Madhuri Guin's enchanted dolls

 I just came across with Madhuri Guin's site and found the most amazing handmade dolls.

About Madhuri Guin:

"Madhuri was born in Hooghly, near Kolkata, India and completed her education from Jamshedpur (then in Bihar, now in Jharkhand, India) and Rourkela, in Odisha, India. Interested in fine art, right from childhood, she took up doll making at the age of 21 in 1973, when she felt inspired by the Shankar's International Doll's Museum in New Delhi, India.

Without any formal training in doll making or any other form of fine art, she began making simple cloth dolls with porcelain heads. Far from being perfect, they were the medium through which Madhuri taught herself and refined her doll making skills, to finally evolve a form unique to her.

Unlike most other cloth dolls made elsewhere in India, Madhuri's dolls were made to be more realistic. This was brought out by her unique doll making style. She made the face for the doll out of cloth, and used precise cloth patterns for limbs, fingers and the torso of the doll. These cloth patterns were sewed, stuffed with cotton and were provided with an iron wire frame. The fingers were sewed to the limbs, which then were sewed to the torso. The body was then provided accurate shapes, based on the kind of doll being made. The accuracy in gestures of the hand and body was provided because of the accurate cloth patterns used for the doll body parts and the special way the wire frame was assembled. However, the most striking feature of the doll remains the face of the doll." (keep reading at Madhuri's site and watch the dolls.)

 

Meet Tootsie, the vegan artist, dancer and music therapist

"Tootsie is a vegan who used to live in New York. She runs drum therapy work shops to try and increase the power of women through expressive dance. She does a lot of voluntary work with the homeless and has a small apartment which doubles as a gallery for her own art work"

Isn't she lovely? I just found her at Mademoiselle Blythe's blog by Fanny Zara. It is a post about doll's hair made of alpaca and mohair.
Tootsie is a creation of Abgail and you can see more of her work in her Flickr's page.

"Just resting my eyes" by Karen Baker

I loved this doll and felt like sharing. Karen Baker has numerous great works.

I feel peaceful when I look at this picture that I even forget to pay attention on the craftsmanship. I could  talk about many things like how the time seems to... no. I'll just look and  feel.

Dionne Warwick as a doll

It seems that Dionne Warwick us meditating about
The Windows the World or taking a deep breath.
by Dulce Tyler at Flickr.

Kookoo's enchanted dolls

"The first one is Flora: "Meet Flora. In Roman mythology Flora (from latin floris = flower) is a goddess of flowers, flowering plants, especially those that bear fruit and the season of spring. Her function is to make the grain, vegetables and trees bloom. That is why I dressed her in crocheted dress in blooming pink and purple colors and even gave her hair a feeling of a growing tree".

The second, blonde hair,is Zoe. The third with the colored dress is Lisa: "Meet Elizabeth (or Lisa, as her friends call her, or Isabelle, as her grand-mère from France names her). She is a playful girl who loves colors and enjoys painting the most beautiful moments of our lives. Her desk is covered with brushes, pencils, crayons and a multitude of unfinished paintings, since she often rushes from one idea to another and forgets what she was doing in the first place."

The doll in white: The Bride:

"You really shouldn't say "I love you" unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget. ~ Author unknown, attributed to an 8-year-old named Jessica" These are the descriptions Kookoo at Kookoocraft did about her dolls. I felt sharing these two girls created by Kookoo. They are adorable. There is another one here.

Handmade dolls will last forever

I know I was supposed to post the J.Wright of Derby painting but I just came across with these dolls and couldn't help sharing.

Right: This is a collection of molded heads covered with felt and here there are thirty of them. Difficult to choose one.

Left: Steampunk doll. Confused? Here is the explanation:

Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, which involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used — usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; in other words, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc.

Keep reading about the doll. I think that there is something magic about handmade dolls that will always enchant us.