HOW MUCH IS THAT DOLLY IN THE WINDOW?

I've often thought that if I charged just a dollar an hour for my time spent making a doll, I probably wouldn't have a one that would cost less than $100.  That price wouldn't include the cost of fabric, threads, trims, glue, paint, clay, etc.  Clay is the most expensive product I buy, and then, I use it only for the finish layer.  I make the primary clay myself.  Chop sticks are cheaper than dowels and I have two huge storage bins full of fabric, most   of which was given to me.  So, as a rule, I don't have to put out a lot of money per doll.  I DO have to put in a lot of hours.

Which leads directly to the question of how much can I reasonably charge for a doll?  They are often imperfect - with crooked noses  and ears that don't match.  And my sewing skills are  sometimes downright embarrassing - but the finished costume looks good - if one doesn't go snooping  under skirts or tugging at shoulder seams.  I don't use molds and make my own patterns.  Time consuming tasks, to be sure.

So what is the "rule of thumb" these days for pricing one's creative work?   We've all heard of the starving artist.  I think that artists "starve" because the average person never stops to think that artists have mortages, car payments and bills like everyone else.  They seem to think that because the work looks so effortless and fun, it must be a hobby and of little value.  They're wrong, of course.  A good artist, like a good doctor, will spend her/his life learning - new techniques, new equipment, or just something that grabs their curiosity.   It's all relevant, it all has value.  It's worth the price you put on it.                                                            

A DOLL DONATION

I watch very little television and when I do actually sit down to watch a show or news, it's on a PBS channel.  This has been true for years as television fare seemed to become more inane and more violent..  And then there was Comcast, whose "lineup" skillfully kicked the good and useful channels from the group one could afford.  The Public Broadcasting Stations, on the other hand, operate mostly on donations from the viewers.  Their auctions of donated goods and services are quite profitable and I always felt guilty that I couldn't afford to make a donation.  But now I can.

When I contacted the local PBS station (via their email) I got an almost immediate reply with a request for my phone number.  Almost minutes after I emailed my phone number, I received a call from a person who accepted and organized auction donations.  She assured me they would love to have a doll to auction, but felt their November auction would be the best time to auction a doll since it was so close to Christmas.  I wasn't aware the station held more than one auction and quickly agreed that a doll would surely bring a higher bid at Christmas time.

Then I started to consider which dolls I would willingly part with.  I love my two Gypsies but they could possibly fetch a very good price if offered as a pair.  The Bride doll would probably go easily as would the Mardi Gras and perhaps the Falconer.  I couldn't see the Circus even being considered.
The large dolls, Fairy Queen, Witch and Masquerade, should bring at least 25% more than the smaller ones.  So here I am, trying to think for the judges.  Not good

Instead, I must check each doll for any needed repairs, find their back stories - I hope I still have them on file, and make a "birth certificate" for each doll, all before November.

DOLL COLLECTING, THE BUSINESS OF

About this time last year, my sister attended the doll and teddy bear show in Asheville, NC.  While there, she purchased a year's subscription for me to Haute Doll and DOLL, a two for one show special.  They're great magazines and I love all the great costumes, the dramatic photos, even the paper dolls and patterns for clothes.  But for all their glamour, the dolls themselves turn me off because of their visible "poseable" joints.  So I was delighted to find a 100% silicone, fully poseable, 16" Janette Lamont doll in the current issue of Haute Doll.  She had not one visible joint although she did have an unnatural hank of hair which seems to be common among the doll makers.

A second silicone skin doll by Phicen was even more flexible with beautifully articulated facial features, and natural looking hair.  Her wrist joints are visible but are nothing more than a seam line.  Comparing her two photos, I'm guessing her fingers have a full range of individual motion.   The only drawback with these dolls is that their soft skin makes them more difficult to dress than their hard skinned cousins.

SUMMER DOLDRUMS

Hurricane season is upon us.  Even here in north Florida, that means viscious heat, daily afternoon thunderstorms - and bugs.  Mosquitos, for sure, fleas, and gnats, called no-see'ums here in the south.  And with all those bugs, spiders, which serve as a sort of creepy insect control.  I much prefer our little green anoles (lizards) and pretty little tree frogs who sing all night long.

By this time of the year, the avid gardeners have harvested most of their spring garden and are taking a breather, preparing for the cool weather crops.  And then, there's the citrus, getting ripe in time for the holidays.  

Which reminds me that Stella Skelly  (read sexy bones)  hangs in the closet waiting for the cups of her black and orange bustiere  to be adjusted.   Making her black stockings - I've not yet decided if they'll be net - and her very high heeled shoes are going to pose a brand new set of problems.  The stockings, especially.  I'm going to try to have her ready for ADQ's March deadline for their 2016 fall (Halloween) issue.

ETHNIC DIVERSITY

The doll I'm working on now -between bouts in the yard and garden - is turning into one of those exotic dark skinned beauties seen only in the European Fashion Week shows.  Which pleases me but getting those exotic features just right is a slow and frustrating journey.

The shape of the head gourd dictated the ethnicity, in this case.  A long, narrow face, with high, prominent cheek bones, a straight, narrow nose and not-too-full lips.  Her hair will be long, straight and shiny.   As for her skin, I want it to have a rich golden glow.  Which will mean stirring up an entire jar of the final color because I will never be able to make a second batch the exact same color.

The Fairy Queen Made the Scene

My entry to the ADQ Mother and Child challenge was published along with numerous other entries - all of them very good and with one other fairy and child.  I was sent a medallion for that issue, but I either don't know how to use the link or it has expired.  Posting photos has been my personal hell from day one.  Every time my family geek "fixes" my computer, every thing gets scrambled from how I had it and it takes hours just to find a photo I KNOW I have.  And if I should stumble upon the thing I seek, I don't know how to post it.  AND - should I accidently manage to post something, I probably won't remember how I did it because of all the frustrating detours it took to get to this point.
So.  That's why I've not posted a photo of the Fairy Queen accepting the gift of her little princess, being delivered by a Monarch butterfly.

BODY PARTS

Having a lot of problems sculpting the current doll.  One arm was 'way too long, the other almost too short.   Cut off the hand of the too long one and got rid of a quarter inch of arm.  Discovered leather glue works fairly well to hold damp clay until the clay can harden.  Popcicle stick and blue tape held it all in place.  Don't know how I managed the mismatched arms.  Probably trying to work and sleep at the same time.

Numb, crooked fingers are a problem, too.  They don't always go where I point them, then don't know when they have actually touched something.  Fabric can be especially difficult to grasp.  And I must always moisten my fingers in order to hold on to pins, needles - anything smooth.

But I shall carry on as long as I can.  I will make things until I can't make things any more.  This is what I do.  This is who I am.  I make things.