Into the Forest for Foraging - An exhibition of Dolls at Benjamin Pollocks!

At the end of last year wonderful Louise at Benjamin Pollocks in Covent Garden gave us dates for when myself and another fabulous doll maker could exhibit our work. Pollocks have been stocking my kits for a while now and I was excited to create one off characters for the show. Although with the dates of the exhibition looming upon us very quickly I was nervous too! I had such imposter thoughts it really was unreal! I am calling them imposter thoughts now rather than syndrome as this helps me know that they will pass.

Golden Wings had been a muse fluttering around in my head for a while and I wanted to make her real and bring her world to life. All of these dolls are made from buried fabrics.

During the pandemic I spent a lot of time sitting in a particular tree journaling, thinking, breathing in her soul. I named the tree Verity, meaning truth... she is Very-tree. It became my place of sanctuary through some tricky times. I still spend a lot of time supported by her branches. I wanted to somehow make in a way that incorporated her and the earth she grows from. This is why I bury my fabrics beneath her. Every doll is born from her earth. She softens and paints the fabrics with the earth and adds to the fabrics in a way that feels so comforting to me.

This is Golden Wings, the maker, the stitcher. She sews up the seams of your dreams while you sleep, mends the holes and unpicks the worries.

She has a friend, Cat-erpillar, always by her side with a pointy ear to direct.

Alongside I created a cluster of Mushroom Girls...

Remy.. apparently Remy means the oarsman, the rower that goes where the current takes them, a free spirit going with the flow. The name is also a variant of Remedy... she is the healer and will bring her remedies to you in her upturned mushroom boat!

Mia is apparently translated to the halo of the moon and also shelter in the Noongar (Australian Aboriginal) language. She will provide the light and protection at night. She also has quite a penchant for cats, moon cats in particular. I really enjoyed the details on these characters, making tiny feet, shapely knees, and embroidering their hats with cats, rabbits and florals.

Speaking of the moon, look who popped in! Moon Girl arrived with rabbits bouncing around her head. Rabbits are connected to the moon in many folktales. Rabbits working hard, making magical immortality soup.

I hadn't planned on making a snail and then she just appeared! Inspired by the challenge of making her shell and ideas around slowing down. Her shell looks so simple but those curves were not as simple as you may imagine! Her name is Molly (the mollusc), she's the postie of the forest, making sure that everyone stays connected.

This is Sadie above, Sadie means princess. She is the light footed Princess of the forest, spreading edibles for the foragers and kissing all the frogs, she's not looking for a Prince Charming, she just likes frogs.

Anita Amanita was the first mushroom girl I made. She is so simple compared to the others but I love how the watercoloury marks on the fabric really come through because of this. She feels the most special to me even though she's the smallest and the simplest looking.

They stand alongside Miss Kina's beautiful dolls (pic below) at Benjamin Pollocks, do pop along to see them in the flesh if you can! It's lovely to see them all together.

They are on sale via Pollocks and you can email Pollocks if you'd like to know more about adoption - info@pollocks-coventgarden.co.uk

The exhibition is on until the 26th of March!