Dutch Touch 2009 Day 1

This just looks like an average house in a suburban neighborhood, eh? NOT! Inside, 12 dollmakers from Canada, North Carolina, Mississippi, Texas and Iowa are hard at work on one-of-a-kind creations under the direction of master doll artists Marlaine Verhelst and Ankie Daanen.



We spent Day One shaping our little "eggs" into a head, sculpting a forehead, adding a chin, building a nose, creating the eyes, all the while smooting, smooting, smooting (dat's Dutch for "smoothing, smoothing, smoothing").

It was a wee bit stressful for me, as I am not a sculptor at heart. But as the day wore on, I made friends with the squishy Darwi clay. To add more clay to your head, you just add a little water to the spot, smack it on and then smoot it.

We would work a bit and then Marlaine would come around to inspect what we did. Among other tings, I had to go back and add some to the "snottenholder" -- dat's Dutch for the fleshy part undernead the nose. (Tip: If you're sculpting a smile, it doesn't have a snottenholder. Go to the mirror and see for yourself!)



Here is Yvonne "smooting" with the sculpting brush (aka a paint brush).

So you know, you won't get out of this class without sculpting ears. Doesn't matter if they will live forever underneath an adorable hat or mop of hair; Marlaine will make you make the ears. It is pointless to fight.

Tomorrow: we smoot the heads some more and start sculpting the hands and feet. Our homework is to stuff the muslin body firmly. De hardest part is over.