Fourth Month as a Full time Artist and Happy Halloween!

Okay, so today I wake up in the wee hours of the morning and head downstairs so I don't wake up my sleeping husband who still needs to leave the home to make a living (correction, still feels like he needs to).  I fix a small pot of tea and read over the daily news until my husband trundles down the stairs and starts heading off to work.  I send him off with a kiss and a hug and the biggest Cheshire cat grin.  I then get out my needle and thread and the needle sculpted head I am working on.  I feel like a kid in a candy store.  I can't get over the sheer pleasure of feeling like I am playing hooky from WORK every day.  I get up and get to play all day long creating whatever I wish.  I get to teach my art online while getting to chat with and make friends with doll makers from all over the world.  Granted, I am living on much less income than when I wasn't playing hooky from work but life is soo much better.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the fall and all of its spectacular colors more this year than many, many before.  Life is slower and simpler.  Life is calm and relaxed.  Life is so less stress.  Life is, well just wonderful!

While I have been enjoying this new lifestyle I have had more time to connect with others that share this lifestyle from time to time.  One doll artist that I am friends with on facebook, Rhissanna (her blog is here http://rhissanna.blogspot.com/ ), also creates these amazing little tea sets that can be used as doll props.  She posted one that she just finished a while ago and after looking at it I knew I had to have it.  Well I really didn't Have to have it but I wanted it pretty bad.  So, I messaged her and wound up purchasing the set.  She lovingly packed it up and sent it off in a hurry.  It's called an Absinthe tea set.  I've had it in my china cabinet since.  But today is Halloween so my lavender ladies, Bridgette and Mistique, decided to have an Absinthe tea party, silly girls.  Don't they look like they are having fun?

Wishing you a Happy Halloween!

P.S.P.S. I am still teaching how to create your own Bridgette online at A for Artistic.  It's not too late to sign up!  You can find out more about the class here   http://www.aforartistic.com/bridgette-with-marla-l-niederer-cloth-doll-artist.html

Why I teach the art of doll making

In light of the unsettling news this past week of the Ottawa shooting on Parliament hill and the world affairs that are disturbing to us all, I have to ask myself what is the relevance of teaching doll making?  What is the relevance of what I do on a day to day basis? 

Ottawa is a city that I frequent and love.  Part of the reason why I love where I live is its proximity to Ottawa.  When I think of Ottawa I think of the diversity of culture that is celebrated.  I think of the art, music, and song that flourishes there.  I think of the museums, the events, the markets, the food, and last but not least the people.  I belong to a doll making group in Ottawa where I have had the honor of becoming friends with some of the kindest warm hearted and talented ladies I know.  My daughter in law and stepson live near Ottawa and work in Ottawa. 

So what is the relevance of teaching the art of doll making?  Most of my life I have worked in the helping professions. Early in my adult life I worked in the health care field where I tried to bring comfort to the elderly and infirm.  I then entered the field of education where I taught my students to utilize their strengths to overcome their needs and use all kinds of tricks to get around the things that stood in their path so they could gain and maintain meaningful employment.  These are not things that solve the problems of the world or decrease violence but these were purposeful activities that I liked to think had some sort of positive impact on the little part of the world I lived in.

I have recently become a full time doll artist and teach the art of doll making.  I am currently teaching an online class on A for Artistic and have just recently had a proposal to teach at the 2015 spring Philadelphia Art Doll and Teddy Bear show accepted (which by the way I find so way cool). So again, I ask what is the relevance of teaching the art of doll making?  How meaningful and purposeful is this?

Quite a few years ago I met a woman that made very time intensive and very beautiful dolls and horses out of cloth at a conference.  While we were chatting away she shared with me the reason why she created her dolls and horses.  She stated, “it gives me something beautiful to think about every day.”  Her quote remained with me and comes to my mind often when I think about why I create.  It truly does give me something beautiful to think about every day.  During high stress periods of my life I would often stop and think about my doll making project.  My project gave me something beautiful to think about, something calm and peaceful to focus on.  I have always found my doll making and my art very calming and stress reducing.

