Revision To My "The History Of Faceless Dolls" Article

This morning I got a comment notification from Blogger.com that Gloria Larocque had left a new comment on my 6/2006 post The History of Faceless Dolls!

Here's Gloria's comment:

Hello Linda,

For some time, I have been wanting to respond to your article, and then for a while, I couldn't find it. But I've come across it again, and I'm glad. My name is Gloria Larocque, and I'm glad you wrote about the doll project I created a few years ago, and your summary was very descript and accurate. I just wanted you to know I acknowledged your acknowledgement and thank you for bringing together the issue behind the project in light of your collecting information on something you value. All the best - Gloria

I had included the following paragraph in my original 6/2006 post The History of Faceless Dolls post and in my The History of Faceless Dolls - REVISED 5/19/09 post.

Another article about "faceless" dolls concerned the dolls of Gloria Larocque. She has created 100 or more "faceless" dolls based upon the Iroquois legend that warns young girls about the dangers of vanity. According to the article her purpose, however, is different. Her dolls represent Canada's murdered aboriginal women, a group made faceless not by vanity but by neglect. Her project has helped draw attention to the plight of the murdered aboriginal women.

I can remember how moved I was reading about "The Angel Doll Project" back in 2006 and have to tell you that I was as equally moved re-reading about it once again.

Gloria Larocque is the founder of the Aboriginal Angel Doll Project and the KETA Society which teaches traditional awareness through cultural acceptance.

According to the Keta Society websites - The Kookum Educating Traditional Acceptance Society was incorporated on August 24, 2005 to acknowledge and raise awareness of the issue of the missing and murdered Aboriginal women of Canada and to promote a variety of educational initiatives in order to instill stronger awareness that Aboriginal people have a strong, rich, diverse culture.

Kookum is the Cree word for 'Grandmother, and the Society name was chosen in order to express the need for grassroots education of native culture and traditions.

Gloria gave a speech at the "Art Against Brutality" event at the Oppenheimer Park in 2005 which was entitled: Lest We Forget The Aboriginal Angel Doll Project and the KETA Society - By Gloria Larocque.

I wanted to thank Gloria for posting her comment and wanted to let her know that I have modified my The History of Faceless Dolls - REVISED 5/19/09 post to include the picture above and the following revised paragraphs about "The Aboriginal Angel Doll Project:"

Another article about "faceless" dolls concerned the dolls of Gloria Larocque. She has created 100 or more "faceless" dolls based upon the Iroquois legend that warns young girls about the dangers of vanity. According to the article her purpose, however, is different. Her dolls represent Canada's murdered aboriginal women, a group made faceless not by vanity but by neglect. Her project has helped draw attention to the plight of the murdered aboriginal women.

According to Gloria:"The dolls will act as a centre-piece for educating children about traditional Aboriginal culture, maintaining cultural integrity through a contemporary setting. As a teaching tool kit, the idea will be to plant seeds of survival skills concepts such as choice, strength, education, cultural connection and knowledge of self.

The kit will contain a doll in the same fashion as an Aboriginal Angel Doll, and will be presented as an “elder”. The doll will be known as Kookum RETA (grandmother rejuvenate, educate, traditional, acceptance) of the Aboriginal people from Turtle Island. The power of the elder teaching the young is a traditional aboriginal teaching method."

Psst!!!! Linda, You'd Better Check This Out!

I found it on my chair when I returned to my study this morning. Another teenie, tiny note. I hadn't received one in such a long time. Not since the last "dollie" uprising. This one read "Psst!!!! Linda, You'd Better Check This Out!"

I knew the note had come from Elmer's Little Boy. I recognized his handwriting.

It had to be something about the "dollies" and something to do with their "The Dollie Storage Room Blog."

I wondered what the problem was going to be this time? What were the "dollies" up to? And, why was Elmer warning me. Hmmmmmm........ I guess I'd better check it out.

The Byrum Spiritual Art Award

Yesterday I received a pleasant surprise. Marcie Hart from "A Work Of Hart" blog gave me the The Byrum Spiritual Art Award.

