Under normal circumstances, whatever they are, at this point a few weeks before the show I would be dashing around like a mad fool, doing multitasking, other wise known as displacement activity.
The facial injury, however, makes anything other than sitting quietly, inadvisable. So I am getting on with dolls.
The dolls, for new readers, are porcelain. They are my design and manufacture. I sculpt the dolls in epoxy resin, make plaster of Paris moulds from each part, pour liquid clay into the moulds which absorb the water allowing me to remove a solid casting from the mould. I then clean the surface of the hollow casting, or insert stringing hooks that I have made into solid castings. When I have a kiln full of dry castings, which can take several weeks, I then fire the casts, the high temperature in the kiln drives off the air jacket round each molecule of clay, turning it into porcelain, a different, durable substance.
I then wash and scrub every part, and when they are dry I china paint the result. China paint doesn’t dry until it is fired again in the kiln. Once cooled I can then string the parts together to make a doll.
The dolls that I am dressing currently are 24th scale. They are under three inches tall.
As you can see this doll is made up of ten individual pieces of porcelain.
I began with a couple of Georgian gentlemen.
And have just started on the ladies to go with them.
There are some Incredibles
And finally for now, some pirates
It’s wonderful what being forced to sit down can do for you. If I can only find my specs, I’ll get on with some more.
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