Ernestine (aka Lily Tomlin)

Ernestine is a character doll for collectors age 8 and up. She is 22" tall. Ernestine will be part of an art gallery exhibit scheduled for March 1 - April 30, 2013. She can be purchased during or after the exhibit.

How Ernestine was made
Ernestine's body is made in the MakerDoll Medium Size, from 100% organic, (“natural”) cotton fabric, grown and woven in the USA. Her arm joints are secured with cotton embroidery thread. Her clothes are handmade in a MakerDoll original design, from repurposed fabrics. Her white pique blouse features a stand-up collar, vintage pearlescent buttons, and is cinched with a faux leather belt made from a purse strap and vintage button. Her accessories include a vintage button bracelet, vintage Bill Blass crystal buttons for earrings, and vintage faux pearl buttons on her black felt shoes. Ernestine’s facial features, which reference a popular photo, are handpainted with professional grade acrylic paints. Her hair is made of twisted yarn, fashioned into her 1940s era up-do, hand-sewn onto her head with cotton embroidery thread.

About Ernestine
Ernestine is a character developed by Lily Tomlin, an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer who originally hails from Detroit, Michigan. Tomlin has been a major force in American comedy since the late 1960s when she began a career as a stand up comedian. While working in various hit TV comedy shows, she created Ernestine, a nosy, condescending telephone operator who generally treated customers with little sympathy. Ernestine often snorted when she let loose a barbed response or heard something salacious; she also wore her hair in a 1940s hairstyle, although the character was contemporary. Ernestine was almost always at her switchboard taking calls in the sketches. She occasionally called her boyfriend, Vito, a telephone repair man, or her pal Phoenicia, another operator. (Excerpts from Wikipedia.org)

Alice is a character doll for collectors age 8 and up. He is 22" tall. Alice will be part of an art gallery exhibit scheduled for March 1 - April 30, 2013. He can be purchased during or after the exhibit.

About Alice
“Alice” is a name that conjures up that innocent little blonde girl in the fairy tale, but this Alice is no Mr. Nice Guy! Alice Cooper, depicted here in his role as lead singer for his band of the same name, was born in Detroit, Michigan as Vincent Damon Furnier in 1948. He is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades. With a stage show that features guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, boa constrictors, and baby dolls, he has drawn his creative inspiration from horror movies, vaudeville and garage rock to pioneer a grand, theatrical show that is oft described as “shock rock.”

Alice is known for his social and witty persona offstage. The Rolling Stone Album Guide has called him the world's most "beloved heavy metal entertainer.” He is credited with helping to shape the sound and look of heavy metal, and he is regarded as being the artist who "first introduced horror imagery to rock'n'roll, and whose stagecraft and showmanship have permanently transformed the genre.” Away from music, Cooper is a film actor, a golfing celebrity, a restaurateur and, since 2004, a popular radio DJ with his classic rock show Nights with Alice Cooper. In 2011 the original Alice Cooper band was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

(Excerpts from Wikipedia.org)

How Alice was made
Alice's body is made in the MakerDoll Medium Size, from 100% organic, (“natural”) cotton fabric, grown and woven in the USA. His arm joints are secured with vintage black and white buttons and cotton embroidery thread. His clothes are handmade in a MakerDoll original design, from repurposed fabrics. His red leather, striped pants feature a spider and web motif with black striping that conjures up his 2012 London performance. His black shirt features a handpainted red spider and his belts, made from snakeskin and leather, feature metal grommets and a handpainted skull on a leather covered button. He has patent leather boots and his neck and hands are accessorized with a metal chain and black leather strips. Alice’s facial features, which reference a popular photo, are handpainted with professional grade acrylic paints. His hair is made of twisted yarn, hand-sewn onto his head with cotton embroidery thread.

Michael

Michael is a character doll for collectors age 8 and up. He is 22" tall. Michael will be part of an art gallery exhibit scheduled for March 1 - April 30, 2013. He can be purchased during or after the exhibit.

