Heartfelt Dolls
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    • About me
    • I Am A Dollmaker: crafter's statement
    • Beware when you honor an artist
    • Heartfelt Dolls: Fool's Errand or Heroine's Journey
    • Doll making as a spiritual journey
    • Igniting creativity with Heartfelt dolls
    • Heartfelt doll-making: a healing experience
    • Heartfelt Dolls: the memory keepers
    • Heartfelt Dolls on life and death
    • Heartfelt Dolls: aesthetic meditation
    • Heartfelt Dolls: using textile crafts in contemporary art
    • Heartfelt Dolls: seeking a definition
    • Heartfelt Dolls: A Political Voice?
    • Heartfelt Dolls: Face On/Face Off
    • Heartfelt Dolls jammin' with JAMTV
    • Heartfelt Dolls @The Open Studios Project Blog
    • Heartfelt Dolls @ ArtsMad Rotorua
    • Heartfelt Isolation
    • Exhibitions old and new
    • Heartfelt Inspiration: a blog of that which inspires me
    • Testimonials
    • Contact
    • News
    • Links
  • Dolls
    • Heartfelt Dolls: companions for the journey
    • The Quotidian Doll: an introduction >
      • The Quotidian Doll Blog: introducing a Heartfelt-doll-a-day
    • Diaspora: the 101 dolls project
    • Heartfelt Dolls willing to leave home (for sale) >
      • Matariki
      • Through A Glass Darkly
      • Stitch Yourself a Boyfriend
      • Pink Walkers
      • Steampunk Dolls
      • Selfies
      • The Heroine's Journey
      • An English Country Garden
      • Hobo Chic
      • The Fisherman
      • I Shall Wear Purple
      • Enraged Woman Riding a Black and White Dog Writing Wrongs
      • Salute to the Sun
      • Old Woman in a Shoe
      • Soul Sisters
      • The Smiles Project
      • BFF
      • Blue Belles
      • Shades of Gray
      • Angels with attitude
      • Angels of gold
      • Angels
      • 'Ladies a plate'
      • Cosy up with a bit of skirt
      • Ice Palace
      • Troupe de verde
      • Animal Antics
      • Male dolls
      • Carnivale: stiltwalking dolls
      • Calendar Girls
      • Dammit dolls
      • Oh Cliche
      • Heartfelt Graffiti
      • Double Trouble
      • Lilliputians
      • Kiwi Icons
      • Faeries
    • Heartfelt Fundraisers >
      • Volunteer Fire Fighters
      • Memory keepers
      • Shades of Gray >
        • Shades of Gray Duets
        • Shades of Gray Men
      • Calendar Girls
      • Pink Walkers
      • Bandanna Chic
      • Selfies
    • Heartfelt Companions: sharing my journey with you >
      • One-of-a-kind heartfelt dolls >
        • Julie Has Flown North For The Summer
        • Hot Flash!
        • Whoops!
        • Medusa
        • The Bag Lady
        • Purple people eater
        • Social Climber
        • Place
        • Fertility Fairy
        • Smile
        • Blue Baths Belle
        • An Artist's Book
        • Pink Lady
        • Beloved
      • Heartfelt dolls in a series >
        • The Rainbow Connection
        • What's in a cup?
        • The Apple
        • Hi-Cut Internet Dolls
        • Godde Dolls
        • Shrines
        • The Rites of Autumn
        • Bibliophile
        • Seeing the world through different eyes
        • Akuba: encouraging change
        • It takes a village
        • Umbrella and Umbrage
        • A cautionary tale ...
    • Heartfelt Process, Heartfelt Transformation >
      • Matron Saints
      • Creative Guardians
      • The Nest
      • Freeing the caged heart: the poets and the dollmaker
      • The Unemployment Blues
      • The Bare Necessities
      • The Heroine's Journey
      • The Alchemy of Change
      • Sticks and stones
      • Stitch yourself a boyfriend
      • Inner Child
      • Salute to the Sun
      • Bindings
      • Euphrosyne: reclaiming joy >
        • Freeing the caged heart: poetry to lift your spirits
        • The Smiles Project
        • Dancing Feet
        • Irrepressible
        • Greening: a lenten journey
        • Wild Women Like to Dance
        • I Am Woman
        • Harakeke flowers
        • Circle of friends, vessel of hope
        • Dance
        • Spirit seekers, spirit guides
      • The Great Divide: one woman's experience of divorce >
        • Numb
        • Bound
        • Burlap and lace
        • Naked
        • Reclaim
        • Bitch
        • The Devil on my back
        • Burdened
        • God alone is enough
        • Simple heart
        • Broken dreams
        • Will the real me please stand up?
        • The Classifieds
        • Sing-a-song
        • Dark nights >
          • You are dying ...
          • Beast of burden
          • Wounded healer, broken heart
          • A moment of conversion
          • Unbuilding
          • Peace
          • Transform me
          • A clean heart
          • Unwrapped
          • Doormat
          • The weight of expectation
          • Promise
          • A new me
          • The fabric of my life
          • Struggle
          • Hanging
        • Dance me To The End of Love
      • Black Dog: one woman's experience with depression >
        • The Anti-depressants
        • Some days
        • What I wish you knew about depression
