Big Doll Update

I wish there was some way to convey the Millions and Millions of stitches I've put into this nine-foot lady over the last...has it been two? years?


She is a true representation of her title, WOMAN's WORK, so many small, unseen, un-celebrated, often painful small steps to create a magnificent whole...at least in her case, because of her size... she WILL/Does have a strong presence.



She's hard to ignore, since she stands in the
middle of my central living space...a benefit of
Not having to share my home with another
person.





I stand on a high step ladder (and I HATE heights) to stitch, twisting my body this way and that to attach her (final?) skin.


I still haven't decided what the ultimate coating will be.


And I keep getting distracted by other projects, which I'll show you later.

In thinking about the Defining Stories that people use to make their lives Meaningful and Important...and to drive them to get out of bed each morning, I see Food and Shelter, Family, Work, Religion, Sport, Conquest, Romance...and that mine is a life-long Romance with ART and the Innumerable Possibilities and Mysteries of what comes out from my hands and brain.



Sometimes I wonder, "Why have I always been driven to make things, from the Princes stories and drawings when I was five, to writing every day in my journal, to this ... What?"


Has each culture that's come along started decorating as soon as it was possible to get by on only part of a day of hunting and gathering?


What is this urge to create something bigger, and perhaps more lasting, than ourselves?


Maybe it's the adult equivalent of babies playing with their toes,
an enlarging of skills that might come in handy in later life and
that takes up time as we grow.



Stretching, stretching, stretching our minds and bodies, just because we can.


I am compelled to write every morning, noon, night, to document my thoughts, my life...possibly no one will ever notice but me...although I sometimes hear from students or readers that something I've said resonates with them....do I do it for that?... the moments, the flashes of resonance and contact that say, Yes, we both exist and share some of the same elements of thought and feeling.



Thanks, Laura Jane...I do Love my Work!!!