Trunk Show

Trunk Show ... that is, bringing everything you create to excite and entice your audience about your art and your passion.


Yummy Trunk Display Example

Well, my guess is that the definition of a trunk show is packing up everything except the kitchen sink and literally "moving" across town to my destination ... the Rockbridge Pieceworkers Quilt Guild, Lexington, VA meeting last Saturday.  I've been working hard and it took two cars loaded and one husband (not loaded) to get the job done. 

 My doll display took up two ten-foot tables, dollies shoulder to shoulder, propped in lined suitcases (tutorial on the way), wooden sleds, on doll stands, seated in wooden crates ... phew ....!!  However, like a dog and pony show, it was testament to the fact that I love what I do and absolutely adore telling such an attentive (and somewhat captive) 
audience just how I got started and some of the stories behind the creation of my "children."

Some of My Children
 

You may ask ... What does quiltmaking have to do with dollmaking and design?  Well, I originally started out as a quilter (back in the 70's) and evolved into doll design.  I truly have the appreciation and love of quilts, quiltmakers and  an insatiable addiction to fabrics.  Quilt design takes a special discipline in accurate piecing and alignment and the beauty and love of harmony in geometry as well as art and color.  All this comes together into the magic of creating a piece of art that is 3-dimensional as well as something that hugs you back ... sort of candy for the eye as well as comfort for the body and soul.
Quilts from October Meeting RPQG

Well, in that same context, I evolved in my art into creating dolls that, in some cases, portray the personality of the quilter and human beings in general.  Whereas quilting is a form of silent meditation in demonstrating how the "Whole is greater than the sum of its parts," so too is the freedom I have found in precisely designing and sewing together body parts that "work" and creating a doll that has come together from similiar pencil and paper drawings.  In my case, I learned to "let go" and allow the doll to take on a life of its own, somewhat like a baby develops in its mother's womb. 

Hermione - My beloved mascot and sewing room companion

What emerges is a 3-dimensional work of art demonstrating how the Whole is greater than the sum of its parts, a lot of creative meditation (sometimes not so silent) and in the end, emerges as that little piece of art that now has human elements which strike a chord with the beholder in the recognition of those emotional parts of themselves ... a piece of art that can literally hug you back!

Clarabell .. Connecting with your Inner Clown?

My adventure Saturday with the quilting ladies was delightful, tremendously fulfilling and has now opened a new door for me as a prodigal quilter returning to the fold ... yes, I joined the Guild and am looking forward to coordinating both my passions ... we'll see how this develops ...

Ahhhhh ... Hermione and a quilt ... the picture of love and comfort

stay tuned ......!!!!