    • Heartfeltfelt Emotion >
      • Gold Angels: coping with tragedy
      • Emotions: a challenge
      • Lamentation
      • Heartfelt Anger >
        • Anger Management with Dammit Dolls
        • Dammit!
    • Heartfelt Celebration! >
      • I Shall Wear Purple!
      • Birthday dolls
      • Birthday cards
      • Julie's 21st
      • Celebrate my femininity!
      • Troupe de verde
    • Heartfelt Graffiti
    • Heartfelt Care >
      • Ageing >
        • I Shall Wear Purple
        • The Seven Ages Of Woman
      • For the children
      • Living with dementia
      • Say 'NO' to family violence >
        • You don't have to take it like I did
        • Are you the one?
      • Heartfelt Conservation >
        • Seduced By The Wild
        • Feathers Over Hamurana
        • Birds
      • Living with cancer
      • Breast Cancer Awareness >
        • Hello Dollies: an article
        • Pink Walkers
        • Primal scream
        • Flat Out
        • Paradox
        • Just Checkin'
        • I Love you, Mum
        • Mammogram Slam
        • Friends for the journey
        • Hair Today
        • Domestic Goddess
        • Deconstruct Reconstruct
        • Sewphie the stitcher
        • Nana and Gran
        • Procrastinating Polly
        • Colour blind
        • BRAve New World
        • Unzipped
        • Lord, to whom shall we go?
        • Knitting Nellie
        • The nay-sayers
        • Vessels of hope
        • Dancing Woman Labyrinth
        • Breast Labyrinth
    • Time Capsule series
  • Heartfelt Creativity
    • Heartfelt Fun
    • Heartfelt Comfort >
      • Girl Reclining on a Sofa
      • Cotton-soft boas
      • Wild Women Like to Hang About
    • Heartfelt Stitch >
      • Mother's Little Helper
      • Needlewomen
      • Old Woman in a Shoe
      • Delight in a cup
      • Heartfelt Companion
    • Heartfelt Wrapping >
      • Colour Blind
      • Spirit dolls
      • Bound
      • Aspects of Self
      • Wrapping as an art form
      • Wild Women Like To Dance
    • Heartfelt vestis >
      • What a wonderful world!
      • A thanksgiving vest
      • Dalmatics
      • In Praise
    • Labyrinth >
      • Shell labyrinth
      • Breast Labyrinth
      • Labyrinth scroll
      • Stitched labyrinth
      • Dancing Woman Labyrinth
      • Hopi labyrinth
      • Bead labyrinth
      • Journey
    • ANZAC: a tribute >
      • ANZAC Quilt
      • Rawene Boys
      • ANZAC jacket
  • Heartfelt prayer
    • Heartfelt crocheted rosaries
    • Heartfelt Retreat >
      • An Advent Retreat in Daily Life
      • Our daily medicine: a 28 day reflection on living and dying
      • Hidden in Plain View: a retreat in daily life
      • 24 hours: a retreat reflecting on the passion of Jesus
      • Stations of the light
    • Heartfelt waiting: reflections on the season of Advent >
      • Matron Saints of Un-named Women
      • Advent is a vessel
      • Advent is a pilgrimage
      • Advent remembers we are all related.
      • Advent is creative
      • Advent is a ritualised experience
      • Advent is expectant
      • Advent names God
      • Advent is a door
      • Advent: a sacred space
    • Stations of the Cross >
      • Christchurch Stations of the Cross
      • 24 Hours
      • Stations with haiku
      • John Badcock "Stations of the Cross"
    • Heartfelt Season: reflecting on the season of Lent >
      • A Lenten Walk
      • Lenten Prayer Flags
    • Heartfelt Hallelujah: reflections on the season of Easter >
      • Voices on the Via Lucis
    • Prayers from the Ark >
      • The Mouse
      • The Spider
      • The Dog
      • The Elephant
      • The Lizard
      • The Lamb
      • The Peacock
      • The Giraffe
      • The Toad
      • The Parrot
      • The Mother Hen
      • The Goldfish
      • The Cat
      • The Lion
    • Heartfelt Belief
    • Heartfelt Reflection >
      • These Parables Blow Me Apart!
      • A Single Thread
      • Every moment is gift
      • Harvest Wheat
      • Stepping out in faith
      • Harvest Heart
      • Dream catcher
      • The Sewing Basket
    • Sacred Story >
      • The Road to Emmaus
      • The Loaves and the Fishes
    • Listening To Winter
    • Genesis
    • Heartfelt Writing >
      • Joy on a String
      • Changing Landscapes
      • Rites of Passage
      • Sowing and Reaping
      • Hidden In Plain View
      • An Emmaus Journey
      • God and Dog
      • Dear Julie
      • An Intentional Walk
      • The Widow's Might
      • Does God Exist?
      • The Sewing Basket
      • Advent: A Sacred Space
      • A Secular Liturgy
      • Your Call
      • Dance me To The End Of Love
  • "100 day" projects
  • Prayer flag project
    • Blessings on the wind: a year of blessings >
      • April blessings
      • March blessings
      • February blessings
      • January blessings
      • December blessings
      • November blessings
      • October blessings
      • September blessings
      • August blessings
      • July blessings
      • June blessings
      • May Blessings
      • April Blessings
      • March Blessings
    • Prayer flag blog
  • Gratitude Flowers

