The Social Life of Dolls

[Gloria Grandy]

Sometimes my dolls seem to have social life all of their own. I have two new dolls that will be out and about this coming June.

Princess Amaya, The Wise Princess, will be at The California Department of Education Black History Month Planning Committee Juneteenth Celebration and Art Sale Fundraiser. The event will be Tuesday, June 3rd from 5:00pm to 7:00pm in the California Department of Education Building  Lobby on N Street in Sacramento. The event will include food and entertainment and bidding on art from  some of Sacramento's best artists. Princess Amaya will also be available to bid on. If you would like to adopt Princess Amaya come down and visit this fun event.

Princess Amaya is a positive image doll and was  inspired by little girls who wanted a "princess who looks like me". If you are interested in having a princess doll made for a little girl in your life let me know.

Because Princess Amaya is a wise princess, she has some words of wisdom to share with you:

1. Never take apples from a stranger.           

2. Real friends won't lock you in a tower.

3. Slay your own dragons.

4. Never walk through a dark forest alone.

5. Stop waiting for Prince  Charming,

be your own hero, rescue yourself.

My other doll is Grandma Selene, The Bayou Queen. She is a very mysterious lady. She will be part of my "Grandmas are Beautiful" collection but more about that later.  Her inspiration comes from some of the Southern Folk Tales that come from a lot of my ancestors. Some of these folk tales go all the way back to Africa. The stories came across the Atlantic with the slaves and grew and changed as they were passed on by word of mouth from family to family and from generation to generation.

 Grandma Selene will be part of the "Focus on Fiber" 3rd Annual Fiber Arts Open Show at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center, 5330-B Gibbons Drive in Carmichael, June 3rd through June 21st. For more information visit their website at www.SacFineArts.org

Grandma Selene's costume is made of plain white cotton muslin that I used a couple of dye techniques on to get her one of a kind look. The skirt is made of strips of shredded muslin that I stitched together and put through my washing machine and dryer to distress the fabric. I used three  shades of tie dye to color the skirt. It almost looks like the feathers of a tropical bird.

Grandma Selene also has some wise words to live by, of course, because grandmas always do:

1. Gray hair is beautiful.

2. Respect is earned not entitled.

3.Wisdom comes with time and experience.

4. Love comes from the heart, not from the back of the throat.

5. Don't let negative people live in your head, raise the rent and kick them out.

6. Never let success go to your head or failure go to your heart.

I will be teaching the "Flying Dancers" art doll class this fall at The Elk Grove Fine Art Center on Saturday September 20th from 11am to 4pm. This will be great because we'll have 5 hours to work on and complete the doll. I am hoping to be able to accommodate 6 to 8 students. I will have more information later this month. Other classes and locations will also be announced later this month.

Sacramento is having it's first Black Book Fair, "On The Wings of  Words", June 6th, 7th, and  8th in the historic Oak Park District.  Co-chairmen, Faye Kennedy, would like see this become a yearly event. Black authors from all over the United States will be flying in for this three day event to hold workshops and sign their books. There will also be tons of activities for children. For more information go to www.sacramentoblackbookfair.com .

They are also still in need of volunteers to help make this fantastic event happen. If you are able to volunteer at least two hours of your time on any or all of the three days, you can download an application from the same website under the volunteers tab.

Here's and update about the 2014 California State Fair. The judging results were published Friday and some other fiber artist that we know also placed.

Alice Calhoun,   "Floral Abundance", Honorable Mention, Category: Large Quilts

Connie Horne, The Meissner Sewing and Learning Center Award, 1st Place

Connie Horne, 1st Place, Category: Wearable Art

Jan Hollins, "Days Gone By", 3rd Place, Category: Applique Quilts

Gloria Grandy, "Verlene", Honorable Mention, Category: Dolls and Toys

Gloria Grandy. "Michael", Third Place, Category: Dolls and Toys

Happy June, see you later.