the doll

All right. So a while back I got this ….. idea.

A friend who lives on the East coast was sick. I was praying for her, but wanted a way to express solidarity with her, so to speak, a tangible way to be with her even if I couldn’t be WITH her, something other than flowers or a card. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

So …. I came up with this Prayer Doll below.

First, I found myself a paper doll template that I liked. This one is chubby and goofy and wonky; it just appealed to me, somehow. Then, I found an old photo of me (it’s actually my very first school picture, kindergarten), photocopied it in black and white, hand-colored it, and then – oh, THEN — I made her THIS ridiculous get-up. It was last Christmas and my friend is Irish, hence, the red-and-green-plaid theme.

Oh, I spent countless hours putting this together! I can’t even remember how many times I got to cut off my own photocopied head and redo it! It was like a mad frenzy of creative self-loathing! Strangely thrilling!! I would sit there, picture of me in hand, muttering to myself in my mania, Oh, yeah, yeah? Well, you’re …. and …. and ….! So there! Take that! And then, SNNIPPP! It sounds bizarre, I suppose, but it was rather cathartic, as I was unemployed and had pneumonia and drowning in the self-pitying melancholy of it all. I’m still melancholy, but now glamorously underemployed. And also, clearly over the whole self-pitying thing.

Anyway, my “top” is made of painted, embossed paper. My “skirt” is made from petals pulled from some velvety, artificial flowers that I use on presents for that extra touch of priss. There’s also some wired plaid ribbon, some raffia, and tiny green and gold seed beads on my “belt.”

Hahaha! I’m completely INSANE!!

Finally, though, on the back of the doll, I printed a prayer for my friend, something that I wanted her to know I was praying for her.

Anyway, for those of you curious what I look like — here I am — 5 years old!! Sadly, grown-up, flesh-and-blood Tracey doesn’t have ANY clothes made of petals. I’ll have to get me some. And my feet are rather dainty, not stumps. And my hands are rather delicate, not stubs.

(But that IS my white, white hand holding little paper Tracey’s white white hand. And that’s our brand new sofa. And these shots are cropped verry tight so that you can’t see all the paint color test patches on our wall! And the face … well, that’s how it copied. Fuzzy-ish. I liked it. It’s avant garde, people!)

I had so much fun making this for my friend that I made a PIPER paper doll for my niece, complete with about 5 utterly unreasonable, princessy outfits. I’ll have to post those soon!

Check out the stumpy feet I tried to outfit with petite toe shoes!

Oh, and the jaunty beret? It’s covering a dreadful white headband my mom insisted I wear! I should post the original! I WILL!

My Lord. Hahahaha!!!!