DOLL MAKING AS A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
"Hands to work, heart to God."
Standing beside The Dancing Woman Labyrinth, designed by Lisa Moriarty Gidlow, constructed by Liz Pearce, with permission.
For me the labyrinth is a metaphor for our spiritual journey.
AN INVITATION
At 52, I encountered a major change in my life.
Slowly, I honoured the call to become a doll maker.
Whenever I was amongst fabric artists or immersed in my doll making,
I found I was energized, excited, joyful.
I wondered if this was an invitation to share the intimacy and persistence of divine love
through my dolls.
For me, doll making is contemplative.
My attention is focused.
I am surrounded by possibilities.
I immerse myself ... and a new doll is birthed.
With each stage of this process, God's love enfolds me.
With each stitch, I feel more closely stitched to the divine.
Doll making becomes a wordless communion with God.
Slowly, I honoured the call to become a doll maker.
Whenever I was amongst fabric artists or immersed in my doll making,
I found I was energized, excited, joyful.
I wondered if this was an invitation to share the intimacy and persistence of divine love
through my dolls.
For me, doll making is contemplative.
My attention is focused.
I am surrounded by possibilities.
I immerse myself ... and a new doll is birthed.
With each stage of this process, God's love enfolds me.
With each stitch, I feel more closely stitched to the divine.
Doll making becomes a wordless communion with God.
DOLLS AS STORYTELLERS
Each doll I create tells a story.
Sometimes it is in the pattern interpretation,
or fabric choice,
or an embellishment.
Other times their story is embedded in a larger story,
of courage, or hope or recovery.
Each doll has a story about an encounter with LOVE.
Sometimes it is in the pattern interpretation,
or fabric choice,
or an embellishment.
Other times their story is embedded in a larger story,
of courage, or hope or recovery.
Each doll has a story about an encounter with LOVE.
THE DOLL MAKER
I am a maker of dolls,
or perhaps more accurately,
representations, reflections, explorations, musings,
using the human form as a springboard.
Sometimes pretty. Sometimes not.
Sometimes finished. Sometimes not.
Sometimes original. Sometimes not.
Never perfect.
Nearly always made in a group or series.
or perhaps more accurately,
representations, reflections, explorations, musings,
using the human form as a springboard.
Sometimes pretty. Sometimes not.
Sometimes finished. Sometimes not.
Sometimes original. Sometimes not.
Never perfect.
Nearly always made in a group or series.
DOLL MAKING IS A TRANSFORMATIVE EXPERIENCE
LOOK GOOD. FEEL GOOD.
For me, doll making is a transformative experience,
a healing experience,
an anti-depressant.
It is more about process,
reflection,
meditation
and attentiveness
to myself, my whanau, my community,
than about a final product.
We are all a much loved and cherished work in progress.
a healing experience,
an anti-depressant.
It is more about process,
reflection,
meditation
and attentiveness
to myself, my whanau, my community,
than about a final product.
We are all a much loved and cherished work in progress.
DOLL MAKING AS PRAYER
57: FREE MY CAGED HEART, A DOLL MADE ON MY 57TH BIRTHDAY
Doll making for me is a
delightful,
life-giving,
soul-nurturing
thought-provoking blend
of
journaling,
art therapy,
expressive therapy, self-care
and prayer.
It is an act of thanksgiving,
of gratitude,
of supplication,
of praise.
delightful,
life-giving,
soul-nurturing
thought-provoking blend
of
journaling,
art therapy,
expressive therapy, self-care
and prayer.
It is an act of thanksgiving,
of gratitude,
of supplication,
of praise.
DOLL MAKING IS A PROCESS
MY PORTABLE WORK STATION FOR THE ANTI-DEPRESSANTS
Sometimes a doll demands to be started AND finished.
Sometimes the design process,
the note-making,
the resourcing
satisfies the need to create.
But this in itself is a creative process.
I am not called to be all things to all people.
I am not created to be perfect or pedantic.
I am invited to love and to allow myself to be loved,
unconditionally,
imperfections and all.
Sometimes the design process,
the note-making,
the resourcing
satisfies the need to create.
But this in itself is a creative process.
I am not called to be all things to all people.
I am not created to be perfect or pedantic.
