Review of Creative Cloth Doll Faces by Patti Medaris Culea

©2007 by Li Hertzi

Great Directions!  I am not a direction reader... My bookshelves are full of wonderful how-to books that are dripping with rich and juicy directions upon which my eyeballs have never rested! BUT those same eyeballs have experienced pure joy while pursing the picture’s... and figuring out for myself how to do the projects.

Patti's book was no exception at the start; I just looked at the pictures and went for it. Now, I have to put a giant disclaimer in here as I was looking at those pictures before most people. I am IN THE BOOK. Even so, was I following the directions? Of Course not!  But when I finally got the book, I tried several of the techniques first without the directions and then with them.  WOW!  Her directions are clear, concise and lead you step-by-step down a path at the end of which sits a delightful doll, guaranteed.

Beautiful, Inspiring Photography! The book is FULL of beautiful photography of dolls by many well-known and skilled artists for your inspiration.  Arley Barryhill, Sherry Goshon, Anne Mayer Hesse, and Angela Jarecki are among the inspiriting artists with dolls in the galleries

Helpful "Author's Suggestions"!  Little boxes are scattered throughout the book full of tricks and hints.  (These alone are worth getting the book.  You can reference them when sewing almost anything!)  Techniques ranging from creating intricate beaded stars to using oil pastels for face painting and everything in between!  Bravo!

Three Patterns! All three of the dolls beginner, intermediate, and advanced are appropriate for their rank  This is not always so in doll books and I appreciate the diversity.  The easiest doll is a basic pancake doll while the advanced is much more complex and even includes a nice pair of shoes.

Artistic and Easy! Patti was a portrait artist in an earlier incarnation and it shows in her skilled rendering of the faces and her understanding of the nuances of personality.  Each doll comes with detailed directions on making that exact face and the gallery dolls show that you can take off from there and go somewhere else.

This book will be a great addition to any doll artists library.


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Li's doll from Pattis book

"Fixed on the Scent of Light"



This is one of the dolls I made for Patti's book and to my delight it won a blue ribbon at Dimensions in Dollmaking!  She is based on a poem by the mystical Persian poet, Hafiz.

THE SCENT OF LIGHT

Like a great starving beast
My body is quivering
Fixed
On the scent
Of
Light.

She was created in cloth and then I painted, stamped, and embossed a sheet of J.Jill tissue that had a nice shiny surface and collaged it onto the doll.  That created the basic background.  Then I  printed the poem in several different fonts and sizes, painted and stamped the page, cut out bits and pieces and collaged them on to the doll.  







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