This doll was inspired by one of my very favorite books
"Miss Happiness and Miss Flower".
Written by Rumour Godden, it is a delightful story about dolls and how
creativity can make life so much more enjoyable and connected.
Check it out at your children's library section!
(There's a sequel too--about Little Peach. Both are lovely stories,
and show how important dolls can be!)
Many high quality antique Japanese dolls were made with a substance
called gofun, a product made of oyster shell scrapings and a binder
made from seaweed.
The luminous yet matte surface of this material mimics the smooth and
elegant countenance of the court ladies in their rice powder makeup.
Polymer clay can be used to mimic gofun in the same way that early
plastics such as celluloid were used, but with more attention to safety!
(Celluloid and wax dolls are flammable.)
A simple cloth body made of stretch knit cotton was sewn, clipped, turned
and stuffed with PolyFil.
The stuffing hole was then closed with a few overcast stitches. A few
lines of stitching help make the doll more poseable. These were added at
the shoulders, waist, hips and knees.
This cloth doll body is not really very sophisticated--just a form to
be dressed, soft enough to be poseable.
The arm fabric ends at the elbow, where
polymer clay hands are later inserted. The fabric ends are tucked up for
a neat edge.
A face mask and hands were then made of polymer clay. I use a faux ivory
mixture made of white, translucent, brown and yellow.
After baking, they were stained using a mix of Varathane
and acrylic paints, (one mix uses black, one uses burnt sienna as well)
and the face details were painted with acrylic paints and Varathane as
a binder/sealant/liquid extender.
A dry brush technique was used for the
faint cheek coloration. Red and black acrylic paints were used for the
lip color. Eyebrows were traditionally painted into place on a lady's face
using a cosmetic made partly from soot.
Court styles of the early centuries called for plucking the natural
brow and painting substitutes in a style called "moth wings".
I've used acrylic paint instead. The Varathane helps bind it to the
polymer face mask.
