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 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

"Miss Moses"

"Miss Moses"... as published in the spring 2011 issue of PRIMS!

This cage doll (santos) is my tribute to Harriet Tubman 

and the Underground Railroad Movement.

 So many details: vintage shoe button eyes, articulated arms, 

vintage lace and button trim, and a warm, "crackle" finish...

Her skirt is an inverted metal container that holds 

an 1894 copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin"  published in Philadelphia,  

a vintage quilt square (its story is told in the PRIMS article),

and some rusty, vintage keys.

This OOAK cage doll stands 21 inches tall, 

her wings are just under 17 inches wide, from tip-to-tip.

Her head is sculpted with paper clay over a wooden ball.

Her bodice is hand-painted canvas duck cloth.

Her lower arms and hands (with opposable thumbs) are wood. 

Her upper arms are articulated and made with duck cloth.

The metal cage skirt is removable from the lower wooden base;

allowing you to easily remove the book and vintage quilt square.

Meet "Miss Moses" in the spring issue of PRIMS!

"Miss Moses" is my tribute to Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad Movement.  The complete article is on pages 82-85 of the spring issue of PRIMS.
My heartfelt thanks to the editorial and photography staff at Stampington & Company for the joy of being published in their spring issue! 

I've include some collage pics of her "journey" from a wooden ball and some paper clay, to an inverted wire container!

The copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is a publication from 1894, out of Philadelphia.  I found it at a local Goodwill Store!  The vintage quilt square has "a story" of its own... all retold in the PRIMS article.  Enjoy and blessings... Daryle