New Doll

Making Empress Theodora doll

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She'll be premiered at Spectrum fantasy convention this weekend in Kansas City, along with two other new dolls. I won't have anything for sale at the event this time, but we will be giving away posters and if you come, you will be the first ones to see the new dolls!

Oh my god, I've got so much to do today...

The hands of Gloriana - My new large, porcealain Doll!

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I've had many 'firsts' these past couple of months, experiencing processes that are familiar to me, yet never tried before (by me) on this scale: First large molding (which was kinda horrible), first time casting large parts (which was awful), first time firing them (not so bad), first time cleaning ( a little weird)  and first time painting them (just what I expected).I've still got one more 'First' left to do tomorrow: Assembly - the moment of truth.

If it works, this doll will be premiered this weekend, at the Spectrum Live convention in Kansas City. Well, I'm already committed to going, so I'll be taking her there with me either whole or in pieces. I hope she's whole.

Come and see her!http://spectrumfantasticartlive.com/

And the new Mystery doll is.....Phryne!

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Some of you guys knew it right away! Boom, spot on - first try! Pretty impressive. I suppose that my work aesthetic and thought processes are familiar enough by now to anticipate the direction I'm going to take. I guess I'll have to surprise you more in the future.

And speaking of surprises, Phyrne, although competed, will stay hidden for now. She is for my eyes only for the next little while, but you can glimpse her pretty legs. And read my artist statement about this project. Thanks everyone for playing my guessing game!

Phyrne the Courtesan.

A Courtesan is a high-class Prostitute. Courtesans were well-educated, cultured and independent career women of loose morals, who traded sex and companionship to the wealthy and powerful men in exchange for money, luxuries and social status. They were often skilled conversationalists and entertainers, adept at using their wit, femininity and sexuality to achieve wealth, success and sometimes real political power. Some were gifted entrepreneurs and negotiators who became so influential, that history still remembers them.

One such woman was Mnesarete, otherwise known as Phryne. She was a famous Greek courtesan in 4th century BC, who became a model for Praxiteles’s statue of Cnidian Aphrodite, one of the most extraordinary sculptures of antiquity.

She was not only a beautiful woman, but seemingly a clever, persuasive one too, because when she was put on trial for impiety, which in 4th century Athens was a capital offense, she was able to convince the jury of her innocence and avoid the death penalty. Although it is rumored that she bared her lovely breasts in court to elicit sympathy and mercy from the judges, I believe that her wealth, status and a network of powerful lovers probably had more to do with her acquittal.

Ultimately, it was her social prowess and an ability to manipulate people and situations to her advantage that gave her personality a winning edge, while her beauty became immortalized in stone as Aphrodite – the Goddess of love.

 

Materials: Crown: 18k gold-plating, sterling silver, bronze, 21 Garnets, 18 Fresh water pearls, carved Water Buffalo bone, lost wax casting, construction. Gown: Gold applique embroidery on fine tulle, 24k gold bead embroidery, 300 Swarovski crystals, 63 Fresh water pearls, sterling silver, bronze, 10k gold-plating, Czech glass beads, 1 Garnet, 1 Rhine stone. Doll: Ball-jointed, bisque porcelain, china-paint, steel springs, magnetic mohair wig, leather lining, 24k gold fired-on applique jewelry on arms and legs.

Guessing the identity of new mystery doll

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You guys are such good guessers and history buffs! You've just come up with a fantastic list of great women and potential future dolls for me to make!

Below is a short list of Candidates named in the first round. The new mystery doll is one of them! You just have to guess who. Remember the criteria - this woman lived in 4th century BC Greece and was not a deity, neither a royalty, nor a myth. And these are her feet. Go!

The Candidates named so far are in order of vote majority:
Phryne - hetaira (courtesan), artists' muse. 4th c. BC Greece.

4 votes
Thais - hetaira, wife of king Ptolemy. 4th c. BC Greece.

3 votes
Hypatia- mathematician, academic, professor. 4th c. AD Greece.

3 votes
Cassandra - Trojan princess, oracle of Apollo. 13th c. BC Troy.

3 votes
Sappo - great lyric poetess, an intellectual. 7th c. BC Greece.

3 votes
Agnodice- 1st female physician, midwife, gynecologist. 4th c. BC

2 votes.
Aspasia - hetaira, an intellectual, socialite. 5th c. BC Greece.

