Monday, February 13, 2012

Let the porcelain doll-making adventures begin!

I attended my first doll-making class tonight, and am happy to say it was quite a success! I got all my pieces cleaned and ready for firing. I very much enjoyed the process. It was the perfect opportunity to let my perfectionist side run wild, because the idea is to make the seams left from the molds disappear, and because I am straight-out bananas, I chose for my first project a doll with detailed molded hair. Typical "Jenni" thing to do! But as I've said before, I do love a tedious project, and so I found it enjoyable. Also, I just plain liked the feel of everything in my hands, if that makes any sense. . .

I wish I had thought to take some pictures of this process, so that I could share here on the blog, but I was so focused that it never occurred to me until the drive home. Had my camera with me even, since it's still in my bag from my recent trip to Oklahoma. Ah well. You just have to imagine the doll from my previous post, but totally unpainted. That about sums it up! You know, even unpainted, I think this doll is lovely. I hope I can do her justice with the painting. I was not too afraid to do the cleaning steps, and of course I've not a worry at all about making her body and clothing, but the painting - that freaks me out! It does help to find out that the paint comes right off (pre-firing, of course) so if you make a mistake, you can fix it. And, I've done lots of random craft projects that involved painting - some very detailed - so the brush should not feel completely foreign in my hand. Still, at the moment I feel certain I will not posess the skills to make brows that match!

Also, and this isn't very doll-related but anyhow, I am patting myself on the back right now for going out and doing this. I feel like my driving anxiety is always holding me back from doing things, but I really wanted to do this, and even though it was my first time making the drive (Glenn drove last time), and it involved multiple highway mergings, and was at night, in the dark, which is the scariest driving of all, somehow, I did it. And without a panic attack. Awesome! It will only get easier after this, because I will come to know the route and not be so petrified that I'm going to get into the wrong lane. And do you know, I didn't even have to do any of the breathing techniques. Which is odd since sometimes I still have to do those when I go to the grocery store! I must really, really want to do this doll-making thing! :D

2 comments:

  1. I think it's very brave of you to tackle porcelain doll making! I have tried using Flumo, which is probably 'lazy man's porcelain' because it doesn't have to be fired and I don't have a kiln, want to use anyone else's or buy one. Flumo's 'okay', but very heavy to me. Looking forward to seeing your doll!

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    1. Thanks so much! I fear using the kiln, so it's good that with this class, they do that part for me. And maybe once I've mastered the cleaning/painting, I'll feel braver about kilns! I had never heard of Flumo but just did a Google search, and I think it sounds awesome! I am tempted to try it out. . .

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