I was truly flattered to know that I inspire Marcie and honored to have received such an award from an astonishing doll artist and sculptor. Marcie creates the most beautiful polymer clay dolls and faeries. Each creation is a work of art and beautiful to look at. If you'd like to see some of Marcie's amazing creations please visit her "A Work Of Hart" website.

The Byrum Spiritual Award means "You make a difference ... I know, because you have for me!"

I know so many gifted artists in so many different mediums who inspire me every day with their creativity so to choose just 6 was going to be difficult indeed.

So, in thinking about who has inspired me and continues to inspire me I couldn't help but think of doll artists whose creations are truly breathtaking and whose works of doll art continue to inspire me towards my own level of excellence. It's not that I'll ever be at the level of any of the following - but, I can dream and the following doll makers show me what is truly possible in the hands of a gifted artist.

Now I would like to pass this along to 6 doll artists whose work I find very creative and inspirational:

1) Sherry Goshon of "Sherry's Creative Corner" blog. Sherry is an astonishing doll artist who creations take my breath away.

2) Fran Parrigan Meehan of "Dolls Are My Canvas Within My Soul" blog. Fran is not only an extraordinary doll maker, but is also a multi-faceted doll artist. She is not only a cloth doll maker but is also a paper doll designer, doll pattern designer, and clay doll sculpture who also sells her own press molds.

3) Julie McCullough of Magic Threads website and "Magic Threads" blog. She is an extraordinary textile artist, doll artist, teacher, writer, and pattern designer. Her doll creations are delightful, whimsical creations that are phenomenal in their creativity.

4) Linda Smith of Linda Smith Originals and Linda Smith Originals blog. Linda is an Original Doll Artist, Designer & Sculptor whose polymer clay one-of-a-kind creations are simply exquisite. Each of her designs is truly a work of art and an inspiration to all doll makers striving for excellence.

5) Sue McFadden of Sues Daily Blog and her Sue McFadden - Original Felt Dolls website. Sue is is an astonishing cloth and felt doll maker. Her creations are beautiful works of art, each with their own distinctive personality - their own heart and soul. Each doll speaks to you in their own unique way and conveys Sue's feelings on life.

6) Patti LaValley of "Patti LaValley Designs" blog and Patti's Dolls website. Patti's creations are unique, creative, and breathtaking. She is so original and ingenious in her designs that it's hard for me not to be extremely jealous of her creativity.

Please take the time to visit the blogs and websites of these inspirational artists.

He's Our Baby and Our "Bud!"

If you're a reader of my Linda's Blog you know that we have a cairn terrier who is our "baby." He's the "king" of the house and a demanding "king" to boot.

But, he's our "Bud" and our baby and when he's hurting we are hurting and the last two months for Bud haven't been the best.

You see, two years ago he was diagnosed with diabetes, which our veterinarian told us was a manageable disease for dogs and was no longer a death sentence. So, we learned all we could about diabetes in dogs and give him two shots a day of insulin. The vet showed us how to administer the shots so he doesn't get hurt and it seems to be working. Of course, he gets a few treats afterwards for being such a good boy.

Well, with the diabetes comes a problem with his teeth so we have to get his teeth cleaned every year and decided to have this done in April of this year. Since they have to anesthetize him for the teeth cleaning the vet does a more thorough exam of his whole body. During this exam she thought she felt a mass near his spleen and took an x-ray of his belly which revealed an egg size mass next to or in his spleen.

Now, "Bud" is 12 years old and overweight and like some older dogs has masses all over his body. Some of "Bud's" masses are fat and some are benign cysts. However, this one was different. The vet told us that he would need to have his spleen removed as the mass could rupture at any time and referred us to another vet whose specialty was surgery in dogs.

So, we went to see the specialist and she, too, told us the spleen would have to be removed but it wasn't an organ that dogs really need and that he'd be fine without it. He'd be able to bounce back from the surgery with no problems. As time was of the essence we scheduled the surgery for the next day. She did however caution us that she wouldn't know until she had performed the surgery whether the mass was malignant and whether there were any other issues of that nature with surrounding organs.