When I create I enter in a peaceful state of bliss.  Some call it the “zone.”  It is a state of mind that artists, athletes, martial artists, dancers, musicians share when their entire focus is placed on performing a single activity during one moment in time.  During this state one becomes completely immersed in the activity to the point where one becomes completely lost in the act.  One becomes at one with the act.  The act becomes a form of meditation, much like walking meditation.

About four months ago I left the field of public education and became a full time artist.  I create and engage in art every day.  I am immersed in my art.  I lose track of time.  Sometimes I forget to eat.  I work during the early hours of the day into the late hours of the night.  I laugh more often, smile almost always, and find myself calm and at peace almost all of the time.  My heart sings.

Throughout life and as an educator I have learned that one cannot change how others act or behave.  To enact change, one can only change oneself.  I have no control over world events, over violence, over the behavior of others.  All I have control over are my own acts, my own behaviors, my own response to the actions of others.  Thich Nhat Hanh, a great spiritual leader and peace activist, teaches that in order to create peace you must create peace within oneself first.

Why do I teach the art of doll making?  Is there a purpose?  After truly contemplating this question the answer I have is this:  I teach others how to engage in an activity that brings me great peace and joy.  It brings my mind to a state of calm.  It makes my heart sing.  If I can share that ability with others so they too can enter a state of bliss and have their heart sing maybe it doesn’t change world events, maybe it doesn’t create world peace.  But maybe, just maybe, it brings something positive to the little part of the world I live in.  

P.S. P. S., It's not too late to sign up for my online class Bridgette on A for Artistic.  You can find out more about it here http://www.aforartistic.com/bridgette-with-marla-l-niederer-cloth-doll-artist.html

Taking a short Jewelry Break with a Brick Stitch Fringe Earring Tutorial

While getting ready to start teaching my next online class Bridgette on A for Artistic  I decided to take a quick jewelry break.  I have wanted to learn how to create brick stitch fringe earrings for a long time and noticed that the Beadaholique website had several really good free tutorials.  I learned how to make these earrings while watching a tutorial on their website.  You can see it here http://www.beadaholique.com/t-video-How-To-Make-Brick-Stitch-And-Fringe-Beaded-Earrings.aspx     It was fun and calming to make them.  I'll have to make some more soon!

Its still not too late to sign up and join me in my online class Bridgette on A for Artistic.   I can't wait for it to begin :)   http://www.aforartistic.com/bridgette-with-marla-l-niederer-cloth-doll-artist.html

Bridgette Class

I am eagerly anticipating the start of my new online workshop Bridgette on http://www.aforartistic.com/bridgette-with-marla-l-niederer-cloth-doll-artist.html

I hope you will join me in class!

Bridgette a Tuck Comb inspired Fiber Art Doll: Or settling into the Life of a Full time Artist

There have been very few days that I have not engaged in the creation of Bridgette over the past two months.  This project drew me into the world of Jane Austin as I researched her clothing and her time period.  There were many days that I gathered lemon balm, rose petals, and lavender buds from my gardens to brew a relaxing tea sweetened with honey to drink as I settled into my needlework.  Now that Bridgette is complete it almost feels like when you finish reading the most delicious book that completely draws you into its carefully crafted world.  Now that the story has ended it is time to leave the world the author created behind.  Only this time I am the one who created the world that drew me in!  It reminds me of a humorous quote I saw on Facebook not that long ago.  It stated, “I am an Artist.  This means I live in a perverse fantasy world with unrealistic expectations.  Thank you for understanding.”  When I showed the Facebook post to my husband Bob he just laughed and laughed.  Funny because it’s true.

