2019 Art Doll Christmas Tree

If you have seen the video I posted on my OrsinisAngels Facebook page I wanted to give you a little back story to some of the ornaments on my 2019 Art Doll Christmas Tree.

 

Angel by Christine Shively Benjamin

This is an angel that NIADA artist Christine Shively Benjamin made.  I have admired her dolls for a very long time and was able to purchase this one from her last spring.  Her dolls are so delightful and I am so happy to be a proud owner of one!   Since I met her at the Quinlan show in Philadelphia years ago, she has been such a good mentor and friend.  She is always willing to share her knowledge and support other doll makers along the way.

 

Santa ornament  by Peggy Wilson

This is a Santa ornament that Peggy Wilson made and I was the lucky one to receive it at the All Dolled Up cloth doll makers club in Ottawa at an ornament exchange. Speaking of mentors and friends, Peggy Wilson, was the first person to teach me how to needle sculpt.  I met her at a doll makers retreat quite a long time ago.  I had gone to the retreat bound and determined I was going to teach myself how to needle sculpt.  I had never taken an art doll class and had been a self-taught artist since my days as a tot.  The only thing is needle sculpting isn’t quite as easy as it may look and Peggy saw me struggling, took pity on my soul, pulled two cloth doll heads out of her bag, sat me down and taught me how to needle sculpt side by side.  I took two classes from her afterwards which was the beginning of my needle sculpting journey.  She was always willing to share her knowledge and help along any other doll maker in her path.  She will always be missed but never forgotten.

 

Art doll ornament by Marla L. Niederer

This is one of the first art doll needle sculpted ornaments I made.  It is made with “doe suede” cloth that Peggy used to use.  It is a stretchy and forgiving cloth and I used it for quite some time before I started to use woven cotton for my dolls.

 

Art Doll by Tamara Pivnyuk

This is a doll created by NIADA artist Tamara Pivnyuk.  I received it as a souvenir doll when I attended the NIADA conference in 2018.  I didn’t have the good fortune of meeting Tamara but absolutely love this doll and all of her work!

 

Little Lion  by Marla L. Niederer

This is one of my Little Lions that I have created.  I taught my Moulin Rouge Dancers class at the last Artistic Figures in Cloth and Clay conference last spring.  There was an anthropomorphic doll challenge for the conference so I created my first Little Lion for the challenge.  It quickly was sold and went to a good home as the next two that I created.  I thought I would hold onto this one for a bit and add him to my tree.

 

Ribbon embroidered ornament  project from Mary Jo Hiney's book called "Victorian Ribbon & Lacecraft Designs".  The ornament was embroidered by Marla L. Niederer

This is an older ornament that I made when I was fascinated with ribbon embroidery years ago.  It is a project from the book,  "Victorian Ribbon & Lacecraft Designs" by Mary Jo Hiney.   I love sipping tea in pretty tea cups from pretty little teapots so thought it would be fitting to add to my tree.

 

Ornament by Marla L. Niederer, inspired by Edith Flack Ackley's dolls.

This doll was created by myself, inspired by Edith Flack Ackley’s dolls.  I am lucky to have a pristine 25^th edition of her book, “Dolls to make for fun and profit.”  Her dolls are so sweet.

 

Kitty ornament  by Marla L. Niederer.  Inspired by Arnold Printworks fabric panel animals.

Kitty ornament by Marla L. Niederer. Inspired by Arnold Printworks  fabric panel animals.

These are two Kitty ornaments that I made inspired by Arnold Palmer Printworks animal cloth doll fabric panels.  They were quite fun to create!

 

Sea Spirit ornament by Marla L. Niederer

This was created for the first online class that I taught on AforArtistic called, “Sea Spirit.”  She is needle sculpted woven cloth hand painted with watercolors.

I hope you enjoyed learning the stories behind some of the ornaments on my 2019 Art Doll Christmas tree.

 

Beloved husband Bob, Marla, and Jason Awesome Niederer

Wishing you the best this holiday season

warm hugs,

Marla

One of my paintings was accepted!

I have been known to go off on watercolor painting jaunts as of the past three years and having quite fun with it I may add.

Fountain on the Square by Marla L. Niederer

Just for fun I entered three of my watercolor fountain paintings into a juried exhibit at the local museum and was happily surprised that one of them was accepted for the exhibit!

If you are nearby and would like to join me at the exhibit, the opening  is Saturday September 21^st from 2:00PM to 4:00PM at the Remington Museum in Ogdensburg NY.

