Art Dolls by Du Buh Du Designs

{ Frida Dolls }

Frida Art Dolls  (2009-10)

 

* *  A long overdue note about Frida Dolls * *

  Last Summer I was contacted by the Frida Kahlo Corporation and informed that her name and image are trademarked worldwide with regards to certain products including dolls. I contacted them minutes after receiving their email asking what was permissible (since my dolls were one of a kind art pieces, not toys or playthings) and I never heard back from them. Many of you have been asking about Frida dolls and this is why I haven't created any more.  I would love to hear back from F.K.C. as many of us artists, specifically doll makers, who want to honor the memory of Frida via our art, do not wish to violate copyright/trademark laws but would like to create one of a kind pieces. In the meantime you can google the company and visit the official website where they have the only licensed Frida products including the 'official' doll.

 

Art Dolls Only Challenge: Frida, Not Quite Finished

A Work in Progress

Hello..a bit late as usual but I'm back with progress pics. The Art Dolls Only Challenge has ended and my piece is not finished. Well I had to submit a "finished" piece but she has lots more work to be done on her. Being somewhat of a perfectionist I am cringing at having to show what she looks like now, but I agreed to show my work in progress shots so you can see how my work sort of comes along and the changes I often make to a doll before she's completed. Though I have to say it doesn't take this long to complete a doll~this one might be a record! My Frida doll has been shelved several times in the past few weeks due to problems with nerve damage in my hand and also for other issues regarding trademarking of Frida's name and image which I won't go into now but will in a future post when I know a bit more. Kind of killed the momentum I was feeling with making this doll. Needless to say, she will not be for sale..yet...we'll see.

 

 

 

Work in progress


Frida's corset is made of plaster (and still needs to be adorned), her dress made of ivory dupioni silk and I hand stitched silver stars on her midnight blue silk dress (representing the night/the feminine) and handmade the pom poms that line the edge of her linen shawl. Her necklace is made of lapis and the lace on the bottom of her skirt is very old family lace handed down from  Mark's Aunt. Her hair is viscose which seems to be my preference these days over mohair. I have tried leaving her hair down before but couldn't quite achieve the look I was going for with her hair left long. I tried a new way of applying her hair and it worked out extremely well!

The papaya ( representing land, agriculture, fertility,etc.) and heart (representing her love for Diego and bloodshed spilled by others defending Mexico) symbolize her ties to her country. I have already cut off the vines and arteries as I did not like the way they looked in the images above at all. I will be attaching them to something else later.

Her banner reads in Spanish :"Do not forget your Mexico, which is the root of your life."

  

I will be placing her in a shadow box of sorts. You might remember when I showed you this clock cabinet about a year  or two ago and mentioned wanting to save this  for a special doll. We removed the glass door and gutted the inside, and sanded the whole piece and I'll be painting it next. She fits perfectly inside and I'm actually eager to see how it will all turn out.

Thank you for all of your birthday wishes :) I turned forty last Friday and Mark, Andres and I spent the weekend up in Hood River, Oregon along the Columbia River Gorge sightseeing and doing the "Fruit Loop" which consists of visiting local farms in the area and picking your own fruit and flowers. If you are ever in the Portland area during summer time you must come here. If we could choose to live in any other part of the state other than Bend, we both agree on Hood River as our first choice :)

Hood River, Oregon and the Columbia River Gorge (Washington side)

 

Picking berries at Nelson's Blueberry Farm 

 

Mt. Hood in the background of Lavender Valley

 

Lavender Valley Farm was heaven. We had just returned from picking blueberries in the heat of midday and the hillside farm was nice and breezy. The aroma of lavender was unreal and when the wind died down you could hear the hum of bees everywhere. I didn't want to leave this place~it is absolutely beautiful! Lucky for us we will be heading back later this month to pick up some of those apples/pears that weren't quite ripe yet~

Art Doll Frida Kahlo & Cigar Box ShrineAuction Piece 2010

 

Benefitting the Oaxaca Street Children Grassroots Organization

  "Frida", mixed media art doll~Image Mixed media Art Doll~

(click images to enlarge)

