My new Scottish friend Stephanie Lightbown invited me to take part in a doll project she was working on with her students of the Kilmarnock Academy near Glasgow. For their art examination the students chose a poem or a subject from literature as inspiration for a doll project. This is what they picked:
Rosie: Angel-Demon
Rachel: Neptune / Sea God
Stacey: Ribbon, Bows and Buttons
Ailie: Peacock
Abby: Icarus
Kittie: Alice in Wonderland
Lucy: Octopus, sea life
Sharmaine: The Cat and the Fiddle
Sophie: Cakes and sweets
Earlier this school year the girls, all 16 or 17 years old, started making amazing inspiration boards guided by their teacher Stephanie. They also made lots of trials and experiments on what techniques to use to finish their projects. I was only involved in the sculpting parts and the painting of these parts.
Sharmaine was the only one who did not sculpt a doll’s head. She sculpted a cat.
It was interesting and fun to be part of such a special project. I love all they did and I love them all. On the pictures you see Rosie’s piece in progress and the girls in the snow holding their sculpted parts. When I will have the pictures of the finished products I sure will show them on my website. I am very much looking forward to see how everything will turn out.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Marlaine for her expertise. It was the most fantastic experience for my pupils and myself. I am the Principal Teacher of Art & Design at Kilmarnock Academy and was lucky enough to receive funding from the Eden Trust to bring an artist to the department. Marlaine as an artist and teacher was beyond all my expectations. If you are considering using Marlaine for any of her teaching courses including her online tutorials I can not recommend her highly enough. She brings the best out in every individual, she is kind, funny and the ultimate professional. I personally can not believe what she was able to achieve with my girls in such a short space of time. As an artist in my own right there are only a few people that are capable of truly inspiring me and Marlaine is one of them. I feel very sad that this international project has come to an end but I will keep in touch with Marlaine and thank you for starting a lifelong passion with dolls.
Stephanie Lightbown (Principal Teacher of Art and Design, Kilmarnock Academy, Scotland)
Wow, Steph. Thank you so much for your positive comment.
There is a German doll magazine writing an article about me and they are very interested to hear more about my Scottish adventure. So I told them all about it.
Oh, and what was the beaded doll incident in the car?
Hugs,
Marlaine
I know that this must have been a fabulous experience for the students, but also for you. I was thinking this might make a wonderful story for my blog. Did you ever get pictures of the finished dollS.
Hi Alice,
From Stephanie I understood that the girls are busy with other projects as well and it will take some time to finish the doll project. Would be great if you could write a story about it on your blog. Stephanie will send me the pictures later and I will be happy to let you know when I have them. I love your blog!
Warm regards,
Marlaine