The Talking Stick art doll round robin has begun. Yesterday, Karen, Judy, and I exchanged doll heads in part one of our round robin. The goal of this first exchange was to create a doll head no longer than 2″. Color, facial design, and head shape were all up to the artist.
We agreed to “hide” the doll’s head by wrapping it and placing it in a bag or box or both. This made the “unveiling” a bit like Christmas or our birthdays. We also bought or made journals to accompany the dolls on their journey. The journals will be used to document the creative process which can be written in either the doll’s “voice,” our voice, or both. We can also put pictures, poems, words cut from magazines, and so forth in the journals. And the journals may be altered by each artist if they desire.
The hardest part of this first exchange was deciding whether or not we would open the packages in front of each other and reveal the heads to each other or if we would open the packages privately at home. Anticipation and excitement won out. Below are pictures of the doll head I created and the doll head I received.
And here are additional shots of my doll’s head, sideviews and rear. Poor guy looks like he is submitting to mug shots.
The next step in our round robin is to create a body for the doll. The bodies must incorporate polymer clay but other media are encouraged. We also have permission to alter the doll head we received which could include adding hair, a hat, another head or whatever the muse tells us.
We meet again in four weeks for the next exchange. I already have some ideas for transforming my adopted doll. And I can’t wait to see how my doll will be transformed.
Musings from the Moonroom 
August 5, 2007 at 5:29 am
When I saw the words,”talking stick” I immediately thought of the North Native American tradition of using the talking stick as a means of communication in a group setting. Your doll head was rather alarming to look at frankly and I thought it was interesting when you stated that you thought your doll’s head was possibly posing for a mug shot! Than bi looking at the backside of your doll’s head, the seed beads(?) looked like a few slugs had been shot through your poor doll’s head in fact! Yep! Yep1 Yep! At least that was my first (artistic) impression! It is morbid looking ,dark,and strangely disturbing to behold and I am sure that it raised my blood pressure up a few notches tonight and I think that means you are an effective craftsman at he art! INdeed! love,pcGirl
August 5, 2007 at 10:21 pm
And I think that is the beauty of art when it is open to interpretation.
August 8, 2007 at 12:57 am
Amy,
All I have to say is:
next time, can I play too?
Sandy
August 8, 2007 at 1:58 am
Hi Sandy,
I would love to have you join us in a future round robin! I’m thinking (though not seriously committed yet) of doing another round robin after the holidays with a larger group. This first one will let us work out the kinks.