Folk art Dollmaking in Progress

Every once in awhile I get a desire to work on my unidentified art pile. This is a box of things I stopped working on , considered it a failure at the time , or just thought someday it will come to me what I`m suppose to make out of this object. This doll was one of those. It was a beginning prototype of a small waisted doll that was not what I was looking for at the time.



I started with the idea to make an undercoat out of a different color than what I usually do. I used blue.




I drew on the eye placement with pencil.



And decided I didn`t like the face and changed it. I knew layers of paint will eventually cover the old placement.



I painted the features in outline like a coloring book.



I add face paint working to make those lines disappear, yet still be there .


I added striped stockings and shoes, hands, etc.







I added an antique dress off of an old broken composition doll I had sitting around. She lives on my shelf with some other dolls.

Update on my Altered art Piece Marriage to Divorce by Melanee Herrera

I know everyone is having a wonderful Summer and aren`t on the computer, but I`ll keep posting in case someone is still around. I just got my groove back and I want to play!

Here`s the update of my marriage/ house piece. I have a friend who is going through a divorce, and this is what I made from listening to them.
I didn`t know if I should stop where I had it yesterday, I didn`t think it looked that bad the way it was, but it didn`t have the message I had in my head. Since I`m not making it for anyone, I don`t have to have it have a certain look, it will just become what it will become.

I white washed the front so I could still see that it was a house, I wanted it to be a faded out image of a house, a faded likeness. I added this saying, because this is what this person ,who is getting a divorce, needs to understand but is so caught up in their misery and anger right now. I washed out the things inside too, a life no longer a reality. I printed the saying and I used a product called Mod Podge Matte, it`s thicker than the regular and not shiny. I white washed the clock face and painted a break down the heart. The butterfly is clip art colored with pencils and I adhered it to card stock and sealed with Mod Podge on both sides to give it some stiffness.

I feel like it needs some more, the front is so white, but I don`t want to cover up the windows and door. I tried stamping some designs but they didn`t work right on that bumpy surface. Might change that C in the corner too. Melanee

Altered Art House-Wedding Couple Folk art Melanee Herrera

I am trying my 1st altered art piece in hopes of opening up creatively. I started with stuff I found at my local junkie flea market on Sunday.


I thought furniture....wedding.....house... so I took an old paper cigar box that had it`s lid already off. Made the lid into the roof. 2nd photo.

Painted the house, added the collage of furniture, because that`s part of marriage, the wedding, the furniture, the house , time, and a heart representing love. It has no statement except what you see in it.

Not sure what I think of it, or if it`s finished, it doesn`t feel finished.Should I leave it be or mess with and possibly ruin it? .....

Folk Art Abstract Needle Punch Piece by Melanee Herrera

This is a large needlepunch piece I did , more modern/folk art. I found the frame first and made the piece to fit. I haveanother frame just like it and hope to make a matching set. The second being matching but different, it hasn`t come to me how that will look.

Folk Art Cat Needle Punch by Melanee Herrera

I collect old picture frames, not sure why, am so drawn to them. I can get them cheap around here but lately I`ve had to pay a little more so maybe it`s coming to an end, my buying cheap that is. Someone else catches on to their value and then they go too high for me. But I have enough to last the rest of my life . Here is one of the old frames with old paint, I needle punched this folk art cat to fit into it. My own design. Anyone else have a thing for old frames out there?

Folk Art Needle Punch Piece by Melanee Herrera

Here is a piece I did in needlepunch , a version of an old hooked rug. I`m very attracted to circles, maybe from the years of going around and around in the same place, familiar to me. **smile** This took me 3 weeks of many hours a day, punching each little loop. It lays on my old lift top desk, and my cats are very attracted to needlepunch pieces, love to lay on them. (But I move them off, I love them dearly but they can lay somewhere else just as easily. )

That`s one thing I noticed about many women artists, they have cats.

Folk Art Angel Painting by Melanee Herrera

I thought I`d share my 1st finished painting. I have been reading many self help books trying to get free from the negative voice in my mind who tells me nothing I make is any good. Because I wanted it so badly, I kept at it until I found what helps me. That was reading and studying "A New Earth" and "The Power of Now" both by Eckhart Tolle. These books are the answers I was searching so long for. To realize I am not my persona/ego, but something greater than that, we all are.

These truths helped me find my way out of the dark place I was at and into the light of life! This is what came out as my 1st creation after reading the books. I used paper , acrylic paints, and stamped ink. It was very enjoyable to be in the moment and not think about where it will go or what anyone will think or say about it and to turn off the negative inner critic.

I share it with you in hopes it will inspire you and you will step through your fear or excuses, or negative thoughts , whatever is holding you back a try whatever it is you`ve always wanted to try.