2 votes
Cyniska-1st woman Olympic champion, Spartan princess. 5th, BC

2 votes
Penelope - queen, wife of Odysseus, mythological Greek character.
Oracle of Delphi - an order of Apollo priestesses. 8th c.BC-4th c.AD
Pythias - wife of Aristotle. 4th c. BC Greece
Rhodophis- ex-slave, hetaira, queen, original Cinderella 6th c. BC Greece
Archeanassa - hetaira, companion of Plato.  5th c. BC Greece
Gerpilise - I can not find anything about this name. Who is this?
Lais of Hyccara - hetaira,  socialite. 4th c. BC Greece
Lenaia - Maenads, female worshipers of Dionysos. 5th-2nd c. BC Greece
Lysistrata - peace activist, fictional character 4th c. BC Greece
Myrrhine - wife of Kinesias, peace activist, fictional character. 4th c. BC
Ariadne - Cretan princess, mistress of the Labyrinth, mythological figure.
Roxana - Iranian princess, wife of Alexander the great. Persia. 4th c. BC
Artemisia - female navy commander of king Xerxes. Persia. 5th c. BC
Pandora - mythological First human, all-giver, unleasher of all evil.

There, I hope these clues will help narrow it down a bit.

So, who do you think these pretty feet belong to?

Finished a new costumed doll!

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Here is a sneak peek of her hand before she was assembled. Her lower arms and legs feature fired-on 24k gold applique jewelry.

This doll is based on a historical woman from 4th century BC Greece. Care to guess who I made?

Let me give you a clue: It's not a goddess or royalty of any sort. Definitely NOT Helene of Troy, although I'm working on her too ;)

Daphne in Disguise sold at the annual ebay auction today!

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The winning bid was $60,100.00 CAD. Congratulations to the winner of Daphne and my most sincere thanks to all the participants, collectors and fans of Enchanted Doll. You made this auction happen! Thank you for your love and support!

Seeing how the theme of this doll deals with stalking and violence against women, a part of the proceeds from this auction will be donated to the Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter.

Congrats again to the winner of this special doll! 

Daphne Auction Relisted

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The auction for Daphne will resume as a new listing (http://www.ebay.com/itm/331086942934). Ebay pulled the previous listing after the nude photos of Daphne were reported for being "too graphic". They couldn't just remove those photos and have the auction resume, they had to delete the listing and we had to start a new one. We tried to make the new auction as close as to where the previous auction was at the time of removal. That means the auction started at the amount of the previous highest bid, and it will be a "1-day" auction that will end tomorrow.

If you want to see the full gallery of Daphne, you can find her photos here.

The Daphne ebay page is here.

Daphne in Disguise, or the Mystery of the Venetian Carnaval!

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After a long wait here she is in all her glory, and for the first time ever, this one-of-a-kind tattooed and costumed doll will be available to purchase from an ebay auction which begins on Monday, Dec 9th and ends Saturday, Dec 14th. And now read her story!

In the history of the Venetian carnival, there are three origin stories:

The most romantic version is that it’s a festive celebration in honor of liberating the women from the captivity of pirates. The most banal one, is a victory of the people over a greedy patriarch of Venice, while the most common origin story, is that of a harvest festival; a good rest after hard work.

That’s all well and good, but where then did the masks come from? Who is hiding from whom and why: slaves from owners, owners from slaves, pirates from the people or people from the patriarch? Maybe they were all hiding from the God Saturn, the patron of the people. Perhaps, but I think there is something more to it. Just beware that it's a really sad story. No, not like Romeo and Juliet, but a much sadder one, because it’s a story about a stalker and his victim, the unknown tale of Apollo and Daphne.

Let me tell you how it really went down.

Once upon a time, there lived a mighty God Saturn and his wife Cybele. In that age, there also lived a beautiful nymph Daphne and a young shepherd Attis. Of course God Apollo also lived in those distant times. There can’t well be a story without Apollo, that golden-haired playboy of the antiquity, can there?

So it happened that the beautiful Daphne fell in love with the mortal Attis, while the no less lovely Cybele, though a goddess, also fell in love with him. God Apollo, who could not miss a single skirt had began scheming as soon he laid his eyes on the exquisite Daphne. Attis in the meantime decided to kill two birds with one stone and had affairs with both Daphne and Cybele simultaneously. Only Saturn was wise enough to stay out of this love polygon.

“Do what you like” he said, while presumably shaking his head and rolling his eyes, and then went drinking with his buddy Zeus. The mighty Zeus had long wanted to hang out on Mount Olympus with a bottle of brandy.

Predictably, things got messy, as many love stories do. Apollo chased after Daphne, Daphne chased after Attis, who in turn chased Cybele. Cybele choked with jealousy; Apollo burned with desire; Daphne was dying of love, while Attis was high-fiving everyone and congratulating himself on seducing two beautiful women. All suffered here except Saturn, who was on Olympus enjoying another glass of whiskey. I mean brandy.

