lAteEfAh wRiGht "The majority of my play has been in clay for nearly seven years...i have yet to completely harness the craft...there is so much more to study on...but my imagination translates well in this medium, so i shall continue to wrestle it. Many of the skills placed before me are so very new, and my appreciation of a hot firing kiln...of what 2200 degrees can actually do, overwhelm even my pyro tendencies at times. Having an inkling of knowledge of how to apply an oxide, manage my frits, flux a glaze, or stilt 30 limbs at a time, has opened the most lovely of Pandora's boxes, and i am having a jolly time..." Albeit that she has mastered clay uninstitutinally, we all know that when we do not see her for weeks, months...it is due to the fact that she is "in the studio" with somebody new, or some exciting technique. With many influences from the obvious to the sublime, she has an awful tendency toward clutter, believing that everything has its place. Becoming increasingly obsessed with circumstance, and unintentional bias, she works intuitively, and prefers to be left with something from nothing at the end of a creative seizure. Old world eRotica, murderous madams, terotology, shadow puppets, plastination, metric systems, anatomica, playing with dolls, human condition, and enthralling film all intice me to work towards an ideal of the human form. make them rEaL All doLLies are hand sculpted from original in Chavant oil clay, with as little detail and fuss as i can discipline. My most constant enemy in the world of sculpting is the preparation of an original for its mould making. I must always remind myself of such evils as the ÔundercutÕ, and other details that can get in the way of a clean ÔreleaseÕ from a plaster mould. At most, i allow 100 pours per mould before i have another made from a "master" of my original design. Each doll, belle, bOx, etc., is cast in my uniquely formulatedÒshroud clay". This is a clay body that is as light as a froth and as forgiving as i need, with all of the manipulations post mould. Every hand,head, bOx, belle, leg, boot, ... must then go once again under the knife for final physiognomy. Textures, features, holes, compartments, signing, numbering, all playing in general, are done at this point. Heads are matched with my choice of torso, legs with boots, or feet... No two can ever be identical...everyone has his or her own temperament at 2200 degrees and i have no intention of a definite echo. All glaze & glaze recipes are created in my studio from raw materials*. I have been employed for a number of years now, making and preparing glaze for an antiquated facility with little room for experimentation, so i take grEat pleasure in playing with it all in fUn in a corner of my studio...and yes, i do indeed take precautions for my precious lunGs. With these glazes, many of the recipes being given to me by a great friend and mentor, glaze headed genius, Dene kiSer, i hand paint each piece into my world and fire to cone 6. After cooLing off, various body parts are then assembled via hand sewing, regnis (my sweetheart, bitch of a sewing machine), or wire joining. Most often, assembly occupies much of the process. Secrets are sewn into the bodies of most all dollies. Some are heartless, others have hard knobby bones for souls. Their torso flesh is most often of white-hair sheep, elk, dyed pig hides and the occasional gifted sacrifice of an unrecognisable skin. Embossing, hand colouring and inK stamping may be applied to some dolls. Leather and Needles, (tons of needles) are supplied by The Colorado Leather Co., to better authenticate the antiquated doll making process. Handsewning animal skins is punishment enough for their trouble! I am more arthritic than ever, and in need of a leather stitching machine... Wigs are hand crocheted from an angora-mohair mix, or from human hair.I begin in early fall, and generally have more than enough wigs from which to choose by the time they are needed . Several dolls are fitted with special order glass eyes from my favourite distributor...but most mid sized ladees have their peepers sculpted "intaglio" style. Oh, how i do so enjoy setting and creating eyes! i save this bit for last, if i can... All euphonious devices are carefully selected, some being recorded in the early stages of inception, and embedded during stitching. Please allow those with a voice to be heard, the others, merely return their fortuitous gaze, and take nothing to heart you cannot handle...