I interviewed a really creative doll artist from Adelaide, Sandy Pine, who started to make dolls to fill in time. Now it’s her business and her dolls represent the magical mystical world.

You can read the story, published in Australian Dolls Bears and Collectables in June, here. “Sandy’s Seventh Heaven.”

Australian Glass Art

Two months ago I interviewed Sandra Black a Sydney lady who collects perfume bottles.

Now most of us would see a perfume bottle as something practical. Not Sandra-she has spent a great deal of her life dedicated to her collection and after speaking with her, you understand the fascination-indeed they are lovely.

Sandra has some fabulous art deco pieces and she has had a number made by Australian glass artists. Actually she has bottles made of a large variety of materials. I thought it funny her husband said he would divorce her if she brought anymore home-but I think she sneaks them in!

Actually the history of perfume bottles is interesting and you can find out about that and Sandra here from Australian Dolls Bears and Collectables (April 2009).

Art Deco Piece

Monty's on Wickham Street

Last year I took a unit in photojournalism as part of my Masters degree. Keen to reconnect with the camera and also to learn about the technology I seemed to have missed out on-for example digital camera and photoshop, I thought this would be a great thing to do-and I was right.

One of my assessments was to give a talk on a photographer. A few months prior, my husband and I were talking again about Brisbane being a city that does not preserve its past. We got talking about the number of fading ads on the side of buildings that are preserved in Melbourne-a city that does want its past to live on! And we got to thinking about trying to track down old fading signs in Brisbane-if we could find them. The two photos here were taken in Fortitude Valley.

A few weeks later we came across the amazing website of photographer/teacher/activist Frank. H. Jump from Brooklyn New York. He has spent years taking photos of fading ads, not just in New York, but around the States and other countries. His photographs are fabulous and his story is too. The link to his site is under the links section of this website.

So Frank became the photographer I gave my seminar on for my assessment. For this I contacted him and asked whether I could interview him about his work, which I did. You can read about his fading ad philosophy on his site.

I then completed a folio of fading ads for assessment. I photo shopped them, making them black and white and I had them printed in matte on really rough paper. I wanted to give a brick like texture to them.

I sent many of my original photos to Frank and you can see them here

Old Sign in The Valley

Funky Doll

A month or so ago I interviewed doll artist Pearl Red Moon whose friends describe as a free-spirited bohemian.

Her artwork reflects her spirit and she lives by the philosophy of beauty, joy and happiness. Pearl Moon is interested in the traditional crafts and feels these are being lost somewhat. She describes herself as a mixed media and decorative artist, which is art having limitless sources.

Pearl Red Moon’s creations are very intricate and colourful and she cites Frida Kahlo and Gustav Klimt as her heros. All of her work is very feminine and she strives to create something that inspires awe. Pearl Moon uses fabrics and materials from her travels in India and Asia.

I think her dolls are very funky.

If you are in the Newcastle are you can see her work at the School of Arts Gallery Tighes Hill.

This story was published in the current (April 2009) Australian Dolls Bears and Collectables Magazine.

You can see more of Pearl’s work and read her story here.

Another Cool Doll

Betty Boop

Earlier this year, I interviewed Angie Flemming who had inherited her mothers extensive salt and pepper collection. Together with her sister Sandy they told me the story of their mum Linda who passed away from cancer about two years ago.

Linda loved to collect not only salt and pepper shakers but also dolls. She sounded like a real character and hopefully I captured this in the article “From Toucans To Telephones,” published in Australian Dolls Bears and Collectables in February 2009.

You can read it here

Two Chefs

Lighthouse Models

Last year I interviewed Bruce Pringle who has the largest lighthouse memorabilia collection in Australia.

Bruce is passionate about lighthouses and their history. He annually takes a trip to an Australian historical lighthouse and has visited many overseas. He also is a very good artist and his home is adorned with his work. He also makes models of lighthouses that he sells, like the ones pictures above.

I asked him why lighthouses…..?  and he told me it was the stories of the lighthouse keepers that he is captured by. These men worked all year, in sometimes very isolated and demanding conditions. Bruce is keeping the history of Australian lighouse keepers alive and says that one day he will donate his collection to a museum, so future generations can too enjoy this history.

It was a very interesting interview and this piece was published in Australian Dolls Bears and Collectables last year.

You can read it here.

Puppets

I went to Germany again 18 months ago and whilst in the beautiful town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber I stumbled across this amazing puppet, doll and toy museum in a small cobbled stoned street.

I met Katharina Engels who has spent 50 years collecting dolls, toys and puppets. She houses the largest private collection in Germany and surrounding Europe. Katharina and I could not really communicate with each other-I had no German and her no English, but there was a lovely lady there that translated for us. My friend Doris Haddock, who I was travelling with took photos and Katharina gave me some souvenirs.

I arranged to email Katharina questions in German, which were translated back and forth by my friend Carmen Anders. This is how I conducted the interview.

Katharina’s story of growing up during World War Two and her escape from Allied bombs gives an insight into why she started to collect dolls-it’s an amazing story.

I pitched this idea to Australian Dolls Bears and Collectables Magazine and it was published last year.

You can download this story and read about Katharina here.

Have a look inside the museum at www.spielzeugmuseum.rotherburg.de

I love Germany-wonderful, friendly, country!

The Museum

Surfing the web early 2007, I came across the site of Meryl Pringle (Matryoshkas and More), a Russian Doll collector and seller from Brisbane. Thinking about the Russian Doll my grandmother had given me as a child, I remembered how it used to intrigue me for hours. I also thought about The Beatles one, I purchased for my brother whilst travelling in Estonia. I thought there could be a story here. So I went through my writers bible-The Australian Writer’s Marketplace, published by the University of Queensland Press and pitched my idea to the editor of Australian Dolls Bears and Collectables.

The thing about freelance, is that sometimes you can pitch an idea just at the right time, which is what happened. A writer  had pulled out and the editor needed a story-in two days about the history of the Russian Doll. I researched extensively and contacted collectors and sellers in the UK and the US-who I might add were all very obliging. They even supplied many of the photos you see in this piece.

Check out

Dream of Russia Gallery, London UK

Babooshka Gallery, Devon UK

The Russian Shop, Illinois USA

The history of the dolls parallel the diversity of Russian history, but did you know the Matryoshka has Japanese origins?

The story made deadline and since then I have written many pieces for this magazine, which is funny as I do not possess one craft bone in my body!

That’s the beauty of writing!

You can read this story here.