Bridgette is a cloth needle sculpted ball jointed doll with a face overlay inspired by the Tuck Comb wooden dolls of the past. Watercolors were used for her skin tone and facial coloring.  English Mohair was used to create her stylish hairdo. She is dressed in clothing inspired by Jane Austin’s time. She dons a soft lavender colored cotton batiste empire waist gown with hand embroidered satin floss and glass bead flowers.  Bridgette wears hand crafted high heeled mules, a feather headdress, a pearl choker, and earrings.  I hope you like her.!

 Bridgette will be taught as an online class on A for Artistic.  I will keep you posted on details soon.

Another Week in the life of an Artist

Another week has passed living the life of a full time artist.  I am still trying to find my balance and establish a routine.  A friend of mine mentioned that it may take six months.  I love waking up every day to the knowledge that my day will be spent engaged in my art but it takes enormous self-control not to chase every fleeting artistic fancy that floats across my mind down the rabbit hole while focusing on completing my current project.  I remember reading a post on Facebook not that long ago that compared the artistic mind to having all your browser pages open on your computer at all times. Whoever wrote that comparison hit the nail on the head.

My current project, a tuck comb inspired doll named Bridgette, has kept me immersed within Jane Austin’s time. While watching a show on Netfilx about the  Highclere Castle with my husband Bob, I noticed a beaded face screen by the fireplace on the show.  I had to share with him what it was and why it was used.  Why would I know what a face screen is you may ask?  Well, Mary Ann Tate so kindly shared another Jane Austin website https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/2009/02/ on which I found information about face screens (just part of my never ending search for the end of the internet).  They were beautiful beaded screens placed between one’s face and the fireplace to protect one’s face from the heat of the fire.  Some say it was to keep the wax make-up from melting off.  During Jane Austin’s time women often huddled up close to the warmth of the fire while engaged in the fine art of needlework.  The thoughts of these women sitting by the fire with needle in hand filter into my mind as I sit in my home engaged in the many hours of intricate needlework I am completing while working on Bridgette’s costume.  I have been using timeless embroidery stitches to create bullion roses, lazy daisies, and fly stitch borders on her dress.  

The life of an artist truly can be bliss!

How to Start Living the Life of a Full Time Artist

I have almost completed my first two weeks living as a full time artist.  I am finding that the first key to success as an artist is establishing a good working routine.  There are pitfalls to working at home without an established studio and I am trying not to get pulled into them.  I try to start each morning with an early morning walk, a green smoothie, and pot of tea.  I check my email, check Facebook, look at pictures of vintage dolls on the net, and then settle in to work on my current doll project.   I am learning that I need to limit my ipad time and not fall into the trap of searching for the end of the internet because I don’t believe the end really exists.   

The current project I am working on is a tuck comb inspired, ball jointed, needle sculpted, cloth doll with a face overlay.  When I am not working on the doll I am immersing myself into her time period.  I watched a movie on Netflix called Mansfield Park put on by PBS based on the book written by Jane Austin.  I assure you it was just for the sole purpose of costume research and the time was well spent because I had cloth and needle in hand during the entire movie.  In my spare time between doll making and sleep I have been reading Mansfield Park and Mummies by Vera Nazarian. As you may have guessed it is a parody on Jane Austin's Mansfield Park.  And during my endless search for the end of the internet I have found this website http://www.janeausten.org   that has everything you might want to know about Jane Austin.

I started working on this doll about 10 months ago while working full time in a demanding job outside of the art field, driving a ridiculous amount between work and home, and trying to keep up with the daily ebbs and flow of life.  I was able to experiment with and create some beautiful ball jointing techniques for this doll during this time period.  Typically I start with the head first but I was so excited about trying to develop different ball jointing techniques that I started with the body.  Unfortunately by the time I got to the head and costume during this time period I was exhausted and out of steam. The first head and beginnings of her costume reflected this and I tossed them into the dead head and dead costume pile.  I redesigned the head to have a more realistic shape and used a cloth overlay to cover that unsightly middle of the face seam often found on needle sculpted cloth doll heads.  I believe she reflects the contentment and balance that I am starting to feel as a result of entering this new phase of life.  Don't you agree?