HEARTFELT DOLLS:
FOOL'S ERRAND OR HEROINE'S JOURNEY?

Sometimes in our life
we are blessed with something that makes
our heart pound,
our fingers tingle,
our minds race,
our soul sing,
that animates our spirit.
It may be a person or a place;
an art form or a leisure pursuit;
a spiritual practice or 'house of belonging'.
When we embrace this grace with an open mind and an open heart,
we are transformed.

For me, this grace is revealed through my doll making.
Each doll shares a part of my own self,
has a story embedded in the materials used to create it,
reflects an aspect of the human condition,
is a balm to the disquieted soul.

"Whenever you are creating beauty around you,
you are restoring your own soul."

Alice Walker

This is how I feel when I create with textiles,
and especially when I make dolls.
My whole being comes alive.
I am energised but reflective.
I am busy but still.
I am focused but open to inspiration and new direction.
I am engrossed but attentive to the voices of that which I am bringing into being.
I am alone but connected with all those on our earth who are experiencing these feelings.

I want to share in Anne Heck's vision to
"... inspire and guide women to connect with their emotional and spiritual selves."

and in Pamela Hasting's dream to
" ... delight in the creativity that we all possess,
and help others to discover their own gifts..."


I want to do this because I know and live the benefits of a creative practice.
I want to do this because I firmly believe that creativity heals and transforms.
I want to do this because I know that dolls speak to our innermost being.

So is this dream a Fool's Errand or a Heroine's Journey?

"DON'T CALL IT A DREAM.
CALL IT A PLAN."

This is a radical departure:
an invitation to think laterally;
a call for an attitudinal change.

Sigh!
Where do I find courage to step out of my comfort zone?
How do I stay true to my desire to leave only a small footprint on this earth?
How do I engage others in my dream?
How do I provide opportunities for creativity and transformation for others
while still nurturing my own self?
How do I visualise a shape for this dream?
And then how do I embody this shape?

It strikes me that doll making can be a metaphor for this process.
Welcoming an idea.
Dialoguing with it.
Creating a pattern to guide the process.
Auditioning and choosing the materials you need.
Noting how this process is a seed bed for new and tangential ideas.
Trusting the process. Trusting my advisors. Trusting my own self.
Listening. Listening. Listening.

A Fool's Errand or a Heroine's Journey?

"TAKE WHAT YOU HAVE
AND USE IT TO CREATE WHAT YOU WANT."

