Mentor: Jan Calloway-Baxter
Discover the goddess sculptures of ancient time; let her inspiration guide you to fashion your own art doll token. Making your own Goddess doll is a powerful and transforming act. You will make your own Goddess doll as a spiritual token, embellishing her as you desire. No sewing experience or sewing machines required! Optional $10 doll fee addnl.
Whether you are an experienced artist or a beginner, this class is a place where you will be able to fully indulge your inspired left brain and challenge and enrich your intellectual right brain. I hope you will enjoy it. We are coming at this class and its topic from two directions. From one direction, we will be concerned with making and adorning an individual Goddess doll. From the other direction, we will be learning about ancient Goddess forms and symbols to underline and enrich our art.
The Goddess dolls are made from fabric, a basic form, sewn together and stuffed with poly-fil or wool. Very simple. You can come up with your own pattern for your Goddess’ shape! This is sometimes the most empowering part of the process. You can draw one yourself or use drawings or statues made by other artists to motivate you. I can help you as much or as little as you would like here.
I will happily provide you with pattern drawings that I use; some based closely on historical models and others more contemporary interpretations of ancient forms. I will provide you with a number of resources to inspire you.
After you choose a shape, you can sew and cut out your own Goddess doll. Or, if you prefer, you can order a doll from me, already sewn and stuffed, and concentrate your creativity on its adornment. Depending on what the members of the class want, I will go into as much or as little detail as we need concerning the sewing and stuffing of the form. You can adorn your doll with anything you can imagine: fabric, beads, yarns, wrapping paper, stamps, paint, markers, glitter, stickers, colored pencils, embroidery, metallic threads, buttons, inks, dyes, twigs, herbs, dried or silk flowers, anything you can think of and figure out how to attach.
Perhaps your doll may grow and change over time, with only a few decorations to begin with and more and more as time goes by. Or you may finish her completely in this class. Your doll may develop an environment and accessories, or she may be complete within herself. The dolls I envision your making, and the ones I have to send to those who want them, are very small, only a few inches long. You can, of course, make yours any size you wish. I make small ones because I consider my doll a token. I like to carry her with me or place her on an altar or bedside table. Also, I like to bead my dolls all over sometimes and a larger doll can really try my patience at beading!
Also, the statues, frescoes and reliefs I fashion my dolls after are small. And that’s the second direction from which we are approaching our topic. We will explore the ancient Goddess figures, especially from the Old European Pre-Indo European civilizations. My Goddess dolls are based on these figurines, especially as they are discussed by Marija Gimbutas, the amazing archeologist who first looked for, and found, meaning in the many symbols and figures richly populating the archeological finds. Her book The Language of the Goddess (1989) inspired my most recent wave of Goddess figures. So, prepare yourself to learn about ancient stone sculptures and carvings, ceramics, frescoes, and reliefs. To bring that knowledge to fabric sculpture. To reflect your connection to this information in adornment and embellishment with all sorts of materials. And to create your own powerful Goddess token.
Part 1- Goddess sculptures and symbols.
Part 2- Shaping, sewing and stuffing your doll.
Part 3- Embellishment techniques and possibilities.
Part 4- Finishing up and looking ahead.
Part 5- Resources.
COURSE GOALS: Each student, during the course of this class, will:
- Learn about ancient Goddess sculptures and carvings.
- Learn about the meanings of the symbols used upon these sculptures.
- Bring that knowledge to life in a fabric sculpture form—a Goddess doll.
- Learn embellishment techniques for the Goddess doll and apply them in individual and unique methods.
- Appreciate your creation in symbolic and powerful ways.
ABOUT THE MENTOR: Jan lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with her Green Man/Soul Mate husband and their children, dogs, cats, and city chickens. She loves growing herbs, making medicine, cooking and eating good food, writing, making Goddess Dolls, doing almost anything with fabric and fiber, reading everything that comes her way, traveling, sleeping, listening to music, walking in the woods and sitting by the fireplace.
ABOUT THE WISE WOMAN UNIVERSITY
The Wise Woman University (WWU) is a sacred distance learning environment for the reweaving of the healing cloak of the Ancients. WWU offers women dozens of online classes for personal empowerment the Wise Woman Way.
At the Wise Woman University you will find mentors with women-centered skills pleased to offer their wisdom to you in a format that is lively, interesting, and easily available.
WWU is an online non-accredited distance learning environment, offering courses for personal empowerment and wellbeing. Enrollment is ongoing with each course designed to be completed in four weeks; however you study at your own pace with lifetime access to your course.
Each course consists of four lessons with accompanying assignments and resources. Interaction with your mentor is available through email, online forums, and assignment critique. Once registered, students gain access to a virtual classroom where all course materials reside. The classroom is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so that you may log in whenever convenient. There is a 15 day no-questions-asked refund policy, providing the course has not been completed in that time. All courses are $49.95
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