The surgical vet called and told us that the mass was inside his spleen and she had to remove it. She also told us that he had another egg sized mass inside his abdomen that she also had to remove. She'd sent both masses to be analyzed and would have the results back in a few days. She said the surgery went fine and that his liver seemed normal and that there didn't seem to be any problem there.

"Bud" made it through the surgery with flying colors and we brought him home the next day for recovery. The vet sent us home with pain medicine that he'd need for a few days and told us that due to the 4" incision along the middle of his belly he couldn't jump up or down or go on walks for 10 to 14 days. We had to get the pain medicine in liquid form as since birth our "Bud" has had periods where he's nauseous and won't eat or drink water until he's better. I wanted the liquid pain medicine as I didn't want to encounter one of those days when he wouldn't eat or drink and not be able to give him pain medicine.

We got a call from the surgical vet in a few days with the results on the two masses and they were both benign which was wonderful news for us. Needless to say "Bud" quickly recovered and had his staples removed after 14 days and got a wonderful report from the surgical vet. "Bud" was back to normal.

For all intent purposes "Bud" was back to normal - or so we thought. Unfortunately last Sunday morning (Mother's Day) at about 10:00 o'clock and totally of of the blue he had a full blown seizure. We rushed him to the vets office and by the time we got there he was no longer seizing. The vet examined him and said that looking at him you'd never know that he'd just had a seizure. He didn't have a temperature and his blood sugar was normal. He said he might never have another one and to watch him during the next 24 hours. He might have another one, which was okay, as long as they weren't in clusters and weren't longer than 2 minutes or so.

At 12:00 midnight he had another full blown seizure. When he had a third full blown seizure at 3:00 o'clock in the morning we rushed him to the Tufts Veterinary hospital. They admitted him and told us that he would be moved from intensive care to neurology in the morning. They wanted to monitor him and had an I/V set-up so that if he did have more seizures they could give him the anti-seizure medicine intravenously. The Emergency Room Vet thought it was possible that the seizures were created by tumors in his brain.

"Bud" had another seizure at 6:00 o'clock in the morning and they administered the anti-seizure medicine. He was transferred to neurology in the morning and was evaluated by the vet neurologist specialist. They did a series of tests and an MRI and determined that he didn't have any brain tumors and that he, in fact, had a stroke caused by high blood pressure exacerbated by his diabetes. Of course, the stroke could have been caused by a blood clot from the surgery, but the neurologist thought the most likely cause was the high blood pressure exacerbated by the diabetes.

We, of course, were concerned about what this meant for "Bud" and his quality of life. The neurologist vet told us that, unlike humans, dogs are very resilient and can recover from strokes without any problems. The stroke was not in an area of the brain to be concerned with and didn't cause any permanent damage. In a few days, "Bud" would be fine and in a few weeks - back to normal.

He told us that "Bud" needed to be on anti-seizure medicine (3 times a day) for a year or more and, maybe, for the rest of his life. He also needed to be on blood pressure medicine until his blood sugar levels were lowered resulting in his blood pressure being normal. If we could control his diabetes better than he could go off the blood pressure medicine. So, we brought "Bud" home with a bunch of prescriptions and information on handling all of this.

The first couple of days "Bud" was very unsteady on his feet and would just suddenly collapse so we had to monitor him very closely. We were told not to let him jump up or down off the sofa's, go near stairs, or near water as if he had another seizure he could seriously hurt himself.

The good news is that he hasn't had another seizure in a week and seems almost back to normal. In fact, he hasn't had his walks in a few weeks and is starting to get very demanding about them. We know he wants to go on his walks, but that will have to wait just a little longer. King or no king.

Looking at him you'd never know that he had such an ordeal during the last two months. Our "baby" is almost back to normal.

That's the good news. What I didn't tell you was that 1 week after our "Bud" had surgery my husband had a minor surgery. So, I had my hands full - so to speak - for the last two months with both my "kings" in recovery. And, BOTH, very demanding.

