Doll Artist and Teacher: Preserving the art of making dolls and Artist Member of the Original Doll Artist Council of America (ODACA).
What Will the New Year Bring?
Hello Reader,
2023 has been a remarkably short and yet at the same time, LONG year. How can that be? A lot has happened - personally, nationally, and globally. Let's hope 2024 brings peace, health, stability and happiness to all.
My goals for 2024:
- Knuckle down and get an online course launched.
- Finish some projects (when is there NOT a project to be done?)
- Play more music at local venues, on a regular basis.
- Maybe travel a bit.
- Get in better shape!
I hinted at a project I was working in my last newsletter. Earlier this year my mom asked me to make 1950s dolls for two of her close high school friends.
Years ago (early in my doll "career") I made one for my mom - poodle skirt, sweater, dickie, saddle shoes, etc. You can see this doll in one of my first newsletters: https://blue-heron-dolls.ck.page/posts/in-the-beginning-we-were-all-beginners
And since that one was a simple OOAK doll (who knows where the pattern is!?) - I decided to use the pattern I designed for the class I taught in March and again earlier this month. I enlarged the pattern a little and added boobs. I'm happy to say both dolls were well-received.
The next UFDC Convention and ODACA Day will be held in July, in Kansas City, MO. This gives me many months to make more than the 10-12 dolls I usually produce for the ODACA sales room. I'd love to see some of you there! ODACA welcomes anyone interested in becoming an Artist member (which is a juried process) or Patron. Check out the button links below:
| UFDC Convention |
| ODACA Day |
Now I'm off to complete two three unfinished dolls!
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| My Patterns are Here |
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| ODACA |
Deanna Hogan
www.blueherondolls.com
deanna@blueherondolls.com
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Deanna Hogan, Blue Heron Dolls
Doll Artist and Teacher: Preserving the art of making dolls and Artist Member of the Original Doll Artist Council of America (ODACA).
Hello Reader, I finished my Alabama Baby-inspired doll yesterday and took her official photo. She'll be going to New Orleans with me this summer for the ODACA Day luncheon and sales room. Viola Ruth stands about 16 inches tall. Her clothing is removable. I chose to use a one-step crackle product and antique wash on her painted surfaces to give her an aged look. I'm always nervous about crackling because you never know how it will turn out. Viola Ruth, upright with the use of a doll stand (she...
Hello Reader, It's been a week since my last newsletter - I'm on a roll! I've been budgeting my time, working in the studio a couple hours per day. It's been a nice change to work on one doll at a time, as opposed to an assembly line workflow. My current project is from one of my earlier patterns - one I haven't made in a LONG time (2017)! I'd forgotten how many steps this doll requires, including baking and drying times. This is Viola Ruth, my interpretation of an Alabama Baby, using modern...
Hello Reader, Now that we're well into 2026, it's time to get a wiggle on and start making dolls for ODACA Day this summer. I'm looking forward to visiting New Orleans again, and will be taking a couple girlfriends with me, one of whom will be arranging our various excursions (music venues, walking tour, swamp/boat adventure, cemetery visits...) In the past week I made a new doll - partly because I was procrastinating getting a start on my luncheon centerpiece steampunk doll (daunting), and I...