About Michael
If you’re going to do a series of art dolls with Michigan roots, you’ve simply got to make one of Michigan’s greatest iconoclasts. Michael Francis Moore was born in 1954 in Davison (just east of Flint), Michigan. He is an American filmmaker, author, social critic, and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time and winner of the Palme d'Or. His films Bowling for Columbine (2002) and Sicko (2007) also placed in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries, and the former won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature. In September 2008, he released his first free movie on the Internet, Slacker Uprising, which documented his personal quest to encourage more Americans to vote in presidential elections. He has also written and starred in the TV shows TV Nation and The Awful Truth. Moore's written and cinematic works criticize globalization, large corporations, assault weapon ownership, U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, the Iraq War, the American health care system, and capitalism. (Excerpts from Wikipedia.org)

How Michael was made
Michael's body is made in the MakerDoll Medium Size, from 100% organic, (“natural”) cotton fabric, grown and woven in the USA. His arm joints are secured with cotton embroidery thread. His clothes — tshirt, baseball jacket and denims — are handmade in a MakerDoll original design, from repurposed fabrics rescued from my local thrift shop. Michael’s  facial features, which reference a popular photo, are handpainted with professional grade acrylic paints. His hat is made of felt, made in the USA. His hair is made of twisted yarn, hand-sewn onto his head with cotton embroidery thread.

Stevie

Stevie is a character doll for collectors age 8 and up. He is 22" tall. Stevie will be part of an art gallery exhibit scheduled for March 1 - April 30, 2013. He can be purchased during or after the exhibit.

About Stevie 
Stevland Hardaway Morris was born May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan. Known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, we all know him as singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.

Stevie was a child prodigy (thus the name "Wonder"), blind since shortly after birth. He signed with Motown at the age of eleven and continues to perform and record for Motown to present day. He has recorded more than 30 U.S. top ten hits and received 22 Grammy Awards, the most ever awarded to a male solo artist. Wonder is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a holiday in the United States. In 2009, Wonder was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists to celebrate the US singles chart's fiftieth anniversary, with Wonder at number five. (Excerpts from Wikipedia.)

How Stevie was made
Stevie's body is made in the MakerDoll Medium Size, from 100% organic, hand-dyed (“natural”) cotton fabric, grown and woven in the USA. His arm joints are secured with wooden buttons and cotton embroidery thread. His clothes are handmade in a MakerDoll original design, from repurposed, hand-beaded cotton fabric. He wears repurposed shades and his shoes are fashioned from black felt. Stevie's facial features are handpainted with professional grade acrylic paints. His hair is made of twisted yarn, hand-sewn onto his head with cotton embroidery thread.

Katarina

Katarina is a character doll who stands 22" tall. She is owned by her namesake, but if you'd like your own personal character doll, visit StudioBeoGlas.Etsy.com.

Katarina is spunky and bright. She's also an athlete -- specifically, a practicing gymnast.

She's dressed here in her favorite electric blue shirt with a silver heart necklace and gym suit.

Her hair is twisted cotton/poly yarn, her shoes are black felt, and all her clothes are handmade, original designs with special appliques to match her personal preferences. (Which, of course, are in perfect taste!)

Her face is needle sculpted with all cotton embroidery thread, and painted with professional grade acrylic paints.

Taylor

Taylor stands 22" tall. He is owned by his namesake, but if you'd like your own personal character doll, visit StudioBeoGlas.Etsy.com.

Taylor has serious interests in both music and sports -- an unusual combination.  He easily engages you in conversation and for just a moment you think, this young man is going somewhere...and wherever he wants to go.

So he should be characterized at this moment in time...in the form of an art doll. This is Taylor: Musician, athlete.

His body is made of 100% organic natural cotton, grown and woven in the USA. His hair is made of twisted cotton yarn sewn onto his head, and his face is painted with professional grade acrylic paints. His baseball cap is made from black felt and recycled cotton fabric. It has a handmade FOX racing logo. His drum sticks are fashioned from bamboo crochet needles that have been modified to scale. His grey cotton shirt and jeans are from recycled clothing, and the Aeropostale applique is from a recycled baseball cap. His special red headphones are fashioned from a modified child's roller skate, red felt, and black electrical wire.

