I want to thank everyone who came to the TAODA meeting today.  We had some great Show & Tell and I enjoyed giving the program on Making and Setting Handmade Eyes in Cloth Dolls.  Thank you Tere Perry for pitching in and taking the minutes.

We had some good discussion also.  It was decided that because it was so well received last year,our Quilt Festival exhibit this year will be titled Block Party II, with the same theme which is to incorporate a quilt block in the doll you make.  Beth Casper is taking the sign up list, so please get in touch with her about making a doll for this show.  casperbeth@aol.com  Insurance forms are due August 1. 

There are still a few tickets available for the ODACA Day luncheon,Wednesday, July 16 at the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort in San Antonio.  The souvenir doll, which each luncheon attendee will receive, is by our own Angela Jarecki!  Reason enough to attend right there!  There will also be a centerpiece doll for each table, which one lucky person at each table will win.  There will be many raffle dolls which you can buy tickets for.  Plus an artists sale before and after the luncheon.  It should be a fabulous day!  You can find all the information and buy tickets on the ODACA website:  www.odaca.org

Some TAODA members are talking about carpooling and going just for the day.  Linda Butler has offered to drive.  If you are interested in going for the day, contact Linda: LCB4710@aol.com

Finally, I need your input about the July TAODA meeting.  Because of summer vacations and other commitments, we voted not to have an "official" business meeting in July.  However, we do have the library meeting room reserved (10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, July 12

 at the Looscan Library).  If there is enough interest, there can still be an informal meeting with show and tell, perhaps working on projects, and general visiting.  Please let me know by the end of this month if you are interested in attending an informal meeting at the library in July.  If there is not enough interest I will cancel the meeting room.

We will definitely be back in full strength at the August 9 meeting.  We should have some wonderful show and tell with all of those doll conventions this summer!  Bring your dolls from ODACA, UFDC, ADAA, and those you plan to take to NIADA.  Marsha Krohn will present our program: How to Build a Pedestal. Marsha says, "With this technique you can make a pedestal any size to suit your doll, whether she will stand on it or sit on it or even recline on it! Decorate it to suit your theme."

Stay cool, have fun and be creative!

Janet Bodin

We had a great meeting today, with Neva Waldt’s program on armatures.   She brought lots of reference materials and examples of different armatures.  She explained how to achieve balance in the pose so that the figure can stand on its own.  She showed us the “Neva method” and we each got to make little armatures using her techniques.

There was lots of good discussion at our business meeting too.  We talked about what kind of project we can submit to HCCC for Hands on Houston (a free craft-activity open house on the first Saturday of every month at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft).  This will be our community outreach/education project this year.  Gwynne brought several examples of projects we can consider and gave us some inexpensive wood figure blanks to decorate and bring to the May meeting.  If you have ideas, bring them to the May meeting.

Also, we need your ideas on a theme for this year’s Quilt Festival exhibit.  Please send them to Gwynne atgwynne713@aol.com   and we will vote on a theme from your suggestions.

We voted in a new artist to our membership:  Anne Oliver, from Dallas.  Check out her beautiful work: http://lollidolls.wordpress.com/  Welcome Anne!

Don’t forget to come visit us at Gathering of the Guilds at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, 4848 Main Street, on Saturday, April 26.  We will be there from 10-5 with dolls and demos!  Thanks to all those who signed up to man the booth.

I hope to see you at our meeting next month, when yours truly will present “Making and Setting Handmade Eyes into Cloth Dolls”.

Janet Bodin

We had a wonderful meeting today!  For those who weren't able to come to the meeting today - we missed you!  The show and tell was fabulous.  A great program on felting was given by JoAnn Luco.  And we had a very productive and interesting business meeting in which we decided on a charitable project and a community outreach/education venue.

Our charitable project will be to sew stuffed animals or hearts to turn into the Common Thread Circle, who will then stuff & finish them and distribute them to patients in area hospitals.  Gwynne Ross provided us with patterns which we can use (or we can use our own).  If you would like to participate, these sewn pieces will be due at the June TAODA meeting.  If you have questions or need more direction, please contact Gwynne at gwynne713@aol.com  Gwynne will bring patterns again to the April meeting.  I hope we will have lots and lots of sewn animals and hearts to donate.  Our last charitable project was in 2012, when we made over 100 pocket dolls for the Dress a Girl Around the World project, so the bar is set pretty high!  But since we don't have to stuff them, we should be able to easily meet that goal.  If you are outside the Houston area and would like to mail some in they would be most welcome.

