I don’t know why I’ve never really made a doll before now. You’d think since my father made dolls and had a little doll hospital going all through my childhood that I would naturally want to use my inherited craftiness to make dolls, too. Afterall, my father taught my sisters and me how to make dolls when we were little. (I’m fairly certain my brother Shawn never made a doll). One summer we were set up at picnic tables on the back porch, following along the many steps in making a porcelain doll. All of the parts were kept neatly organized in the shallow cardboard boxes sodas come in. Once I even made a little doll dressed like Alice in Wonderland which landed me a blue ribbon in that year’s state fair.
So when I heard about the auction for sweet Catherine who has cancer, I thought I might try to make a little doll. With red shoes, of course. To my delight, every step of the process went exactly as I hoped. Don’t you love it when that happens?
I thought of Catherine as I made the doll and the making became a sort of prayer. It was a prayer both for healing for Catherine and for guidance in the making.
So here she is, the little doll that I made.
She has sweet little things tucked into her apron pocket
And she has her sewing bag all packed with a tiny project
She’s just about 7″ tall with primitively jointed arms and legs. She doesn’t quite stand on her own so she’ll need to lean on something or use a doll stand. I made all of her clothes, including the tiny sweater.
My little doll, plus many other fabulous works of art by artist friends of Catherine’s, will be included in the auction which will happen on April 26 on Instagram. Be sure to follow @auctionforcatherine on Instagram.
There is also a donation page set up here. The money donated goes directly into Catherine’s Paypal account.