Where will Taylor be ten years from now? Something tells me we will all know.

Esther Meets Esther

Esther is a character doll for ages 8 and up. She stands 22" tall. She is owned by her namesake, but if you'd like to order your own character doll, please visit StudioBeoGlas.Etsy.com and make your special request.

About Esther
A friend of mine recently asked me to make a doll based on a colleague in dentistry education. Her colleague, Dr. Esther M. Wilkins, is now in her mid-90s, and has an amazing history. A pioneer in the field of dentistry, Dr. Wilkins devoted her career to the practice and education of dental medicine. In various stages of her long career, she was founding director of the Dental Hygiene Program at the University of Washington, School of Dentistry in Seattle and Clinical Professor at Tufts in the Department of Periodontology. She also conducted continuing education courses for dental hygienists in every state in the United States and many countries around the world. She is known for writing the widely used textbook “Clinical Practice of the Dental Hygienist,” which has been translated into several languages and is used in dental hygiene schools worldwide.

To help her celebrate, I made the doll with familiar features: Her love of purple, her monogrammed lab coat, her purple framed glasses, and of course, her famous textbook. My friend recently emailed a couple of pictures of Dr. Wilkins as she opened the gift. 

How Esther was made
Esther's body is made from 100% organic, natural cotton fabric grown and made in the USA. She wears purple pants and a lavender turtleneck under her cotton, monogrammed lab coat. She has purple wire frame glasses and sturdy black shoes made from felt fabric. The little textbook is a miniature blank book, which many of her former colleagues signed for her special birthday.

Edward Scissorhands, move over: It's Mortuus Muerte

Mortuus Muerte stands 15" tall. He is a character doll who is owned by Elijah, but if you'd like to have your own, please visit StudioBeoGlas.Etsy.com and make your request.

About Mortuus
OK, well, I'm no Tim Burton, but I have to admit I am having WAY too much fun making these un-dead dolls. Good thing I'm giving them away or I would be afraid to enter my studio, especially at night when these babies wake up and wander.

Mortuus Muerte is Malle's brother, and he is going to be adopted by a very special little boy named Elijah. Mortuus and Malle will be very happy in their new home, where they will terrorize not only the still-living humans, but most likely the dog as well.

Mortuus was made from 100% organic cotton fabric, grown and woven in the USA. His clothing is torn and dirty, since he just emerged from the grave. His arms are attached with vintage grey buttons and his eyes and body tattoo are reminiscent of Zombie Boy Rick Genest's tattoos. I added vintage metal buttons to give him that vacant zombie stare. He features a silver chain bracelet wrapped around his left upper arm, and a couple of nasty looking stitching jobs on arm wounds. His hair is made of twisted yarn, sewn onto his head. Funny, while I was stitching the yarn to his head he kept saying, "mmm, that feels so good." That's a zombie for you.

Malle Muerte

Malle Muerte is a zombie character doll who stands 15" tall. She is owned by Charlie, but if you'd like your own Muerte doll, please visit StudioBeoGlas.Etsy.com.

About Malle
When your grand niece has a passion for the un-dead, a zombie doll for Christmas is what you make! After doing a little research, I decided not to go with a full-fledged "Shawn of the Dead" figure, but rather something that more closely conjures up Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas". I have to get this one in the mail so I can't fool around with it more, otherwise I'd probably go after it with some red paint and a shredder to see what happens. I'm going to make a boy zombie doll for her brother today, and since boys are usually much more icky than girls (i.e., tolerant of blood, guts and dirt), I can probably do some down and dirty fun stuff with him. :)

Malle is made from 100% organic cotton fabric, grown and woven in the USA. Her eyes are rescued buttons from an old rain coat, and her arm joints are secured with vintage buttons from my dad's collection (he was in Asia during WWII and collected them while there). Her face is painted with professional grade acrylic paints. She wears a little silver chain on her left arm, which also has a long gash with stitching. Her black and purple lace dress is from a recycled blouse. The pictures don't show it, but she wears a pair of black lace boy shorts underneath the dress. A pair of black lace ribbons set off her little pasty white ankles.

