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