INTRO – The Clapping Song
My Momma told me Clap, clap If I was goody Clap, clap That she would buy me Clap, clap A rubber dolly Clap, clap My Auntie told her Clap, clap I kissed a soldier Clap, clap Now she won't buy me Clap, clap A rubber dolly Clap, clap Cloth dolls move and they're soft. They can be hugged. They are people.
When I was smaller my mother used to read the Raggedy Ann stories to me. The most fascinating part was that, when the people were away, the dolls would stop being still and 'come to life' . They would have lives of their own, doing things and having adventures. In my mind, this became a sort of template for what dolls do when people aren't around. As time went on I continued to make dolls, mostly for younger relatives. I was making the kind of pretty, cute dolls popular at the time. I found patterns for them in magazines like McCall's Needlework & Crafts. My approach to doll making has changed over time.
I still make a fair number of Raggedy Anns but now but I also make the politically-incorrect but dearly-beloved Golliwogs.
Raggedy Ann is a stereotype doll but she's also iconic like Marilyn Monroe or other cultural icons. Raggedy Ann is an important culture icon. She represents an innocent time when dreams were real. Such dreams tell us things about ourselves, about our childhood and about our world. They are a kind of shorthand for larger ideas. Raggedy Ann has readily identifiable characteristics: red hair, usually curly, black shoe button eyes, a red-triangle nose and a smiling mouth with a little red center. She has a heart embroidered on her chest. She wears bloomers. She has a calico dress and a white apron.
Later on it became important to me to make dolls that were different. Dolls made from my own patterns or from the other original doll-makers selling patterns that were not in the common mold. These dolls were different.They had character, and were NOT for children.
I don't think an artist chooses an art form or a musician chooses his instrument. The art form or instrument chooses the artist or musician, and dolls chose me. Friends have asked me "Why dolls? You're talented. You could do anything", meaning I could do something more acceptable or commercial. The implication is I am wasting my time on cloth dolls. It's not a waste. My small universe, my apartment, has every surface covered by cloth dolls. There are dolls of various kinds, various shapes, long-haired, short-haired, smiling, frowning, wide-eyed, sleepy-eyed. I can't say why they are important to me but they are.
Dolls develop as you craft them. You start out with one concept and it morphs into another one.
I don't know why I make cloth dolls.
I do know that I have to.When I get an idea for a cloth doll a whole little world opens up and the creature I'm making starts to talk to me, to tell me what kind of hair she wants, and what colour clothing in what design and how her face should be. The act of creation becomes a two-way street
I have an extensive doll site on the web located at http://www.yulokod.ca/sunny/dolls/
© Sonia Brock 2006
http://www.soniabrock.com
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