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.