For our education project we decided to participate in Hands on Houston once again (a free craft-activity open house on the first Saturday of every month at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft).  Lots of good ideas were discussed at the meeting.  If you have an idea and can present it at the April meeting, we would like to choose something that we can then present to HCCC and pick a date that works for us and them as well.

Finally I want to remind everyone about Gathering of the Guilds on Saturday, April 26 at HCCC.  TAODA always has a booth at this event.  We have a sign up for manning the booth, and have openings for the 2-5 p.m. time slot.  If you can volunteer for TAODA at this fun event, please email me:  janetbodin@aol.com

I look forward to seeing everyone next month when the fabulous Neva Waldt will present the program on Armatures.

Thanks,

Janet Bodin

International Quilt Festival 2013

I hope you were able to attend the International Quilt Festival in Houston this year.  TAODA was well represented in the doll exhibits.  First, let me say how proud we are of MARLENE SLOBIN for her gypsy challenge piece “The Performers” which won Best of Show!  Congratulations Marlene! 

MARLENE SLOBIN
"The Performers"

This is the fourth time a TAODA artist has won Best of Show in the Gypsy Challenge (past TAODA winners were Neva Waldt, Janet Bodin, and Karin Otto-Burfict).  Angela Jarecki and JoAnn Luco also had dolls in the Gypsy Challenge this year.

ANGELA JARECKI
"Masquerade"

JOANN LUCO
"Late for the Ball" 

This has really been Marlene’s year.  She won the Soft Dolls and Animals “You Did What with that Pattern?” contest with this piece:

“In Celebration of the Doll” is the invitational portion of the doll exhibit. Angela Jarecki, Amy Nelson, Janet Bodin, Joyce Patterson, Marlene Slobin and Marsha Krohn all had dolls in this exhibit.

ANGELA JARECKI
"The Tea Merchant's Wife"

AMY NELSON
"Sing in the Sun"

JANETBODIN
"Sim Shalom"
("Let There Be Peace")

JOYCE PATTERSON
"Fabric Sale Today Only"

                                 

MARLENE SLOBIN
"Z"

                                                   

MARSHA KROHN
"Sitting Pretty"

                           

TAODA had its own portion of the exhibit with “Block Party”, dolls incorporating a quilt block in their design.

ANGELA JARECKI
"Crazy Log Cabins"

ANNETTE MONEY
"Nine Patch"

JANET BODIN
"Quilting Queen"

 

JOYCE PATTERSON
"Sunbonnet Sue"

KARIN OTTO-BURFICT
"Other Voices"

NEVA WALDT
"Angie Loves a Good Party"

SUSAN FREDRICKSON
"Roman's Quilt"

TERE PERRY
"Picking Up the Pieces"

THERESA MAY
"Crazy Like a Fox"

ANNE MYATT
"Story Time"

Last but not least, the Material Girls of Houston doll club had a portion of the exhibit.  Several TAODA members are also members of this club.  Linda Butler, Marlene Slobin and JoAnn Luco had dolls in this portion.

Persons of Interest Reception

Thanks to everyone who came to our reception at Hanson Galleries last night!  We had a nice turn out, despite the rush hour traffic. 

 

Congratulations to our award winners!  First place went to Karin Otto-Burfict for "Three Wishes".  

Second place went to Theresa May for "Ink Master".  

Third place went to Anne Myatt for "Ebony Madonna".  

Three honorable mentions were awarded:  Tere Perry for "Caught in the Act", 

Neva Waldt for "Fowl Play", 

and Marsha Krohn for "Patience Grows Weary Waiting for Mr. Right".

 

The show is beautiful.  Thank you all for your outstanding work.  The gallery owners and staff are very pleased and say this show is even better than last year's.  If you weren't able to come to the reception, be sure to go by the gallery after our meeting on Saturday and see the show.  You will be proud!

 

Persons of Interest

You are cordially invited to......

