August 7, 2010: Celebrating the Gullah Tradition in Mixed Media Doll Making

Through the art of doll making, I will embark on a spiritual journey, leading me back to a heritage that is a wonderful fusion of African traditions and Southern American history.

As an artist, speaker, and through workshops, I will celebrate the folklore, language, and art of Gullah people. I invite you to be inspired by this unique culture and the beautiful stories it has to tell... ...I will combine the history of doll making from the Gullah perspective with a demonstration of mixed media doll making techniques. Participants will learn the art of doll making and create their own doll.

Where?: Smithsonian Anacostia Museum
1901 Fort Place, SE
Washington, DC

When?: Saturday, August 7, 2010

What time?: 11:00am - 3:00pm

For more information and to sign up contact the Anacostia Museum

Musings from the Art Studio

Here is one of my latest art dolls on canvas.

A large doll which I am naming Diana- after Diana Ross of course!

Hi as promised, I am showing some of my latest art doll work that I have been putting together as part of a series. These are part of the Natural Woman Art Doll Series I am creating. They are made from sticks that I have found outside my doll studio in Riverdale Park, Maryland. I was inspired to create these from the Transformational Doll Making class I took earlier this year. These will be on exhibit with more dolls shortly.

Decorating with Dolls

What if you just can’t find the perfect place to display your dolls? Create one yourself! There are dozens of spaces available in your home:

your foyer
your stairway
your window seat
your bed
your living room

just find the one that works for you!

Coordinate dolls and accents with your room's architectural features, color and furniture for a more permanent display of dolls.

One of my collectors had their home redecorated by my design firm, Design Scheme Interiors, LLC. For their foyer, they decided to have dolls created to add to their vast collection of artwork. Well see above. We also created clothes to change with the seasons.

Dolls can provide a wonderful burst of color to any room. Consider your dolls, the location and opportunity to display them as an accent.

One of my Doll Collectors: Cassandra Rush!

Cassandra and her new doll "Pinky"


Decisions, decisions, Moi and Cassandra trying to decide which doll goes back to South Carolina with her!

I just had the beautiful opportunity to meet one of my esteemed doll collectors Cassandra Rush of the African American Doll Museum in Columbia, South Carolina. She and I have been corresponding for nearly a year to get one of my dolls into her collection. After much e-mail traffic and some hits and misses, we finally caught up in Washington, DC yesterday evening and had a lovely time.

I showed her four of my dolls and she loved them all! Finally after much debate, she settled on "Pinky" one of my healer dolls. Turns out Cassandra is not only a doll collector, but she is curator and author. In addition, outside of collecting dolls, she is an avid African American art collector. We talked about our love our art and what motivates her to collect dolls. Cassandra states "I pick dolls based upon how they make me feel."

She is a wonderful lady who has a vision and a passion for collecting. I feel very honored to know her.

An Evening of Haitian Art

My art piece entitled "Wild and Peaceful" which was auctioned during the event.


Several pieces on display from "The Art of Haiti" Exhibit


Guest mingle during the silent auction and opening reception.


Moi and gallery owner, Florcy Morisset of Vivant Collection enjoy one of the exhibit pieces in the gallery.

On Saturday, June 5th, I was honored to have been one of the artists represented by Vivant Collection to have my mixed media work auctioned as part of the Links, Incorporated fundraiser for several Haitian organizations including:

Art Creation Foundation for Children
Les P'tits Tresors School
Partners in Health

Delaware Links, Inc. member, Valerie J. Gilliam, Chair of the fundraiser event, was the winner of one of my art pieces "Queen Series: Wild and Peaceful."

Over 100 prominent guests of the Wilmington, Delaware community feasted on Hors D'oeuvres and cocktails while listening to the wonderful music was provided by child prodigy Emma Gould who played a special violin selection: Haydn Violin Concerto No.2 in G Major, First Movement.

The event was held at the beautiful Delaware Art Museum in downtown Wilmington, Delaware.

As part of the event, the highlighted "Haiti: A Tribute to Art" Exhibition provided an excellent backdrop to the event.

My thanks to Links Incorporated of Delaware and Vivant Collection for being a part of a wonderful event!

Garden Inspirations!

You know sometimes we take our immediate environments for granted. One morning I woke up to water my backyard plantings and really took time to notice the vibrancy of the colors. So beautiful, warm, inviting, spring colors. It made me consider how beautiful they are and how I can perhaps replicate them in my artwork.

Take a look around in your environment and see how it inspires you.

Art Inspiration from Genoa, Italy

My husband and I are joined by a delegation from Detroit at the Waterfront Conference reception dinner the night before we left.


A new friend Rhoda and I head back from and day long shopping trip in Portofino on the Italian Riveria to Genoa in time for dinner.


Transportation safety in Genoa is apparent by the fact that pedestrians do not cross the busy but dangerous streets in Genoa but underground crosswalk filled with murals and art.


Here is another section of the underground crosswalk filled with art.



These underground crosswalks are like mini-art galleries really.


Here is more underground crosswalk artwork.


I loved the tiled sidewalks in the retail section of Genoa!


Portofino was simply breath taking!


More colors and architecture in Portofino.


A mural is stunning inside a Genoa Hotel lobby.


Hi, I just returned from a wonderful trip to Genoa, Italy. I went there to tag along with my husband who was there for a waterfront conference. All I can say is WOW! This beautiful Italian small city sits in the northwestern region of Liguria, is Italy's principal seaport and was a 2004 European Culture Capital. Genoa is a great Italy travel destination and has a fascinating aquarium, an interesting port, and a historic center said to be the largest medieval quarter in Europe, with a wealth of churches, palaces, and museums. The city boasts to be the birthplace of Christopher Columbus.

The Genoa portion of the Italian Riviera has several interesting villages, ports, and resorts. Most can be reached by train, bus, or ferry

In addition, I had this great opportunity to tour one of Italy’s Mediterranean treasures Porto Fino, and the finest colors and interiors of this magnificent country.

This trip inspired me to begin to create dolls and artwork that signifies the colors, shapes and sounds of the region.

The Mediterranean palette is rich and diverse as the architectural landscape that inspires it. The colors draw from the buildings, the sea and the sky, flowers, and the olive groves.

I am now wondering whether to make a mixed media series based on this travel or a collection of dollwork. In any case, I was truly amazed at the rich culture and colors that were all around me.

I was very fortunate to be able to experience this rich region of our world!