Whenever I hold a Spirit Doll Workshop I am always humbled by the deep soul work from the doll makers. Each participant willingly gives a part of themselves in the making and it is always an honour to witness the birthing of their unique and fascinating dolls.
I am invariably inspired after the workshop and so it is never a surprise, and yet it is, that something in me needs to create a new doll.
A few days after the workshop I went walking on the land here in Austinmer, we’d had some extremely heavy rainfall, which was a blessing after all the fires but the rain always unearths some form of rubbish on the land (sadly this is a left over from the coal mining that took place in the area)
So I found hidden in the bracken an aluminium disc ….how it found its way there is anyone’s guess, a piece of decaying timber that had some good energy about it and a batch of feathers from a rainbow lorikeet. I gave a prayer of thanks and an offering of tobacco for the gifts from nature and made my way back home with my dolly booty.
Sitting on my kitchen bench were a collection of dried leaves that had fallen from a nearby plant One in particular had some beautiful patterns on it and I knew somehow they needed to be included in the making.
I got busy cleaning up the timber, first with a rough brush then with my beloved Dremel, once clean I put it aside to completely dry out and began working on the aluminium disc. Trying different mediums of ink and shoe polish I created the paint finish for the base. And my other beloved cut a piece of ply for me to sit the disc on and also have something solid to screw the timber into. Once I sat the timber upright it felt like it was starting to take shape and I could begin working on the body.
Using the patterned dried leaf as the main ingredient I fashioned a dress adding the felt. In between the felting I worked on the head. The angelic face is one of Lyn Belisle earthenware faces (which you can purchase from her etsy shop Earth Shards) I love her work and sometimes use her faces in my dolls and sometimes I make my own.
I added dry leaves around her face and an usual piece of timber, also found in the garden, became her head piece.
Lastly, I used the clear quartz stones that I had acquired from Helen from Crystal Align, she always has the most amazing crystals and hand picks the best. To join her facebook group and see what she has to offer go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/crystalalign369/?ref=share
So here she is! My little faery girl! I’m so curious and excited to see what she has to tell me.
