Forest Hills Fine Arts Center - Exhibit of Arts Dolls and Suzanne Ditsler's Needle Felted Animals and Birds

Suzanne Ditsler and I are looking forward to you visiting our upcoming show at the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center opening next week Wednesday, Feb. 11. 

Remember that the fine arts center is part of the school system so it's only open Monday-Friday 9am-4pm for visiting during the daytime.

Hope you get to see the show before it closes on March 12.

I have approximately 60 dolls at the show and Suz has 35.  There's lots to see!

Here's some of my newest pieces:

Pisces Woman 27 with 
Purple Fish

Pisces Woman #28 

Square Headed Womanwith Butterfly Wings

Forest Woman #2 with Blue Leaves

Square Headed Woman
with Enchanted Butterfly

Hope you get to see our show before it closes on the last day March 12!

Newest Embroideries - Summer 2025

I spent the summer being hot and limp from the heat, so I got a lot of embroidering done:

Fields with Blue Sky Rain - Cotton, synthetics, knit and
woven fabrics; deconstructed screen printed, stamped, painted,
collaged, embroidered; 7" x 7.5"

Oranges with Green Leaves - Acetate muslin, cotton,
synthetics; painted, stamped, deconstructed screen
printed, collaged, embroidered;
12" x 4.25"

Green Leaf with Red Veining - Cotton, synthetics; disperse dye
transfer print, painted paper towel, printed knit,
collaged, embroidered; 12.5" x 5.5"

Leaves Seen Through Dappled Light - Cotton, synthetics,
metallics; printed, stenciled, stamped, photo transfer, shibori
stitched & indigo dyed, knits and woven fabric, collaged,
embroidered; 10" x 8.5"

Leaves & Flower & Squares - Cotton, silk; stamped, machine
stitched, embroidered, cyanotype on silk
(by Linda Walburn), collaged; 12" x 5"

Landscape with Black Running Line Stripe - Acetate muslin, 
synthetic sheer;  deconstructed screen printed, 
collaged, embroidered; 4" x 6.5"

Spiraling Out - Indian cotton, acetate muslin, metallic lame,
synthetics, knits, flocked tulle; collaged, stenciled,
painted, line painted; collaged, embroidered; 7.5" x 5.5"

Half Circle from India - Cotton and synthetics; tulle, knits, woven;
screen printed, collaged, embroidered; 6" x 5.5"

Be Like the Bird (Poem by Victor Hugo) - Acetate muslin,
bird cutout from Audubon calendar; printed, painted,
collaged, embroidered; 8.5" x7"

Wren with Blue Ferns - Acetate muslin, bird cutout from Audubon
calendar; printed, painted, cyanotype on silk
(by Linda Walburn), collaged, embroidered; 6.5" x9"

Vibrating X - Cotton and synthetic knits, flocked tulle, synthetic
sheer; screen printed, stamped, painted, shibori
stitched & indigo dyed, collaged, embroidered; 8.5" 9.5"

Blue Green - Cotton; painted, embroidered; 8.5" x 13"

Contemporary Embroidery: Developing Your Stitch Vocabulary - MLH workshop, June 5-8, 2025; MacMullen Ctr, MI

Tropical Northern Lights, 2025; 9.5" x 9"

Developing a stitch vocabulary may sound odd, but it means that you explore all the basic embroidery stitches and find which ones really work for you.  For me, hand stitching, or what I call embroidery because it's so much more specific, is what I use to express myself.  My description of the workshop is this:

"For those with an adventuresome spirit, but looking to work in a slower, more contemplative method, students will explore and develop their own “stitched mark” or one’s own personal stitch vocabulary.  These basic stitches will be discussed, explored and used on their fabric to create rhythm, movement, and visual and physical texture to show how versatile each stitch can be in their personal work.  This workshop will strive to have students look at stitching on fabric, not as decorative, but as an expression of themselves---pulling something new and different from inside themselves onto the cloth.  Jennifer will have many samples of her own embroidered pieces, images of contemporary embroiderers’ work from around the world, and books on hand to illustrate art embroidery."

Meditation on Each Red Stripe with Dots

The class has been filled but if you're interested, contact the MLH Registrar at mlhregistrar@gmail.com.  There may be a wait list.

I also teach classes at my home in Byron Center MI.  My website is unavailable right now but leaving a comment message below will work hopefully.

Circle & Dots

New dolls at Synchronicity Art Gallery, Glen Arbor MI - May 2025

Sq Headed Woman
Green Oak Leaf Woman

Synchronicity and my newest dolls!

I just delivered 45 new dolls to Synchronicity Gallery in Glen Arbor, MI.  This is my 18th year being at Synchronicity.  They're under new ownership, Jeff Brandt and his daughter, Katie Brandt, with a lot of new and different work.  They open on this Friday, May 9, and usually close on October 31, although they may stay open longer for the holiday season.

