Saturday, August 15, 2009

Funky Artdoll -- Puzzle Art

Oh my goodness, I almost forgot I made this.  I was browsing through my past art, and saw this piece, and decided to post it on my blog.  I made this over three years ago.  A fine lady and artist in our local art group was involved in an Puzzle RR, and her theme was Artdolls.  However, she had a few puzzle pieces left over and asked for volunteers to help her finish her puzzle.  So I jumped in and volunteered, although I'd never worked on a puzzle piece before, nor made an artdoll.  So all of this was new to me, but it presented a challenge I relished.

This is what I came up with.  The background was "grunge paper" we'd made in our art group at one of our meetings.  Totally love that grunge technic, which is in my labels on my blog.  The face on this was a paper cast I had made, and I just painted it and used crystals for the eyes.  The arms and legs were made from felt wrapped around a wooden skewer and zapped with a heat gun to melt it, as far as I can recall.  I'm a bit foggy on that technic.  I used beads from a dismanteled necklace for the hands, and rusted found objects for the torso and feet.

Gee, now that I've revisited this piece, I really like it.  Well, the idea of wild artdolls excites me, but I've only made three.  So maybe I should revisit that idea and theme???  Ahhhh, there are so many themes and choices out there for art -- it gets to be a bit overwhelming, does it not my dear artist friends?  Perhaps accidentally stumbling on this piece of art I made years ago can inspire me now to make another artdoll.  Well, God knows I could sure use some inspiration about now.  Who knows?  Will I act on this, or file it away for a future time?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this piece.  And if inspires you, or gives you some ideas, so much the better.  Perhaps sometimes visiting old art can be a good thing, a catalyst for renewal and new art.

Addendum:  Some people have asked about the size of this piece.  I don't still have this piece, because I made it for another artist.  So I'll have to guess about the size.  My guess is it's approximately 5-6 inches wide and 5-6 inches tall.  My particular piece to work on was more like a square, but of course not all the puzzle pieces were like that.  So, this was a large puzzle piece puzzle that was used for her Round Robin.  I'm not sure where these large puzzles can be purchased, but they're out there.  And probably also online.  And maybe at some thrift stores and yard sales.  I hope this helps.

13 comments:

Chaska Peacock said...

I think the main point in creating an art doll is to have fun with it!
And, yes, any materials are fair game.:-)

nanke's stuff said...

Funky and fun! It's obvious you had a great time making her. nancy

Angenita said...

Funky it is! I really like it and it looks like a lot of fun. See if I can get a big puzzle for myself.

Carolyn said...

Cool idea, Val. I also like your doll.

Carolyn S - TRENDS

Anonymous said...

Fun Key! (The key is FUN!) thanks for sharing, Val and congrats on being in that book. I have it on my wish list.

Kas said...

LOVE it!! very cool!

Catherine said...

Really Cool! What size is she?

Ann said...

this is absolutely fabulous..I LOVE IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I never would have thought of using a puzzle piece.....am I inspired..you betcha!!!
love your blog..i'll be back....

Helen Percy Lystra said...

Fun is the key and it looks like you had bun making this fun doll... redundant I know but... it was fun seeing this and that's what it's all about

Poetnessa said...

I'm also curious about her size. Did you use a little puzzle piece, like a normal size one? This is a fantastic idea for creating!! I LOVE it!

Well done and thanks for sharing your art... and the process, too.

hugs,
Nessa

Unknown said...

Very cool! Maybe you need some wild women in your life right now!

daysease said...

This is one of the neatest dolls I have seen... I really truly like it so much. Well done! Makes me want to do one!! or somethings similar. Would have been a great card, too... hm...

phunpho said...

Very cool! Maybe you need some wild women in your life right now!