Stay tuned for the boy zombie. In the meantime, enjoy Malle!! (Pronounced "Mah-lay").

Coming to get you

Aretha: Queen of Soul

Aretha is a character doll for collectors age 8 and up. She is 22" tall. Aretha will be part of an art gallery exhibit scheduled for March 1 - April 30, 2013. She can be purchased during or after the exhibit.

About Aretha

Aretha Louise Franklin was born on March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Baptist preacher Reverend Clarence La Vaughan "C.L." Franklin, and Barbara Siggers Franklin, a gospel singer. While still a young child, Aretha moved with her family to Detroit, Michigan, where C.L. became renowned as the preacher at Detroit's New Bethel Baptist Chuch. Largely self-taught, Aretha was regarded as a child prodigy. A gifted pianist with a powerful voice, Franklin sang in front of her father's Detroit congregation. By the age of 14, she recorded some of her earliest tracks at the church. Since then, her recording career has spanned over half a century, with a repertoire that has included gospel, jazz, blues, R&B, pop, rock and funk. Aretha is known as one of the most important popularizers of the soul music genre and is known as the Queen of Soul. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" list, as well as the ninth greatest artist of all time. She has won a total of 20 career Grammy Awards, including two honorary Grammys, and she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. In 1987, Franklin became the first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Exerpts from Wikipedia.)

Aretha, live

How Aretha was made

Aretha's body is made in the MakerDoll Medium Size, from 100% organic, hand-dyed (“natural”) cotton fabric, grown and woven in the USA. Her arm joints are secured with vintage rhinestone buttons and cotton embroidery thread. Her clothes are handmade in a MakerDoll original gown design, from repurposed silver-flocked red stretch fabric. She also has a faux fur stole with a rhinestone-studded star-shaped pin. Her shoes are red velvet with tiny roses on the toes, cut in reference to the shoes Aretha loves to wear while performing. Aretha's facial features are handpainted with professional grade acrylic paints. Her hair is made of flocked yarn, hand-sewn onto her head with cotton thread.

Bozo (really)

Bozo is a character doll for collectors age 8 and up. He is 22" tall. Bozo was purchased on January 6, 2013.

Bob Bell (aka Bozo the Clown) was an American actor whose creativity and talent brought laughter to audiences of millions over the course of his career. Bell was born in 1922 in Flint, Michigan to a General Motors factory worker. After enlisting and serving during World War II, Bell went to work in the television industry. In 1960, he was asked to portray Bozo on a live, 30-minute show weekdays at noon, consisting of one-man sketches and cartoons. “Bozo’s Circus” debuted on June 20, 1960. In 1970, he received his first Emmy for the show. Bob retired from WGN-TV and The Bozo Show in 1984, and was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1996. Following his death, he received many posthumous honors for his Bozo character. He has also been cited as the influence for the voice of The Simpsons character Krusty the Clown.

Bob Bell, ca. 1960s, in his dressing room

How Bozo was made

Bozo’s body is made in the MakerDoll Medium Size, from 100% organic, undyed (“natural”) cotton fabric, grown and woven in the USA. His arm joints are secured with vintage gold tone square buttons and cotton embroidery thread. His clothes were carefully researched, and are handmade in a MakerDoll original 1950s-era Bozo design. They are made from repurposed cornflower blue cotton fabric, with white cotton gloves, and a white satin and tulle ruffle collar. His shirt features vintage red silk covered buttons. His oversized, stuffed shoes are black felt, cut in reference to the shoes he wore while filming his popular TV show, Bozo the Clown. His facial features are handpainted with professional grade acrylic paints. Underneath his outfit, you’ll find a red heart button attached to his chest. His hair is made of red wool yarn and hand-sewn onto his head with cotton thread.