Since I had just finished my goddess dolls after being on the back burner for seven years I decided to see if there was any more information out there on them now.
If you've been following along on my blog you know that I love goddess dolls and have been wanting to create some of my own since February 2009 when I bought several mixed media goddess doll bodies and which I finally finished in 2014 - Update To My Goddess Doll Adventure - After Seven Years They Finally Came Into Being.
In February 2015 I updated some of the goddess information in an article on my Victorian Dolls, Victorian Traditions, The Victorian Era and Me Blog entitled The History Of Faceless Dolls - Updated February 2015 - Part VII - Goddess and Spirit Dolls.
This time I wanted to see what information was available so you could create a goddess doll of your own. Here's what I found:
Joanna Powell Colbert who, according to her about page, is "an artist, author, teacher, and retreat leader who inspires and helps lovers of Mama Gaia to lead wholehearted, creative, and soulful lives" created a wonderful free "How To Make A Spirit Doll" PDF which can be downloaded here.
If you would like to learn more about Joanna please visit her her Gaian Soul website.
Lyn Belisle is an amazing artist, teacher and author who teaches several online classes, including ones at Artful Gathering, showing how to make goddess and spirit dolls. If you would like to read her Shards blog please click here.
She also offers and amazing amount of free video's, like the ones shown below, on her Lyn Belisle YouTube channel showing some of her spirit doll workshops and the creations made.
If you would like to learn more about Lyn's online classes, workshops, and dvd's please click here.
The Healing and Tranformative Dolls website provides information on e-classes and e-books by art doll artists who create healing dolls such as: Barb Kobe, Pamela Hastings, Erika Cleveland, Joy A. Kirkwood, and Anne Reeder Heck.
They also have a wonderful blog index that provides amazing pictures of healing dolls created by some astonishing healing doll artists as well as links to other information about them. Click here for the "The Art of Healing Dolls Healing Dolls and Healing Stories by Dollmaker Barb Kobe and Other Healing Dollmakers" blog. If you're looking for inspiration this is a great place to start.
Gretchen Lima is an award winning art doll artist who teaches workshops on creating her healing and spirit dolls. Her Gretchen Lima website also offers a store gallery of her own spirit dolls for sale, information on her workshops, and kits and supplies for spirit doll making.
Silver RavenWolf has a tutorial on her Silver RavenWolf blog entitled "How To Make A Spirit Doll — The Journey of Magickal Design" which shows you how to make the cloth spirit dolls shown above.
Crafting a Magical Life: Manifesting Your Heart's Desire Through Creative Projects by Carol Holaday published in 2009 by Findhorn Press, Scotland is a book about magic, creativity, and finding your own creative process through the powers of your mind.
According to Carol, "Whatever it is you want to create first begins with your thought. By investing your energy in your creation, you are giving life to your creation through a huge concentration of power born of that desire."
Also, according to Carol, "Goddess dolls were created primarily for magical purposes, to honor the energy of the Goddess and to serve as a repository for that energy."
In Chapter 11 Carol talks about her own Goddess doll adventures and provides instructions and a template for creating your own goddess doll, like the one shown in the picture above.
If you love to crochet there is a free Goddess Doll pattern by Catriona Allen-Bryce on Ravelry for making the crocheted goddess doll shown above.
There is a wonderful Spirit Doll tutorial by Chris Flynn on the Redwood Mountain Musings blog showing how to make the beautiful spirit doll in the picture above.
Chris Flynn is an artist who make the most beautiful spirit dolls. She also offers the video, shown above, on her Chris FlynnYouTube Channel showing how her Sacred Sisters Spirit Dolls are made.
If you want to make paper art doll goddesses Kimberly Crick has three printable templates for making paper goddess dolls, one of which is shown above, on her The Enchanted Gallery website. Click here for her instructions, templates and terms of use.
Creativity-Portal has a how-to for making the spirit doll shown above. Click here for the Creative Spirit Doll Pattern by Violette.
Marcia Acker-Missall, who is an artist and art teacher, has a pattern for sale on her The Potted Frog website to make the Spa Goddess shown in the picture above. Here's what Marcia had to say about her, "Spa Goddess was published in Belle Armoire magazine and by special invitation she was on display at Houston Market 2002 in the special exhibit “In Celebration of the Doll.” .
Marcia also has a free Healing Goddess Pin Doll pattern on the Doll Street Dreamers website.
I also found several books that include inspirational pictures of goddess dolls made by mixed media and textul artists as well as some instructions for making goddess dolls of your own.
Art Dolls (Twenty to Make)
and Wild Women: Stitched Art Brooches (Twenty to Make)
, both written by Sarah Lawrence include several references to goddess dolls.
Art Faces in Clay: Dolls, Altered Art and More! (Design Originals)
includes how-to's and inspiration for making goddess dolls using Maureen Carlson's designer push molds.
Art Doll Adventures by Lisa Li Hertzi
is a delightful book that explores art dolls and cultural traditions around the world. According to Lisa, "Making dolls with the help of culturl icons brings instant meaning into your work. Your creative flair is of the twenty-first century, but the ideas are primitive and musty with the smell of the eart and they are not just yours, they are everyone's. They are in our blood and they connect us."
Lisa also has an Angel Goddess Doll pattern for sale on the Doll Street Dreamers website that makes 3 different versions of her angel goddess doll shown in the pictures above.
Making Gourd Dolls & Spirit Figures
by Ginger Summit is a wonderful book filled with pictures of beautiful gourd creations from 100 gourd artists as well as original projects to make gourd dolls and spirit figures of your own. Check out the Spirit of Spring, Spirit of Summer, Autumn Spirit In The Tree, and Spirit of Winter projects for projects to inspire you.
Soul Mate Dolls
by Noreen Crone-Findlay offers inspiration and instructions for making 3 dozen different healing dolls. According to the description, "The author shows you how to open doors to creativity, healing, and wholeness by making dolls that express their feelings, desires and ideas."No matter what type of goddess, spirit or healing doll you choose to make they all promote aspects of femininity, humanity, spirituality, compassion, humility, healing power, beauty, love, wisdom, peace, passion, truth, strength, intuition, fulfillment and empowerment. The goddess is seen embracing all aspects of life, all seasons, and all natural elements and goddess dolls represent all of her various aspects.
Today's "goddess dolls" are there to share your hopes, dreams, and listen to your fears. They provide comfort and solace in your time of need. They provide you with the strength you need to face the challengers in your life and empower you to succeed. To release your own "inner goddess." They are lovingly made and given out of heartfelt love from one human being to another. They offer nothing more than love, compassion, understanding, and peace.
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