Your Cheatin' HeART...

Hank Williams wrote the lyrics to the song...

I just took it to the "next step" with a piece of art!

I'm "cheatin'..." a little here on this new Santos Cage Doll!

Here are a few "before and after" pics:

I was unhappy with the cage doll that I had been

working on; prior to my cancer diagnosis... 

and so two days ago just tossed it!  Yup! In the trash...

I found this reproduction vintage Santos (left) online 
at Tuesday Morning, for a real deal of a price. 
After removing the upper body... I did a bit of a "re-fit" 
using my original  cage doll skirt and wooden wings;

hence the "cheatin" heART!

I love it...  the vintage patina I was able to achieve 
with a bit of gesso, wood stain, and sanding 
sure beats those boring gray slats of wood!


It's nice to be "back"... Daryle

Santos Cage Doll... Comin' Along!

Have you ever had "one of those weeks"... 

that too quickly turned into "one of those months"?

I found some time today to finally apply a coat of paper clay

over the duck cloth fabric armature!

I did manage (two weeks ago) to stain and add several more 

decorative features to the wooden cage.

The arms are articulated... jointed at the shoulders,

elbows and wrists.  I will apply paper clay to them,

and add fingers eventually.  I hope to work on her face

this weekend.  Those are German bead eyes in the sockets.

I have cut out a metal mesh Victorian corset, using an

old window screen... it is soaking in a vinegar and bleach solution,

to give it a worn, rusty patina.  The plan is to hand stitch the

parts of the corset together, add some dribbles of paint 

and give it that "old world" appearance... a vintage "find" from

another time and place.  Blessings... Daryle

Santos Angel

With this Santos... I have decided to sculpt clay of 

over cloth. The cloth I have chosen happens to be one of my

 favorite fabrics. It is a rugged 10 oz. duck cloth cotton canvas, 

that is unbleached. Duck cloth and I have a "long history" of 

working together... going all the way back to our earliest days 

up in Vermont. Kingdom Krafts... which was the name of our 

little registered cottage industry became associated by name 

with "canvas folk art." When folks heard "canvas folk art"... 

they often thought of Kingdom Krafts.

Well... having said that; that was then and this is now!  

I just plain enjoy working with a sturdy duck cloth!

The fabric is nailed with 9/16 tacks to the wooden cage frame,

also a squirt of Elmer's wood glue here and there for strength.

I'm hoping to introduce some old rusty screening by fabricating a 

metal corset over and/or into the paper maché and paper clay.

Happy Sunday evening... Daryle

Santos Cage... Body Beginnings!

Focus... "to concentrate attention or energy"

This Santos has helped me to once again "focus"

and move forward!

I have added a "finial" of sorts... 

to the inside of the cage for interest.  

Perhaps something will eventually dangle from it?

I added a halved styrofoam ball, to provide some shape

for the doll's hips... soon to be covered with a fabric armature.

I do so much better "visualizing" with a paper representation...

I like the proportions.  Her long waist will drop when I actually 

"tuck" the fabric and attach it to the wooden upper base.  

Santos Angel... Has a Cage!

"floundering"...  a verb: to struggle, to make mistakes.

Goodness, that says it all!  I feel as though I've been

floundering in the aftermath, the past few weeks.

Perhaps "wallowing" would be an even better word choice!

Having "wallowed" long enough... I started working on the cage

for a new Santos Angel!

 I used some poplar furring strips, over-laying them with 

decorative pine moulding that I attached to a basswood base. 

Her tiny 4-3/4" waist base is pine. Some drywall screws and good 

ol' Elmer's wood glue seems to be holding it all together! This Santos 

will be quite large; the cage is 19 inches high. I'm thinking that will 

make the doll close to 36 inches tall.  Happy Trails!  Daryle

A New Doll... in the Works!

My excuse?  Well, our downstairs is still waiting for new flooring,

following the carpet soaking waters of Irene!

Two weeks ago we finally pulled the last of the old, original tile flooring up...

(the carpet went four weeks ago)

The new flooring will be delivered tomorrow, acclimate and be installed on Tuesday.

My workshop is a disaster: furniture piled, stacked, jammed and junked all over the place.  Being a bit "over the top tidy"... (Yup! basically O.C.D.)

I struggle to work in a "less than well organized" environment.

This evening I decided to venture into that very same space and at least attempt

to "work on" the base for a new Santos!  I am defining "work on" as taking a photo of potential materials to be used in the base of the new cage doll.  Sad, huh?

And so it goes...  Happy Sunday evening!  Daryle