I am rich in resources -
materials and fabrics,
yarns and threads,
sewing notions and embellishments,
strong original ideas and designs,
time and skills,
friends and family who support and encourage me, and
a love of the art and craft of doll making.

However, I am at a crossroads.
I am seeking meaningful work which will provide for me financially.
Thus far, doll making which I find meaningful and soul-nurturing,
does not pay the bills:-(

How do I change from
"That is a great idea, BUT ..."
to
"That is a great idea, AND THEN I could ..."?

How do I transform a life-giving practice into meaningful work?

A Fool's Errand or a Heroine's Journey?

SO MUCH PROMISE ...

Pablo Picasso said,
"I start with an idea,
and then it becomes something else."


I have hundreds of ideas -
folders of designs scribbled onto whatever is available,
large sheets of brown paper covered with brainstorming,
cases of dolls and figurative sculptures and knitted breasts,
languishing in rooms around the house; and
textiles which invite transformation.

So much promise.
So little fulfillment.
How do I realise their potential ...
and mine?

How do I take this idea -
of transformative and healing doll making -
and make it into something else?
Something robust and yet tender?
Something that matches my strengths with my desires?
Something that carries me and those in transition across this liminal space?
Something that contributes to the common good?
Something that reveals the essence of what it is to be a unique human being with one precious life?

A Fool's Errand or a Heroine's Journey?

A YEARNING TO CREATE

Picture
Dieter Uchtdorf said,
"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings
of the human soul."


How do I tap into this yearning to create -
in myself and in those I encounter?
How do I enable, empower and encourage myself and others?
Where do I find a business model that reflects
my spiritual, philosophical and ethical values?
How do I demonstrate good stewardship of all that I have -
relationships, intellect, creativity, resources?
How do I pass on a desire in others NOT to just copy,
but to explore and find that which makes their heart sing?
How do I give voice to their dream?

Is this all castles in the air, a pipe dream?

A Fool's Errand or a Heroine's Journey?

CREATING A HEART SPACE

For me 'Heart Space' is another name for a meaningful, life-giving, life-sustaining environment.
This heart space would be healing and transformative.
This heart space would invite a change of ideas and collective consciousness.
This heart space would be inclusive and collaborative.
This heart space would challenge and provoke.
This heart space would encourage and enable and empower.

There are so many aspects to consider.
A physical space to work, to share, to exhibit or display,
to store, to workshop,
to incubate ideas, to recharge.
An emotional space which embraces
growth and change,
grief and rebirth,
encounter and rejection.
A spiritual space that creates pause,
is meditative and attentive,
is invitational and welcoming.
A social space that values each individual as a unique creation -
worthy and precious -
and adapts to their needs.

Am I asking too much of a dream?
A Fool's Errand or a Heroine's Journey?

ENABLING SOCIAL CHANGE


Barb Kobe encapsulates the philosophy underpinning my creative practice when she writes,
"Subtle Activism is an activity of consciousness or spirit,
such as prayer, meditation, or ecstatic dance, or art
intended to support collective healing and social change.

Subtle Activism grows from the idea that there are many effective ways –
some newly emerging, many as old as humanity –
to positively influence social change other than overt political action. 

My dolls are my way of taking subtle action and be a creative activist
."


I suggest that my dolls, too, are a way of taking subtle action.
I want to be a creative activist and help bring about positive change in my community.
I know dolls can bring about collective healing through
my "In the Pink" exhibitions, increasing awareness about Breast Cancer;
through my dolls exploring the social evils of Domestic Violence, and workplace bullying;
through dolls challenging gender stereotypes;
through my labyrinthine installations encouraging each to journey to the centre;
through the evocative and provocative use of textiles.

How do I bring this passion to a larger audience?
A Fool's Errand or a Heroine's Journey?

THE DREAM

There are several strands to my dream.

I dream of a studio practice where I can work,
where others can interact as I create,
where the process is evident for all to see.

I dream of display space where dolls and textile art can give voice to an issue,
where they can provoke and console,
where they can invite participation and interaction.

I dream of a resource space open to all,
to inform and delight,
to challenge and encourage,
to offer alternatives.

I dream of a quiet space to invite pause,
a labyrinth, a meditation room,
a place set apart.

I dream of a place of encounter,
of healing,
of transformation.

A Fool's Errand or a Heroine's Journey?

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