Tag: cat-art

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Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max Bailey

Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyI am pleased to introduce the very royal Princess Anna.

Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyWhile palace life is really quite nice in many ways, Princess Anna has found that it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. She eats the finest kitty food and wears the finest kitty dresses, yet sometimes she longs to sample just a tiny bit of the world outside.

Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyOn this particular morning, Princess Anna looks out from her window at the white shapes that dot the distant hillside.

Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max Bailey“They can’t be snow,” she thinks aloud, “for winter has come and gone, and the sun has warmed the earth.”

Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyWhile the palace guards are looking the other way, Princess Anna heads for the hills. She brushes aside the tall grasses that grow in the meadow, and forges ahead.

Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyShe feels the soft breezes blowing in her hair, and the sun’s rays warming her lovely and determined little face.

Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyShe is gone for a long time.

Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyThe palace guards are the first to see her return, triumphantly holding a bouquet of white daisies. They smile at each other and pretend not to see her sneaking back through the side entrance of the palace.

Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max Bailey“The Princess is happy,” the guards pronounce, and nothing further is said about the matter.

Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyLovely Princess Anna is as white as the daisies she carries. Her eyes are a soft blue, and her nose is a delicate shade of pink. Anna’s flowered red dress has a gold band around the neckline and sleeves, and is adorned with a deep blue ruffle and matching sash that ties neatly in a bow at the back. Her pale gold petticoats can be seen below her hemline.

Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyI sculpted Princess Anna and her daisy bouquet from paperclay, and used stiffened cotton thread for her royal kitty whiskers. She is an original one-of-a-kind work of art, meant for display only. No molds are ever used in my work.

Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyThe Princess is completely hand painted with acrylic paints, then signed and dated and sealed with matte varnish for protection and preservation. She rests firmly on a turned wooden base that is stained and sealed in golden oak, and she stands 9 and 1/2 inches tall.

Princess Anna, Original One-of-a-kind White Cat Folk Art Doll Figurine by Max BaileyUpdate: Princess Anna has already been adopted. Thank you!

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Painting my kitten doll

I’m pokey, but I am making progress. Little Ziggy (I’ve decided he’s a boy now) has been coming right along. He’s got a pastel yellow onesie with a periwinkle blue collar and buttons down the front. I’m having quite a time keeping his whiskers white. I’ve had to repaint them a couple of times and I’m sure I will again. Painting thread is not as easy as I might have thought. I think what takes the most time, aside from painting his multitude of kitten hairs, is deciding how I want him to look. He is a stylized version of a kitten after all, and there are plenty of choices to make about how I want to do that. All in all, he’s a cute fellow.

Just an aside…Those are my African violets in the background. They are getting what looks like white mildew on them. I was so glad to be able to get them to survive, and I am not happy about this new turn of events. Does anyone have any experience with this? I read keeping a fan going helps, but it is cold for that! I’ve been trying to get rid of the infected parts, but I seem to be losing the battle 🙁

Another aside…We’re on “vacation” from our eBay store this week, in sympathy for the current eBay boycott. We’ll be posting our new dolls over on our main website. I’m working on expanding our art doll pages over there so people can visit, take a look at available and already adopted dolls, and read their stories. I don’t know if a boycott will have any effect, as I imagine eBay will continue to cost sellers more and more, but I do think the changes to the feedback system are insulting. In the coming months, sellers will no longer be able to leave negative feedback, but buyers will continue to be able to. Personally, we have never left any or received any negative feedback, but whether buyer, seller, or both, we should all be subject to the same policies. To do otherwise is to invite abuse. If eBay wants to reform its feedback system, I believe it would be more fair to do away with the positive, negative, and neutral signs, and just have plain, honest feedback. I believe if eBay users don’t feel threatened by potential punishment for saying what they think, that they will leave more accurate accounts of their transactions. I think that would be much more valid and much more fair to everyone.

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Kitten in Black and White

Here is my little kitten, with his/her (still haven’t made up my mind) face sculpted and dry, and some basic lines marked with pen. I’m going to use that adorable tuxedo kitten to the left as a model when I paint.

It was bound to happen some day…I’ve been tagged. I may be the last person who hasn’t been tagged yet, ever. I think I just passed my first year blogging anniversary too, roughly. I erased my first post that said something like, “Just testing.” So, no accurate date there. I digress…I’ve been tagged by Annie Oakleaves (I like saying that. It makes me smile.) Here goes… five random facts about myself:

  1. I am an only child. People have always asked me, “Did you miss not having brothers and sisters?” I never understand this question, but I try to answer it politely. The truth is that I never had them, and so I have no idea what it is like to miss having them.
  2. I like to watch campy TV. My dad says that my mom and I will watch anything that “sparkles”. Dancing with the Stars, American Gladiators, Passions, Dr Who…if it has some element of the ridiculous, I’m in.
  3. I hate to buy new sneakers. I will wear them until they die. I’ve been known to strap them back together with duct tape. I really need a new pair right now.
  4. I am a pack rat. I had to reduce the number of my possessions when we moved several years ago, and it still pains me to think about it. I must have saved everything I had ever had, including piles of junk mail.
  5. I usually remember to take the laundry out of the washing machine, but I usually forget to take it out of the dryer.

Okay. Since I can’t believe I am not the last person to have been tagged ever, I will leave it up to anyone who hasn’t been tagged and who would like to be tagged, to volunteer five random facts about themselves. Or even one random fact. I’m not fussy about rules. Even if you don’t blog, you can just leave one or more in the comment section 🙂

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Kitten, Bunny, Kitten

I have a mean headache today, but I managed to finish stuffing and assembling my bunny doll. So, now there are three dolls ready and I think I am about to start my sculpting “apprenticeship”:) Max has agreed to give me lessons, and has high hopes that I have the sculpting gene in me. I hope so. The first requirement was that I make my own doll patterns up and the second is that I don’t share any of Max’s sculpting secrets. I guess that means the next time you see these dolls, they will have sculpted faces. That, or they will have clothes, depending on which I take on first.

To answer Annie Oakleaves question in my comments section about which dollmaking book I would recommend to start with, it depends on what you are most interested in learning, but my personal favorite so far is Antonette Cely’s book, Cloth Dollmaking. Her instructions are great and she starts with a very simple doll. Then, in the following chapters, she explains how to make increasingly difficult dolls. There is a doll pattern for each section of the book, and so you really get hands-on experience of what she is teaching. I love Antonnette Cely’s book because you can keep progressing right up to her very advanced designs, and it’s loaded with clever, helpful tips.

P.S. Don’t my dolls look like they are at the drive-in or something in that second photo? 🙂