Sukeshi Doll and other fun stuff

Sukeshi Doll - She's as light as a feather and she's my little treasure

Last month I attended a workshop in Tasmania as part of a trip to visit my in-laws.  It was hosted by Susie McMahon and this little treasure below is what I made.  If you go here and here you will see more of Susie's Sukeshi dolls and just how clever she truly is.

I had a lovely creative day at Susie's place snuggled in her warm and cosy studio on a very cold, wet and wintry day.  I went with my special friend Di who creates and makes the most wonderful art dolls. Quite a few ladies attended the workshop with everyone working on different projects and generally having a nice time away from the hustle and bustle of every day life.  I courageously showed Susie a couple of drawings I was working on and she helped me with the shading of the face which I have no clue how to do.  Basically it was a show and tell day and Susie was there to lend a helping hand and share her expertise in all things arty.

                         
She's a cloth doll, firmly stuffed with wadding then painted with a coat of Gesso.  Then she got a coat of favourite acrylic paint and then when the inspiration took hold I painted her with a whimsy design.

Percy Pig is other fun stuff

The evening before Susie's workshop, I stayed with Di and her husband Gerald who live in Westbury and we had a wonderful evening by the wood fire eating chocolate biscuits and watching videos.  It was here that Di introduced me to dry felting using the wool from her beautiful and precious sheep which she rescued as abandoned babes.  They've grown into miniature horses now and their home in Westbury, Tasmania should be called 'Sheep Heaven', really those sheep are so spoilt and Duke the cat, well let's just say he's the Boss, you know what I mean.........

Percy Pig

Dry felting is as close as I will ever get to sculpting and what I like about it is that you make it up as you go so every project will be a 'one of a kind' that's for sure. My first attempt was a very bad rabbit [too embarrassed to show rabbit here], but then later I  successfully made a pig called Percy [not too embarrassed to put Percy on display] and now I'm having a go at making a bear which will be another post for another day when said bear is finished.

Dry felting can be painful if you're not watching what you're doing.  The needle is super sharp and you can imagine the wake up call you get when one is dreamingly felting by a wood fire, drinking tea and eating chocolate biscuits.  It's always going to be tricky to keep chocolate off fingers whilst felting and making sure sticky fingers avoid the terrible pain from a sharp needle, but it's worth the pain because I can get my crafty self into a very nice reclining position on the couch with wool, needle, chocolate and video all happening at once.

Thanks Di and Susie for a wonderful weekend 

Photo taken at Evandale Tasmania - Sculpture of an artist