Hope to see you there….

 

The Goddess by Marla L. Niederer

There are still some spots available if you would like to take my Goddess cloth ball jointed doll online class.   It begins September 23, 2019.  You can find out more about the class on AforArtistic here:

https://www.aforartistic.com/goddess

Until next time……..

warm hugs,

Marla

Goddess Online Class

The Goddess by Marla L. Niederer

I’m very pleased to announce that I will be teaching the Goddess as an online class for the first time for AforArtistic September 23 2019!

The Goddess by Marla L. Niederer

The Goddess was inspired by Kuan Yin, a Goddess of Compassion, one who hears the cries of all beings.  Others know her as a Bodhisattva, one who puts off Nirvana in order to liberate all sentient beings. Many representations of Kuan Yin depict her as a beautiful oriental woman in flowing gowns carrying a vessel filled with the waters of compassion.  She is often depicted standing or sitting upon a lotus blossom. 

 

The Goddess by Marla L. Niederer

In this interpretation of Kuan Yin, I chose to place a hand crafted and hand painted lotus blossom upon her head as a headdress.  She wears a skirt and shawl of hand painted cheesecloth which represent the waters of compassion.  Her costume is hand beaded with silver lined glass beads. 

 

The Goddess by Marla L. Niederer

The Goddess is a 19” tall needle sculpted, hand painted art doll with ball joints and a facial cloth overlay.  The head has very unique sculpted eyes utilizing an advanced technique that gives the appearance of inset eyes.  In this class you will learn a variety of unique needle sculpting techniques such as how to attach a cloth overlay on the face, creating a swivel neck, creating ball joints at the hips, knees, ankles, elbows and wrist. In addition, the class presents instruction on how to utilize tube and pencil watercolors for skin tone and facial coloration.  Unique costuming design is included in instruction along with how to needle felt a hairdo. This workshop is designed to stretch your cloth art doll making skills to a whole new level!

 

The Goddess by Marla L. Niederer

I can’t wait for the class to begin and hope to see you there!

You can find more information about the class and how to sign up by clicking on this link to AforArtistic.

 https://www.aforartistic.com/goddess

Until next time…..

warm hugs,

Marla

Urban Sketching and Watercolor Painting

I’ve been taking advantage of some of the nice weather we have had to do a bit of urban sketching.  This is a quick sketch I did using water soluble graphite pencil of a water fountain in Watertown NY.

Fountain on the Square sketchbook page by Marla L. Niederer

I then visited the fountain again to create a watercolor painting.

Fountain on the Square by Marla L. Niederer

I attended a wedding in St Albans Vermont this summer and did this quick sketch of the water fountain in the park. 

St Albans Ladies Sketchbook page by Marla L. Niederer

I took quite a few pictures and used both the sketch and the photos to create this watercolor painting.

St Albans Ladies by Marla L. Niederer

I will be teaching an online class this coming September on how to create your own cloth ball jointed Goddess on AforArtistic.

The Goddess by Marla L. Niederer

  Hope to see you in class!

Until next time…….

warm hugs,

Marla

Treasures from the Past

Puppet created by J. Emery Kelley

Some days the sun just smiles on you.  I received a phone call the other day from a friend inviting me to view an incredible private collection of puppets created in the 1940’s.  

Puppets by J.Emery Kelley

The puppets were created by J. Emery Kelley who had been a music teacher in Binghamton NY.  She not only created these incredible puppets but also put on shows for the area children. 

Puppets by J.Emery Kelley

It was such an amazing experience to walk into a home filled with J. Emery Kelley’s life work. 

Puppets by J.Emery Kelley

The pictures do not do justice to the fine detail in the costuming and the expressions on all of their faces. 

Puppet by J. Emery Kelley

Included in the collection were a series of watercolor pictures of the puppets.

Watercolor by M. Foster Kelley

I feel so fortunate to have had an opportunity to view this beautiful collection from the past.

Watercolor by M. Foster Kelley

until next time………

Warm hugs,

Marla

Goddess by Marla L. Niederer

P.S.  I am getting ready to teach The Goddess for the first time online this September on AforArtistic.  Hope to see you there!

Thunder: Second Portrait for 40 Portrait Challenge

I wanted to share with you my second portrait for the 40 portrait challenge. 

