Introducing "Henri"

Henri is finally finished. He is my challenge piece for the ADO Mini Monthly Challenge. I am not a big fan of clowns, but I like Henri. He has a sweet, happy face, not at all like the last creepy clown I created. Henri was fun to make. He is nine inches tall and six inches wide, hand sculpted from polymer clay. His movable arms are attached with old buttons. He wears a beaded felt vest and an old lace ruffle around his neck. Henri would be considered a white face clown.

I have not made many dolls since I have been working on my house this summer. I finally got my artroom cleared out this weekend and hope to get to work real soon. It's time for ghosties, goblins, and things that go bump in the night.

ADO Monthly Challenge- Clowns

This is my work in progress for the ADO monthly challenge. He is nothing like the first clown that I made. He doesn't look as evil as that one. You can see him as he was chosen to make one of the badges advertising this challenge. I have never been a big fan of clowns. They always were a little scary and creepy to me. I hope this one turns out to be happy...he does have a goofy expression on his face. I haven't named him yet. The name usually comes to me when he is near completion. I wonder if he needs balloons?

Clown Inspiration

Underneath the makeup and the fancy costume you will find my friend Janice who inspired me to make a clown doll, even though as a child I was not too fond of clowns. I guess I should have looked at this picture before I began my sculpting, or maybe that old fear surfaced in the creative process. The only thing the two have in common are their colorful costumes. Janice was the fifth woman clown for Ringling Brothers back in 1972. She was in college when the circus came to town. Janice was going to be a teacher so she thought going to clown college would help her be a better one. When Ringling offered to hire her, Janice when home to talk it over with her family. Now, how many mothers who had a daughter who was a senior in college, would tell them it was o.k. for them to run away and join the circus? Well, that is exactly what her mother told her to do. She said it was an opportunity that might not ever come again. So that is what Janice did. Her high school sweetheart, Mike, soon followed and the rest is history. They got married and along with Janice's brother, Gil they formed a center ring bear act for Ringling. After Janice's husband died, she did become a teacher, and that is where I met her. She worked in Special Education for five years. Now, she works for Ringling again. She is the Manager of Animal Stewardship Training at thier faciltiy in Florida. With thirty years experience working with animals, she now instructs animal handlers in the care and training methodology of elephants at the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation. Even though Janice doesn't wear the makeup any longer, she is still a crazy clown!

Rock 'N Roland

Small black hat on a great big head
Big round body and hair so red
He’ll make you laugh, he’ll make you cry
Because he is a funny guy
Once a year he’ll come around

He’s Rock ‘N Roland,the circus clown.

Meet Rock ‘N Roland! Roland is a hand sculpted, one of a kind art doll. Roland’s body started as small round balloon and a little air. The balloon was wrapped with rigid wrap, decorative paper and tissue paper. Acrylic paint was then dabbled on. His head and arms were sculpted from polymer clay and painted with acrylic paints. Roland is the first doll I have made with arms that move. They are attached to his body with wire and buttons. I added a tulle ruffle, decorative string, some rhinestones and beads to fancy him up and Roland was ready to rock ‘n roll. There are assorted beads and bells inside Roland so he makes sounds if you shake him. Roland is approximately ten inches tall and seven inches wide. His hair is wool roving. Roland is thinking about retiring. He is tired of scary little kids, and scaring little kids. Roland would love to come and live at your house. He doesn' eat much (just an occasional pie in the face) and he won’t take up too much room. For the last forty years he's been living in a railroad car.

Rainy Weather

It has not stopped raining in "sunny" Florida for ten days. Over sixteen inches have fallen at my last count. The lakes are up and the flowers are loving it. The grapes on the vine are just beginning to grow and the welcome rain will help to make them plump and juicy this year. With only one vine, most of my grapes are food for the birds. My grape vine grows on the abandoned basketball goal of my son's youth. At the end of my driveway, it makes a perfect backdrop when coming home.

I have had a lazy weekend. I had lunch with some friends on Saturday and breakfast with others Sunday morning. Other than that, I have enjoyed the sound of the rain. It has been a weekend for enjoying good books, cooking, and creating. I read "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks today. What a beautiful love story. If only we could all be loved like that what a wonderful world this would be. My friend Janice gave me three books today for a late birthday present and a zany stuffed "Z" that suits me perfectly. I started on one of the books this afternoon. It is "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides. She assures me I will find it fascinating.


My friend, Janice was one of the first women clowns for Ringling Brothers Circus back in the early seventies. Therefore she has influenced me in my creativity this week with my first clown doll. Janice gave me a pamphlet explaining the different types of clown makeup and I think this one will be a "white face". He is my first doll to have arms that are not permanently attached. They will be attached with buttons and will move. I haven't come up with a color scheme yet, but I am leaning towards green, my favorite color.


I am always working on Halloween, my favorite holiday, so I also made some evil little jack-o'-lantern pins. They were fun to make. They were going to be my surprize for the Trick or Treat give a way, but I can't find anyone who wants to participate. If anyone is interested you can read the rules on my earlier post.