Glen Arbor is an artist and tourist resort destination on Glen Lake, very close to Lake Michigan.  It is filled with galleries, restaurants, and beautiful panoramic views of water and woods.  I hope you can make a visit there.

Synchronicity Art Gallery, 6671 Western Ave, Glen Arbor, MI 49636; (231) 334-4732

   Synchronicity Gallery

Woman Holding a Box #2

My website isn't working right now, so enjoy some of the images of my newest dolls at Synchronicity.  I can't put all of them on since there are 45 but I'll give a sampling of each series.  Thanks for visiting!

Mother and Child 3

Leotard Angel 5/3/25

Button Jester 6-10-21A

Pig-Tailed Sister 4/11/24C

Pig-Tailed Sister 10-29-23E

Little Angel (6" tall) 1/29/23A

Woodland Weaver’s Textile Artist Market TAM

My latest pieces, Pig-Tailed Sisters dressed in vintage hankerchiefs and vintage handmade crocheted lace:

Only a one-day show with the West Michigan Potter's Guild!

Nature Girls - Translate natural items

 

Nature Girl #1

I spent over a month trying to come up with a very different kind of doll.  I wanted one that was enveloped with real leaves, ferns, bark, feathers and flower petals.

Well, those items are fine if they're on something like a wreath that is hung and never touched, just looked at.

A doll is different:  people look but always hold it, touch it, move things around.  So, those real items had to be changed to look alikes.

The ferns became green thread drawings using Solvy.  The end result are the long green ferny lengths on her skirt.

The feathers were photographed (then thrown outside), and then printed on inkjet printer transfer sheets.  There are many out there in the market but I used Jolee's Easy Image Transfer Sheets for Light Fabrics.  After printing on my printer, I cut out the images and ironed them onto light-colored fabric, usually cotton.

The brown "bark" across the shoulders was made using a brown paper grocery bag that I crumpled up, opened and spread out, and then wiped with brown Kiwi shoe polish.  The shoe polish really makes the paper stronger and more long lasting I think.  

Nature Girl #2

 I continued to experiment.  The skirt is kozo fiber dyed in indigo.  The underskirt of white silk is printed with black lines of leaves, and the "Blue Jay" feather across her front is the finished photo transferred print.  

Nature Girl #3 has many of the same adornments and techniques used.  She has rose petals and a large desiccated leaf as her bodice using the printed transferred images.  

I love to use corded tubes for arms, legs and the neck to simply the image and streamline the form.

All the dolls are less than 12" tall.

Close-up of Nature Girl #3

MFA Exhibit at Forest Hills Fine Arts Center

 

Mayfield Fiber Arts Group (MFA) of Grand Rapids will have a fiber art exhibit at the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center, 600 Forest Hill Ave, SE, Grand Rapids MI 49546 from February 14 - March 14, 2024.  

Artists' Reception is Friday, Feb. 16 from 6-7:30pm.  

The exhibit includes textile work by Sue Clarke, Lin Culver, Joan Duggan, Kathy Forzley, Jennifer Gould, Marilyn Greenlee, Elaine Hengen, Linda Ippel, Cyndi Len, Kim McDermott, Eileen Urbanski, and Linda Walburn.  Pieces include both 2-D and 3-D forms in felting, quilting, textile figures and dolls, knitting, and embroidered collages. The Exhibit gallery hours are Monday-Friday 8am-5pm ONLY.  

For more information, contact Jennifer Gould at jgould1526@gmail.com.

My pieces are all tall freestanding dolls.  This first piece at the left is FOREST WOMAN 2 IN BLUE LEAVES, 18.5" tall, collaged and embroidered leaf shapes of painted and arashi shibori indigo dyed cotton, leaf shapes cut from orinui stitched and indigo dyed silk organza, beaded to corded tubes; needle-sculpted face and articulated hands.

PISCES WOMAN 26 WITH SHIMMERING BLUE FISH, 18.5" tall, deconstructed screen printed cotton knit, embroidered, needle-sculpted face and articulated hands.

FOREST WOMAN 3 WITH BROWN LEAVES, 17" tall, eco-printed silk and wool (by Julia Voake), collaged leaf shapes, embroidered, Nuno Co. face, beaded.

FOREST WOMAN 4 WITH GRAY PURPLE LEAVES, 15"tall, eco-printed silk and linen (by Julia Voake), collaged leaf shapes, embroidered, Nuno Co. face, red twig dogwood.

Detail of piece below.

WOMAN HOLDING A BOX 2, 22" tall, handprinted synthetics, beaded, embroidered, corded tubes, needle-sculpted face, articulated hands.

Woman in Green Leaves from 2018 which I redid.  

Green Woman is a very tall 27" with deconstructed screen printed cotton knit which has also been discharged (color removed), and embroidered.

 And a close-up of her face.

Woman in a Cold Winter is also tall.