Thunder by Marla L. Niederer

This is a portrait of Thunder Awesome Niederer.  He is one of the kindest, intelligent, amusing, and most awesome human beings to walk upon the earth.  He also happens to be our beloved son.

Graphite sketch for Thunder by Marla L. Niederer

I started the portrait in water soluble graphite pencil and then did several layers of watercolors.

I have started working on portrait number three but am still in the initial phases. 

 

Initial watercolor layers for Thunder by Marla L. Niederer

My class Sleeping Mermaids is winding down but getting ready for my next online class The Goddess. Hope to see you in class!

 

Sleeping Mermaids by Marla L. Niederer

The Goddess by Marla L. Niederer

Until next time…….

warm hugs,

Marla

40 Portraits Challenge and Woodland Faery Journal class review.

Online classes are so much fun!  Not only do I enjoy teaching them but I also enjoy taking them.  What I love about them is that you can enjoy taking a class in the comfort of your home.  You can take them at your own pace and if something happens to disrupt your class time you can always go back to it at a later date when you have more creative time.

Since I just joined a 40 portrait challenge on Facebook, I decided that it was time to create another art journal.

Toni Burt, a mixed media artist, teaches several classes online and in one of them she teaches how to make a woodland faery journal. 

Woodland Faery Journal by Toni Burt

The journal she made is really pretty and uses some mixed media techniques that I don’t really use so I decided to give it a try.   The class videos are clear and informative.  She takes you through the entire process in real time without any fast forwarding.  The class is one of her shorter ones and priced quite reasonably.  The videos are broken up into roughly 20 minute to 35 minute videos.  This seems to be a good length of time for each session.  Not too long and not too short.  I found the videos quite easy to follow.   She uses water-soluble graphite pencils which I had never heard of before.  Of course I had to purchase a set and try them out.  I bought a set made by Faber Castle and now absolutely love them.

Keeper of the Earth Journal cover by Marla L. Niederer inspired by Woodland Faery Journal Class

I created the journal substrate pretty much as directed in the online class but then I decided to go in my own direction.  I did use the mixed media techniques she shared for the background but wanted to use my own artwork instead of copying her artwork.  I also did not have many of the supplies she used such as the water-soluble markers and inktense sticks.  Since I had my watercolors out and ready to use, I used them instead.  The design I chose was based on a figurative fiber art sculpture that I had created quite some time ago called “Keeper of the Earth.”  I did want to make some changes though but kept that theme.  I also used quite a bit of Toni’s color palate since it was warm and earthy.

Keeper of the Earth Journal cover by Marla L. Niederer inspired by Woodland Faery Journal Class

These are pictures of the journal cover before sewing in the watercolor paper signatures that I will be using.

 

Keeper of the Earth Journal cover by Marla L. Niederer inspired by Woodland Faery Journal Class

Bottom line, it was a really fun class to take and a good way to start off my 40 portrait challenge.  Out of five stars, I give the class Five Stars.  Here is a link to the class if you would like to check it out.

https://www.toniburt.com.au/current-classes/woodland-faery/

I wonder do fantasy portraits count as portraits?  If so consider my journal cover the first of my 40 portraits!

 

Sleeping Mermaids by Marla L. Niederer

I am still teaching the Sleeping Mermaid workshop on A for Artistic.  If you are interested in taking the class it remains open for the rest of the month.  You can find out more information about it and or sign up here

https://www.aforartistic.com/Sleeping-Mermaid-Workshop

Until next time…….

Warm hugs,

Marla

AFICC 2019 was so much fun!

Moulin Rouge Dancers by Marla L. Niederer

I taught my Moulin Rouge Dancers class at Artistic Figures in Cloth and Clay in Ohio this past spring.  The conference was just so much fun!

My favorite roomie Christine

I got to room with my favorite roomie Christine Shively-Benjamin.  I really enjoyed the time we had to spend together there.

Sue, I, and Virginia at the Hats and Heels banquet

I also got to visit with friends I had met before at AFICC before.

Moulin Rouge Dancers Class

Cynthia

Marilyn

Susan

Nancy Jo

Vicki

The doll artists that took my class were amazing.  It was such a pleasure to teach my Moulin Rouge Dancers class to them.

 

Sleeping Mermaids by Marla L. Niederer

I am still teaching my Sleeping Mermaid Class online.  Its not too late to sign up.

https://www.aforartistic.com/Sleeping-Mermaid-Workshop

Until next time…….

warm hugs,

Marla