I am invited to love and to allow myself to be loved,
unconditionally,
imperfections and all.
DOLLS AS SACRAMENT
My dolls are usually an outward sign
of a hidden,
silent,
unknown,
unrevealed
inward journey.
They are an encounter.
They are sacrament -
a visible sign of an invisible grace.
of a hidden,
silent,
unknown,
unrevealed
inward journey.
They are an encounter.
They are sacrament -
a visible sign of an invisible grace.
DOLLS TO EVOKE A RESPONSE
I make dolls to evoke a response,
to make a statement,
to inform,
to empathize.
Throughout time,
art and sculpture and oratory
have been used to turn our eyes and our hearts to reform injustices.
to make a statement,
to inform,
to empathize.
Throughout time,
art and sculpture and oratory
have been used to turn our eyes and our hearts to reform injustices.
SURPRISED BY JOY
I make dolls for their own sake,
for play,
for the pure joy of creating.
God is a creative God,
a playful God,
a God of joy.
We are an Easter people: people of joy.
Let's express it.
for play,
for the pure joy of creating.
God is a creative God,
a playful God,
a God of joy.
We are an Easter people: people of joy.
Let's express it.
I REMEMBER
I make dolls to remember those alive and dead,
who I want to keep alive in my heart,
a photo in doll form.
Perhaps I am following in a long tradition of memorializing people and events:
stained glass windows, statues, holy cards,
religious art, iconography, vestments,
architecture, grottoes, story.
We are all one people in one precious world.
Let's remember.
who I want to keep alive in my heart,
a photo in doll form.
Perhaps I am following in a long tradition of memorializing people and events:
stained glass windows, statues, holy cards,
religious art, iconography, vestments,
architecture, grottoes, story.
We are all one people in one precious world.
Let's remember.
DOLL MAKING AS AN EXPRESSION OF GRIEF
GOLD ANGEL MADE TO EXPRESS MY GRIEF AT THE MASSACRE AT SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
I make dolls to express grief.
When we know we are loved,
with a heartfelt, profound, unconditional love,
we can deal with the tragic experiences of life.
Grief can overwhelm us,
bury us in anger and fear,
sabotage our relationships, our hopes, our calling.
But if we hold onto the rituals and words of our faith traditions,
using them to provide a scaffolding as we grieve and heal;
and honour our spirituality and our relationship with the divine,
we can overcome.
When we know we are loved,
with a heartfelt, profound, unconditional love,
we can deal with the tragic experiences of life.
Grief can overwhelm us,
bury us in anger and fear,
sabotage our relationships, our hopes, our calling.
But if we hold onto the rituals and words of our faith traditions,
using them to provide a scaffolding as we grieve and heal;
and honour our spirituality and our relationship with the divine,
we can overcome.
DOLL MAKING AS CELEBRATION
GREENING: A LENTEN JOURNEY OF GROWTH
I make dolls to celebrate change.
Our lives are filled with change -
from youth to aged;
from wellness to ill-health and back again;
from dependence to independence;
from single to partnered to single again;
from birth through growth to death.
It is important to mark the passages of time -
ritualise, record, celebrate, affirm.
Our lives are filled with change -
from youth to aged;
from wellness to ill-health and back again;
from dependence to independence;
from single to partnered to single again;
from birth through growth to death.
It is important to mark the passages of time -
ritualise, record, celebrate, affirm.
SHOWING COMPASSION THROUGH DOLL MAKING
I use my doll making to support the most vulnerable;
to speak for those too afraid;
to reveal the compassionate heart of God.
to speak for those too afraid;
to reveal the compassionate heart of God.
THEN YOUR LIGHT WILL SHINE LIKE THE DAWN
How do I greet the dawn?
How do I open myself to receive
the graces and blessings of each new day?
Do I have an attitude of gratitude?
How do I open myself to receive
the graces and blessings of each new day?
Do I have an attitude of gratitude?
DOLL MAKING IS A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
In all of these,
I find doll making is a spiritual journey,
an encounter with the divine,
a personal transformation,
a manifestation of God's healing grace,
an expression of the compassionate heart of God.
I find doll making is a spiritual journey,
an encounter with the divine,
a personal transformation,
a manifestation of God's healing grace,
an expression of the compassionate heart of God.