Happily, both are on the road to recovery. My husband's surgery will take a few more weeks to heal, but "Bud" is almost back to normal.

Given that he thinks he's a "king" he's not going to wait for my husband to fully recover before he starts DEMANDING that he take him for a walk. Surgery or no surgery I need a walk - NOW!

Yes, your highness!

A Little Research Into The History of Goddess Dolls

I updated my "A Little Research Into The History of Goddess Dolls." It can be found here.

I Really Need To Stop Playing!

I think I'm losing it!

You see I can't seem to stop playing these Facebook.com games. Last time it was with my Linda avatar on YoVille, and my "Peaches" dog on Super Poke Pets. This time it's Farm Town. What is wrong with me?

Pictured above is what my Farm Town currently looks like. I've been adding trees and animals sent by my friends and then harvesting the crops so I can buy things for my farm.

CLICK HERE or click on the picture above to see what I've managed to do so far.

I really need to stop doing all this and get back to work. It's just that I LOVE shopping and buying things for my YoVille avatar, my "Peaches" Super Poke Pet, and My Farm. Maybe there just isn't any hope for me!

Come join me on Facebook.com and see what I'm talking about.

Have Fun At The Beach - Peaches Habitat!

You're probably going to think that I'm loosing my mind. Either that or I'm just having too much fun with some of the Facebook applications.

Shown above is my "Peaches" doggie avatar on Facebook's SuperPoke Pets. She not only loves the beach, but is quite the spender as you can see from everything she's added to her beach scene.

She wants to buy more, but, personally, I think she's done with spending for awhile. She should concentrate on playing with her friends and giving to others. What do you think?

Have fun at the beach!

Isn't She Adorable?

If you've been a reader of my Linda's Blog for a while now you know that I just LOVE graphics - especially dollie graphics - animated or not. And, I just LOVE blinkies - which is another story for another day.

In any event, I was asked to join YoVille on Facebook by one of my friends and have to tell you that I just LOVE it.

I created my Linda avatar above and I'm in the process of furnishing my apartment which right now consists of a living room, bedroom, and kitchen. I have to work or visit my friends to earn YoVille coins so that I can buy things for my apartment. I'm working on it and hope to have a wonderfully furnished apartment before long.

I LOVE my new avatar so much I decided to add her to the sidebar of my Linda's Blog. She can take her place amongst all the rest of the dollie graphics and blinkies I have there. I'm sure she'll feel right at home.

If you LOVE dolls - especially animated doll graphics and would like to have a little fun come and join me on Facebook and then visit me on YoVille. Hope to see you there.

Have fun.

I Hope You Like My Faceless Beauties Video

I think you all know that I, personally, love faceless dolls. Victorians, primitives, colonial, prairie dolls, rag dolls, or country style dolls. It doesn't matter. I love them all.

In fact, I created a video to reflect my feelings about faceless dolls which is: "Beauty lies not only in what is seen, but what is imagined. I believe the essence of a dolls faceless beauty should determine her personality."

Please CLICK HERE or on the video above if you would like to view my "Linda's Faceless Beauties" video.

My Goddess Doll Adventure So Far!

In February I wrote a post on my Linda's Blog entitled "Why Not Be Adventuresome!" which was about my buying a batch of 10 small goddess art forms from Monica Magness of "Girl Gone Thread Wild" blog that she had for sale on her GirlGoneThreadWild Etsy shop.

I wanted to try something different this year and have been wanting to make some mixed media "goddess dolls" as I haven't made any as of yet. The doll body forms that I bought ranged between 4"-6" tall in size and are of of various colors.

Some of the "goddess dolls" that I have seen are either faceless (which is fine with me) or have cloth faces, clay faces, have sun or moon faces, even beaded faces. Some of the face shapes are round or oval, some are square, and some are triangles. I haven't quite decided what kind of face I want to try as of yet, but I always like to be prepared.

They probably will be clay so I decided to buy some polymer clay to sculpt my own and also buy some polymer clay masks to use in the event my clay ones don't look exactly as I had envisioned them. If these don't work then they may have cloth faces or be faceless. I might even try beaded faces although I think they were be difficult to do. Or, I may just decide to do several of each. I just won't know until I start creating them.

