I have noticed Dianna Effner has designed some vinyl bjd's that recall her storybook collection dolls from twenty years ago. I still have the outfit from my Goldilocks, though I ruined the doll long ago. I have been thinking of getting the bjd, which looks like a similar face mold. If there were one artist I would have liked to design bjd's, it is her. I am less excited because they are vinyl and because the eyes are painted rather than inset.
Ashton Drake has been putting out a great number of vinyl bjd's. Some of them I have really liked. In addition to Effner's I admire the Indian maidens, whose faces have the sweetness I want for my collection. I am always looking for more project-oriented dolls that I can design or cross stitch for, and with my interest in New Mexican design I would strongly consider one or more of those.
I wonder when the Franklin Mint will do a bjd. I was a little surprised that their Kate Middleton is just the standard 16" fashion doll.
My interest in the Asian dolls has waned, though if I could have any it would be the Dream of Babies. I just adore their beauty, though there is a coldness in them I'm not sure belongs in my collection. On the flip side I feel sometimes that Effner's dolls have too much cheerfulness.
The artist I am watching now is Linda Mason. Having acquired a couple of her girls in tea dresses I am smitten with her dolls' faces and their wonderful proportion. Since looking over Anna and Amanda I have literally felt disillusioned about some of my other child dolls now that I know how great a child doll can be. I have seen no sign of Mason doing a bjd, but I can always hope.
I have not seen any new work from my other favorite artist, Tom Francirek, in some time. I am not acquiring lady dolls and don't know that I would consider a new one, but his works are a total delight to me. I still have my one Indian maiden of his in porcelain, who photographs stunningly.
As far as vintage, I continue to focus on resale and thrift shop porcelain dolls thirty to forty years old. I have so many Barbies and have gotten far behind in fixing some of them as I planned. The modern Barbie is as much a stranger to me as my fellow creature Woman. Competitive and hostile, plastic smile concealing sharp little teeth. Mattel is always perfect at capturing the woman of the times. But I will live in the past with doe-eyed long-haired Barbie with a basket of flowers in her arms and the wind billowing her full skirts. Riding horses and wearing wedding gowns with puffy sleeves.
Otherwise, sometimes I have to look at pictures of Evangeline Ghastly before I go to bed. She's not the right fit for me. She sort of seems like a cartoon, and her outfits are too haute, but still I look before I go to sleep.
The only Tonner doll I have seen with the kind of gentle look I want is Prudence, but I haven't found the one for me yet.
Ashton Drake has been putting out a great number of vinyl bjd's. Some of them I have really liked. In addition to Effner's I admire the Indian maidens, whose faces have the sweetness I want for my collection. I am always looking for more project-oriented dolls that I can design or cross stitch for, and with my interest in New Mexican design I would strongly consider one or more of those.
I wonder when the Franklin Mint will do a bjd. I was a little surprised that their Kate Middleton is just the standard 16" fashion doll.
My interest in the Asian dolls has waned, though if I could have any it would be the Dream of Babies. I just adore their beauty, though there is a coldness in them I'm not sure belongs in my collection. On the flip side I feel sometimes that Effner's dolls have too much cheerfulness.
The artist I am watching now is Linda Mason. Having acquired a couple of her girls in tea dresses I am smitten with her dolls' faces and their wonderful proportion. Since looking over Anna and Amanda I have literally felt disillusioned about some of my other child dolls now that I know how great a child doll can be. I have seen no sign of Mason doing a bjd, but I can always hope.
I have not seen any new work from my other favorite artist, Tom Francirek, in some time. I am not acquiring lady dolls and don't know that I would consider a new one, but his works are a total delight to me. I still have my one Indian maiden of his in porcelain, who photographs stunningly.
As far as vintage, I continue to focus on resale and thrift shop porcelain dolls thirty to forty years old. I have so many Barbies and have gotten far behind in fixing some of them as I planned. The modern Barbie is as much a stranger to me as my fellow creature Woman. Competitive and hostile, plastic smile concealing sharp little teeth. Mattel is always perfect at capturing the woman of the times. But I will live in the past with doe-eyed long-haired Barbie with a basket of flowers in her arms and the wind billowing her full skirts. Riding horses and wearing wedding gowns with puffy sleeves.
Otherwise, sometimes I have to look at pictures of Evangeline Ghastly before I go to bed. She's not the right fit for me. She sort of seems like a cartoon, and her outfits are too haute, but still I look before I go to sleep.
The only Tonner doll I have seen with the kind of gentle look I want is Prudence, but I haven't found the one for me yet.
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