The Human Doll - Kenadie Jourdin-Bromley

Little Kenadie’s Website

Kenadie Jourdin-Bromley, known around the world as “the littlest angel”, was born Feb.13, 2003, weighing just 2 lbs, 8 ounces.

Doctors were at a loss as to why she was born so small and told her parents this little miracle baby likely wouldn’t live through the night. But she did.

She continued to defy doctors expectations and at the age of 8 months, Kenadie was finally diagnosed with primordial dwarfism, a genetic condition that is believed to affect only about 100 people in the world. She isn’t expected to grow past about 30 inches or weigh more than 8 pounds.”

I love checking up on Kenadie through the website her family has created for her. It’s clear that she has an unbelievably big personality - her Photo Gallery gives you a perfect introduction to her. And she is teeny tiny. One of a few anomalies that still exist.

New dolls for July

The Naturalists and the Giselles

Click on the thumbnail for images and details:

Agnes Dreary

Most of the mass produced, collectible “goth” dolls these days ape Tim Burton or lean towards the heavy makeup/fishnet/corsets/piercings ala BeGoths

Tonner Doll Company has recently released a line of dolls called Agnes Dreary, which is comprised of “Agnes,” her twin brother “Victor Dreary,” and their older sister “Sister Dreary.” It’s pretty clear this is a fashion doll company that is trying to get in on the buying habits of the goth crowd. But I think they are providing something a little different.

The twins are the most interesting - to me, anyway. They remind me of Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander.

I love Tonner’s outfits for the dolls. They provide a few styles (mainly for the older sister) which are modern and fall in line with the goth crowd but the rest are almost 100% vintage - and the fabrics seems to be genuine: corduroys, twills, lace and chiffon as opposed to cheap felt & polyester. That should explain the $60+ price tag for most of the outfits. Speaking of price, they run along the lines of $100-$150 which is quite good considering they are jointed like a BJD but sell at half the cost of a Volks creation.

Seven Days newspaper reviews my dolls

Kirk Kardashian of Seven Days newspaper wrote a nice review of the Lazy Pear doll show in his column “Eyewitness.” He attended the opening and then did an interview with me by phone.

Read the article HERE

My large Gothic Lolita Dolls at the Lazy Pear doll show

My large Gothic Lolita’s will be showcased at the Lazy Pear Gallery here in Vermont in June for a show aptly titled “Odd Babies.”! I will be at the opening so I hope to see you there! Show runs from June 5 to July 13, 2008.

Odd Babies: Four Artists Explore the Doll
Group Show featuring work by Beth Robinson, Nina Gaby, Tiffany Owenbey, and Chris London
Lazy Pear Gallery
The opening reception is part of the Montpelier Art Walk, Friday, June 6, 4pm - 8pm

If you are interested in purchasing any of these dolls, please contact the gallery: lazypear@lazypear.com

Click to view large versions:

The Human Doll - Pauline Musters

Pauline Musters, the Little Princess
via the Human Marvels

In the history of the world, little Pauline Musters is the smallest mature woman ever recorded. Pauline is currently listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as having stood only 1 foot 11.2 inches in height.

Born on February 26, 1876 in Ossendrecht in the Netherlands Pauline Munster’s was almost half of her final height straight from her mother’s womb. At birth, she was just over 12 inches. At age nine, the tiny dynamo weighed only three pounds and in adulthood Pauline Munster weighed less than nine pounds. Her measurements at age 19 were 181/2 -19-17, meaning she had curvy little figure and in truth she had no shortage of male suitors.

Pauline began her profession career as an infant at which time the public simply marveled at her tiny proportions, but as she grew older Pauline took to performing as well. She was eventually known for being an adept acrobat and for skilfully dancing with partners drawn from the audience. As her performances progressed in quality, Pauline took on many unique stage names. She was perhaps best known simply as Princess Pauline and on par with her name she took to wearing remarkable elegant gowns on stage, with details and stitching so minute that the garments themselves were a wonder to behold.

During her career, Princess Pauline toured Belgium, Germany, France and Britain before being invited to perform in the United States in 1894. She debuted in New York City’s Proctor’s Theatre on New Year’s Eve before and stunned and thoroughly charmed audience. She performed with a grace that moved those who saw her. She was a fairy, a tiny regal princess on a huge stage dancing out what she felt in her heart – and it was beautiful. Princess Pauline quickly became the darling of New York.

Tragically, while Pauline’s star burnt brilliantly, it expired far too quickly. Shortly after arriving in New York the diminutive Princess contracted pneumonia and meningitis. Pauline Musters succumbed to illness on March 1, 1895 in New York and the world lost its smallest but greatest miracle.

Lisa Bufano updates with a new award winning design

Lisa Bufano has a new video podcast available. It is called “Fish Girl” and showcases an award winning underwater design for prosthetics by Design Squad Engineering. You can see her beautiful underwater performance here.

I am such a fan of her.

See my original post about Lisa

Photographing dolls

Photographing my dolls has always been a challenge.

And yes, I have bribed and bartered with friends who have an interest in photography and thought they could help. Their results were little better than what I was able to accomplish with a point-and-shoot and overhead fluorescent lights. (Dollseye is exempt from this topic, I have no idea how she manipulates light the way she does but that is why I am so glad she owns a variety of my dolls and likes to take photos of them on occasion. She’s amazingly talented.)

So then I moved to a new apt/studio and the lighting situation changed completely.

I finally decided to buy a small photo studio with “real” lights and a “real” shooting environment with a “real” backdrop. While I am excited by the set-up I am simply amazed that natural light continues to affect the staging area when the lights and the position of the figure do not change at all.

So…. I continue to struggle. Please bare with me and just know that your doll will very likely look better than in the pictures (that is usually the report that I get from customers).

I am going to use the Stitch Bitches as an example of the struggle I am having. This was taken in the old environment:

And these two taken in the new environment with slight adjustments to the position of the lamps and the time of day:

All three dolls use the same fabric and were painted with the same blend of paint colors.

Frustrating to say the very least.

New dolls: Gothic Lolitas

I am making these pieces available to my customers as a prep for my show at The Lazy Pear Gallery in June which features something of a new look for me. The theme is “Gothic Lolita.” Details soon!

Click on the thumbnail to go to the ordering page and see more images.

See what else is new at Strangedolls.net

Stimulus Package checks will be arriving soon

For those of you in the USA who will be receiving a check from the government as part of the recent stimulus package - consider using the money to invest in American culture by supporting the arts. Depending on your economic status, of course, even a wee bit of the money could buy a print from your favorite artist, handmade jewelry from an artist’s etsy shop, a DVD of short films from an underground filmmaker, and download an album from an online band. Or try a night out at a locally owned restaurant.

Most people want to buy a bigger TV, a new game console, or go clothes shopping. The economic stimulus package is designed to encourage spending and stimulate our economy but most of the things Americans buy are manufactured overseas. And due to quality issues, most of it doesn’t have much of a shelf life. And a piece of art will last a lifetime. I know it sounds cheesy but it is true.

Please consider buying art and contributing to the artists who will build up the American culture as opposed to taking away from it.

Please visit Strangedolls.net to order a doll from one of the doll series.