But who could resist Apollo? Perhaps only Zeus himself. So Daphne had to flee from him across different lands, until she got to the glorious city of Venice. Alas, it was all in vain: lovesick Apollo followed her everywhere like a bloodhound with a scent, pursuing her anywhere she ran. Doomed, Daphne appealed to all the residents of Venice, asking for their help. The good people felt sorry for her, but no one dared to openly defy the will of Apollo. That is, until someone suggested a clever solution of disguising the entire city in masks to hide them from Apollo. The people liked the idea of outwitting a God, and the next morning everyone was wearing disguises, rejoicing, dancing and celebrating from morning till night for two whole weeks, while a flabbergasted yet determined Apollo stalked the narrow streets of Venice in a relentless search for his prey. He felt entitled to possess Daphne. She belonged to him even if she didn’t accept it.

But then came Lent, and people had to stop the festivities and remove their masks. That’s when Apollo had finally discovered Daphne. Furious that she not only rejected him – a God, but actually preferred some simple mortal shepherd instead, he turned her into a Laurel tree. He broke off a branch, made it into a wreath and placed it on his golden curls as a trophy. He also gave the tree immortality, so that he could possess Daphne in any form he could, for all eternity. What a sociopath.

Cybele, in turn, drove Attis crazy, unfortunately in a very literal sense, because he opened up his veins and died. As for Saturn, he got a huge hangover. And he also fought with Zeus. Turns out that Zeus was an angry drunk. As for people of Venice, they took to the idea of hiding their faces under different masks and celebrating life and love in all their transient glory.

And that’s how began the tradition of the Venetian masquerade: with the myth of Apollo and Daphne – a stalker and his victim. And whether I’m wrong or right, is for you to decide.

The End.PS - It's not the end of Daphne's pictures though.

Whew, I'm pretty exhausted. This doll was exhausting. I need to catch my breath now. Enjoy her and goodnight. 

Daphne photoshoot - Get ready!

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Hey all, I've been getting lots of inquiries whether Daphne is still going up for ebay auction or if I'd changed my mind. I assure you that I haven't. The auction is still on. It simply took me much longer to complete her cape than I thought. Every time I stopped, I'd find that it needed something more. You know how it goes.

She is finally finished and in the middle of a photo session. I'll have pictures for you tomorrow and the auction will start a few days from today! Get Ready!

Daphne almost ready for ebay auction

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I've been working on completing my image of Daphne. She is almost ready. Seeing how she was a stalking victim who tried to evade her stalker Apollo, I decided to give her a disguise. A beautiful disguise!

And remember how I told you that Daphne was going to have a new metal accessory? Well, ta-da!

See where I'm going with this?These are only wax models. Just wait til you see the casts. Not long now, but in the meantime you'll have to guess which one of these masks the lovely Daphne is going to be waring in her final costume: Nose or no-nose. Who knows, it might even sway my decision.

Let the guessing game commence!

More photos of ebay doll Daphne

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Oh, Daphne my Daphne! I'm afraid I'm growing more attached to you every day. That's unusual for me... How will I let you go now?

This braid tiara was inspired by the hair styles of Greek ladies from antiquity. Like Daphne's hair, it's made of silk fiber. I think I will include it with the doll. There is still that new metal accessory left to reveal before the auction can begin! Soon my darlings, soon!

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Ebay auction doll revealed!

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I'm really excited to show you my new doll, even though I'm still working on her. She is Daphne, inspired by a famous and tragic Greek myth of Daphne and Apollo. It's an ancient story about Stalking, which sadly, still seems as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago. The old gods are long dead, but violence against women still thrives, as if that is the oldest and only truly immortal god of mankind. The story of Apollo and Daphne - of a stalker and his victim, is a story of many women today.

According to mythology, Daphne was a beautiful forest nymph who was relentlessly pursued by the love-struck God Apollo, who refused to take a no for an answer. The lovely Daphne on the other hand, did not appreciate being treated like anyone's possession and desperately tried to flee her stalker. Eventually there was nowhere else left for her to run and she made a final, terrible decision to escape the deranged Apollo by becoming a Laurel Tree.

Defending her right to free will and self-agency had cost Daphne everything she had - her mobility, her identity, her appearance, her aspirations, her very humanity, and essentially, her freedom to pursue a life she wanted. It's a high price to pay for anyone. If this classical myth of Apollo and Daphne is not a classic example of criminal harassment and stalking, then I don't know what is.

This is how I imagined Daphne. Her chest and thighs are engraved with ornate floral motifs t0 symbolize her inevitable transformation into a tree.

She will be going up for auction in November. Next batch of her pics will go up this week!

Enchanted Doll in Vogue Japan. Again.

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Just got this in the mail the other day! The Enchanted Doll/Lux spread is 7 pages long, with each one of my dolls representing a scent of Lux soap: Soft Luxury, White Charm, Floral Touch, Velvet Luxury, Dream Daylight.

Pretty Cool. Oh, and look, who is that hiding behind the page? Is that the new ebay auction doll? I guess we won't know until I post her pictures next week... ;)