We are excited to announce our upcoming juried show and sale at Hanson Galleries in Houston!  The dates are October 3 - November 3, 2013.  Much more information to come, but here is an exciting "pre-show" opportunity:

All Dolls Are Art Conference Report

ADAA 2013 (All Dolls Are Art) was a success thanks to Amy Nelson and her staff.

The classes were filled with talk, laughter, and happy moments. Everyone had loads of fun finishing their project and enjoyed the three day event.  Congratulations to Karin Otto-Burfict for the sale of her wonderful piece, "Honey."

This year’s banquet speaker was Mayra René. She introduced her new book, "El Arte De La Muneca En Tela", "The Art of the Cloth Doll." She had a full presentation on screen as well as stories and history of some of the dolls she brought with her to share. This book takes us into the world of cloth doll making, with the history of the first dolls from the pre-hispanic era to the present; from evolution to transformation. Mayra documents the historical origin of the doll as a true art form. She shares the love, joy, and life experiences with our dolls. She writes about the contributions the Spaniards made in cloth doll making in Mexico's culture. The two and a half years of research paid off, for it was hard to put the book down. Congratulations to Neva Waldt for her beautiful piece featured in Mayra's book. Some of my pieces are featured along with life stories of how the important women in my life influenced me in creating the cloth doll.
 She has a version in English that will come out on October 7th in e-book form and hopefully next year the English hard cover book will be available.

TAODA Artist Adriana Esqueda with author Mayra Rene

More pictures taken at ADAA can be found on www.lalloronastudio.blogspot.com.

Adriana Esqueda

NIADA Conference, 2013

TAODA members Janet Bodin, Theresa May, and newly inducted NIADA artist Neva Waldt spent the last week in June at the NIADA DollMaking School and 50th Anniversary Conference in Corte Madera, California. The weather in beautiful Marin County started off cool and rainy but, apparently to make us Texans feel more at home, abruptly switched to an uncharacteristic and unexpected heat wave. The company of doll artists from all over the world and the excitement over Neva's impending membership more than made up for the discomfort, though.

Janet took Shelley Thornton's 3-day cloth doll class, Theresa took Connie Smith's 2-day stone clay animals class, and both Theresa and Neva were in Tanya Marriott's stop motion animation armature class. We all learned, despite issues with class size, lack of air conditioning, and chatty class members.  Gallery night was impressive, and over the following days the programs were really inspirational and fun (especially the session on animation by in-coming NIADA President Tanya Marriott and her husband Garry Buckley).

The vote on new members merely confirmed what those of us in TAODA already know--Neva Waldt is a world-class artist--and we were thrilled, if not one bit surprised, that she joined an international group of five other artists in the NIADA Class of 2013. To top it off, all three of the pieces she took to show were sold to collectors before noon on sale day.

Next year's meeting is in Orlando, Florida. The DollMaking School is from August 11-13, and the conference is August 14-17. 

Theresa May 

Artist Doll & Teddy Bear Convention, May 2013

Attending this year’s “Artist Doll & Teddy Bear Convention,” in Philadelphia, was an awesome experience for the senses. The experience, as a whole, was great. Our promoters Susan and Terri Quinlan put on an art show that surpasses any out there. We begin on Thursday with a day of classes we sign up for in advance. On Friday we can attend the Artists Marketplace and book signing where artists set up tables with wares they sell at bargain prices and sign their books. The seminars, given by artists were great. These were not only informative but so much fun. The artists’ display of one of a kind art pieces for judging were out of this world. The pieces exhibited this year surpassed the creativity of last year and made judging very difficult. This year we also participated in a special exhibit and sale of doll artists making a teddy bear and teddy bear artists making a doll. It was lots of fun and lots of pieces went to new homes. The early Friday show and sale and the Saturday show and sale were fun days of laughter and meeting new people. In my opinion, this year we had more conventioneers and new people attending than ever before.  Lots of smiles, laughter, and picture taking surrounded us all day.

I recommend this show to everyone interested in showing and selling their art pieces and to those who just want to experience three days enjoying the atmosphere of art and fun.

If anyone has any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me directly at adrianaesqueda.art@gmail.com
 Sincerely,

Adriana Esqueda