Next I need to decide whether they should have hair or no hair. Headdress or no headdress? Since I was running out of doll hair (well, not really, but you never know what you want to use until you start creating) I also decided to replenish my supply of doll hair. I made a note to look at the yarn sections of my local craft stores and also look on line at some of my favorite doll hair websites to see if there was anything that caught my eye and would help me to decide which way to go with the hair.

I decided to buy some hair from one of my favorite websites for doll hair, Cloth Doll Hair Supplies at http://www.clothdollhair.com as Suzy was offering a discount to all her Twitter followers (which I am one of).

Also, I wanted my "goddess dolls" to have beaded decorations along their bodies or in their clothes (should I decide to add something along these lines) so I decided to visit my local craft stores to see what they had. I was expecting a little section of beads. Au Contraire! Make that ROWS and ROWS of beads. Aisles and aisles of beads. So many so that it was almost impossible to decide.

Should they be round? Should they be flat? Should there be a combination of the two? Should they be large, small, or medium in size? What color? Solid or multi-colored? Shiny or not? And on and on it went!

Obviously, this was not going to be as easy as I had thought. I really hadn't thought this through and should have tried to design what I wanted my goddess dolls to look like before I attempted to by the beads. Should they be traditional mixed media art dolls or should I make them a little different? Maybe they shouldn't even have beads? But, I really want to try beading as the dolls I've seen are just so beautiful. Time consuming to make, but beautiful.

In any event, I bought several different colors and sizes of beads and because I like to be organized I also bought some containers to house my beads. Can't have them falling all over the floor. That would not be good!

So, now I have my doll forms, various ways to make the faces, and lots and lots of beads. Since I just love history next on my agenda is to do a little research on the Internet on "goddess dolls" also known as healing dolls and spirit dolls. I'm not sure what this will tell me - other than I just love research, especially on different doll legends.

What I'm hoping is that it might just help me decide what type of "goddess dolls, healing dolls, or spirit dolls" I want to create. It might even inspire me to create a goddess doll, healing doll, or spirit doll design of my own - which, of course, I'd create an e-pattern for. Oh, what a delightful adventure this is going to be. Wish me luck.

I'll let you know what I find out.

Why Not Be Adventuresome?

Well, I decided that I was going to try something new this year. To try and make a type of doll that I haven't made as of yet.

Since I live with 1,796 dolls of my own creation you might be wondering exactly what kind of doll I haven't made yet.

Well, believe it or not but there are thousands of different types of dolls I haven't made and one of them is a beaded goddess art doll. Either with a clay face or with a cloth face.

I have been wanting to make one for quite some time. The problem is - lack of time. So, I thought that maybe if the bodies were already made then I could just embellish the rest. Maybe?

So, when I saw that Monica Magness of "Girl Gone Thread Wild" blog had a batch of 10 small goddess art forms for beading, painting & altering for sale on her GirlGoneThreadWild Etsy shop I decided to buy them! The doll bodies are between 4"-6" tall in size of various colors.

Now the question is how exactly should I finish them? I'm hoping that I'll be able to finish them all before next Christmas as I think they would make wonderful Christmas presents.

Oh, I can hardly wait!

I'm already thinking of the different beads and embellishments I might try. Hmmm..... Should I try clay faces or not? Hmmmm..... How many beads? Hmmmmm.... What else should I use to embellish them? Hmmmmmm.....

Oh, what a delightful adventure this is going to be. Wish me luck.

I Just Want To Cry!

While I was surfing through some of the posts on blogs I like to visit I saw this picture on Shula's "Poppalina" blog post entitled "Thirsty Koalas" and just wanted to cry!

There has been so much devastation and damage caused by the Victoria bush fires in Australia. So many people have lost their lives and so many people have lost their homes and everything they had. It's just horrible. And, the worst part is - they are reporting the fires may have been intentionally set.

I just want to cry.

If you want to read more this link was provided on Shula's blog - http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25034233-5018723,00.html