Greetings! It's March already and I'm just going to pretend it's January since I haven't been able to get a start the past two months. I'm doing fine just a few computer problems~a freak accident involving liquid getting onto my computer and therefore messing up my circuit board. A new external keyboard is allowing me to use my Mac as if nothing happened but it's a matter of time before it quits and I'll have to get a new computer. In the meantime I'm crossing my fingers that my laptop will work with me fro just a little while longer :)

On to more important things. Here is my latest Art Doll~ Frida holding her Cigar Box Shrine. This hanging piece will be auctioned off beginning March 20th (extended to April..details to come)and will benefit Oaxaca Street Children Grassroots .They are a non profit organization whose mission it is to help the poorest families in the Oaxaca region of Mexico by providing food,clothing,etc. along with helping children,who would otherwise be working on the streets to support their families, get an education.

Be sure to visit their website for additional information how their organization helps :)

This is the second year that Rebecca from Mi Corazon is hosting the Cigar Box Shrine Fund raiser ~she has worked tirelessly to organize and promote this wonderful cause. You learn more about her and the auction by clicking the badge in the right hand column which will take you to her blog.

I will post more details once the auction date approaches.

For my Shrine I decided to have Frida holding a cigar box instead of being inside like last years shrine.

I wanted to continue with the hanging dolls series that I started with the two that I made for a Gallery Show last summer. This piece addresses Frida's pain and issues with fertility. Children were something she desperately wanted but due to her injuries suffered in a bus accident she was never able to carry a child full term and suffered three miscarriages. It was after one of her miscarriages that she learned to take her grief and put in on canvas and paper in a way that no woman had ever expressed herself before.

On the banner at the bottom of her skirt I included a line from the book Frida's Bed (paraphrased in Spanish). Though it's not a quote from Frida, it is befitting as it captures the essence of her work.

I dragged my pain from its depths and brought it to the surface, exposing it to the light..and that gave me strength~

 There are some grammatical errors with the Spanish that I need to fix ~ I will be re-doing the banner but it will look basically the same. I have some other details that I still want to add to the piece. If I decide to tinker a little more with this piece I will post an updated image. Doll description follows below~

 

  ~Art Doll & Cigar Box Shrine Description~ 

 "Frida", mixed media art doll~Image Mixed media Art Doll~ Image  © Christine Alvarado, 2010 

This Frida Kahlo doll is made of polymer clay, gessoed and painted in layers of acrylics and coated with a protective matte varnish. She is approx 14.75" tall and 7" at the widest part of the base of her dress. 

From top to bottom:

 Her hair is made of high quality black mohair and she is wearing ivory colored flowers made of a crepe like paper. Two small hand earrings adorn her face (made of silver dipped copper) and she wears a double strand necklace made of turquoise. Frida wears a corset made of plaster bandages which has several silver leafed tears on the front (mostly covered up by the cigar box but visible up close and on the sides). Her undergarment is painted black. She wears a shawl made of aqua blue silk that has some embroidered leaves on it. I handmade the tassels and pom poms and added it as trim.

 The Shrine is made from a vintage Windsor Cigar Box (from early twentieth century). The original size was approx 3" x5 " but shortened down to 2.5" x 3"(closed) to fit the doll. The box still has it's original labels and has been sealed with a protective varnish to prevent further flaking. The box also has it's original hinges and markings~ the doors (inside and out) came with the words "New Departure" printed on them. The inside walls are painted a turquoise green.

I hand sculpted the baby, heart and Papaya fruit out of polymer clay and painted them with acrylics. The previous two are attached to rods and sealed in place under protective glass. The box has been attached to her chest and hands using rods and is not removable.

 

Frida's skirt is made of deep red dupioni silk as is the pleated ivory part of her dress (machine and hand stitched). I used vintage lace at the base of her skirt that was given to me by my husband's Aunt. Frida is wearing an additional red silk skirt underneath with a red and cream colored Jacquard floral ribbon at the base of the skirt. Frida's stockings and shoes are painted black.

Baby , Frida's heart and Papaya sculpted from clay