me about repairing your dolls.  It was just a hairline crack but it went half way around her arm so I had to carve it out and repair it.  I should have that tut up next week.  I also decided to do a short tut on how I prepped my HB oven to make it more doll friendly.  Anyhow, excited about working on a project again and hope to have her costumed next week!  Hugs!  P.S.  Happy Birthday to me! 

  

Whew!  What a busy month this turned out to be!  I thought with not having a show this month that I would get a break from IADR  HA!  We tallied our member votes for the Annual award winners with Phyllis Morrow winning a double hit in Overall Best in Shows and Artist of the Year and Eneida Rosa of Spain winning Doll of the Year.  We had such great nominees!  So, then I decided to use Eneida's doll for our 2010 site header and banner and I updated the colors for the site and took the opportunity to do some cleaning out of some old pages to make room for fresh 2010 pages.  We also decided on the new 2010 Show schedule which is fabulous.  And I cranked out the 2010 IADR calendar with all the 2009 show entries and added a lot of new products to the IADR Store.  Basically, December turned out to be a very busy month afterall and it's a great end to 2009.  I am SO hoping to be able to do some real sculpting soon though!  At least finish that ballerina!!  She's still naked!

I am selling these eyes now.  They are handpainted and oven friendly!  They're super easy to use and add beautiful realism to your OOAK doll!  See my eBay auction in the left sidebar for more information or contact me directly at lorettapolaski@gmail.com   

Had a great time in Tampa!  All we did was faces.  Patricia is such a good teacher.  I think all the students went home with a head full of new ideas and a few new friends!  I went to Patricia's house for a few days after the workshop and then when I got back, I had to work several shifts so I haven't  had much time to work with my new mental tools.  I have a few days off and I hope to make some new heads this week.

 
I will hosting the IADR workshop in Tampa this weekend!   Patricia Rose will be teaching!   We are all very excited and looking forward to fun-filled weekend!  We'll post pictures!  Hugs!