Tally Oliveau - Mixed-Media Dollhouses: Techniques and Ideas for Doll-size Assemblages

techniques and ideas for doll-size assemblages

Tally Oliveau and Julie Molina

Artist: Julie Molina

THE IDEA FOR OUR DOLLHOUSES project was born on a beautiful spring afternoon at the Gypsy Caf in Southern California. Julie and I were reminiscing about the dollhouses wed had as little girls. We recalled the miniature furniture wed created or saved up to buy at the local dollhouse shop. We described the wallpaper we hung, the beds we made, the windows we embellished, the dolls we sewed dresses for. It was sad that our beloved houses were long gone. How could we have tossed them aside so easily? Oh yeah. We were teenagers.

Within the span of that short lunch hour, though, we went from reminiscing to planning. Who was to say we couldnt create our own dollhouses today? Not only could we create them, we could incorporate our artistic selves and even our artistic friends in an altered art assemblage project that had never been done before.

And so the Mixed-Media Dollhouses project was born. The artists in this project created seven houses, each with a different theme: the Tree House, the Under the Sea House, the Gothic House, the Wonderland House, the Circus House, the Castle, and the Hotel Penthouse. Each artist created a different room in each house. Although the houses all include some standard rooms, such as bedrooms, kitchens, dining rooms, and living rooms, each house also incorporates at least two artistic-license rooms. These roomsthe Moon Room in the Gothic House, the Pondering Room in the Tree House, and the Aviary in the Castle, for exampleturned out to be a lot of fun to create. The pices de rsistance of each house, however, were the attics. These were designed to be exceptionally large, to house each artists fantastical imagining of what was happening there, in keeping with the theme of the house.

If youve picked up this book, you probably have an interest in assemblage art and might even have thought about building your own dollhouse. In the following pages, youll find plenty of tips and techniques for creating your own assemblage pieces, whether or not they are dollhouses. Youll also find plenty of inspiration in the dollhouses created by the talented artists who participated in our collaborative project. We hope this book will open your heart and mind to the very expressive art of assemblage, in which collage, dollmaking, sewing, paper arts, wire wrapping, and more combine to create a three-dimensional piece of art.

Tally Oliveau

We chose the dollhouse concept to bring our assemblages to life because dollhouses were close to our hearts, but we wanted to execute the houses with adult ideas and skill. To initiate a larger collaborative project, we asked our many wonderful and talented artist friends to join the fun. Each artist was handpicked for her assemblage experienceor inexperience! We wanted our project to include artists with different levels of skill and with varying styles and sensibilitieseach had something unique to contribute and we wanted each artists muse to guide her through the project using her own point of view. Although each artists voice shines in her own individual room, the collection came together beautifully in an eclectic but cohesive unit. Our only requirement was that each room be constructed from an altered cigar box.

Because our participating artists were located all over the United States, we assembled an online Yahoo group for the project. The online group allowed everyone to communicate easily; it also provided a forum, so that everyone could be heard and communications didnt need to be repeated and forwarded. Throughout the project, we tracked our progress on the Yahoo group through messages and photos. As a group, we brainstormed and voted on the themes and types of rooms for the houses. Seven themes won the vote: gothic, under the sea, castle, tree house, hotel, circus, and wonderland. The most cerebralthe wonderland themewas designed to be a combination of a psychedelia, Alice in Wonderland, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Once the house themes were in place, we organized an electronic signup sheet for the rooms, each artist choosing one room in each house from the following list: attic, bedroom (2), living room, kitchen or dining room, and two artistic-interpretation rooms. To keep the process fair, we opened up all the rooms in all the houses at the same time. This worked well: most of us got our first choice, because that was the room we signed up for first.

Artist: Debrina Pratt

Next, we planned the basic house configurations, so that each artist knew where her rooms were located. Where were the outside walls? Was the room on an upper floor or at the bottom? This helped the artists plan their window and door cutouts and the exterior embellishments. The shapes of the houses were also important. We wanted the Tree House to be tall and straight, like a tree. The Castle was to be wide, with a multilevel rooftop, similar to a real castle. Each house had its own unique silhouette.

Every month, each artist completed one room within the theme of her choice. As the rooms were completed, their work was posted on our Yahoo group site and then mailed to Julie, who acted as our centralized collection point. Roughly nine months later, our project was essentially complete. It was then that we were able to meet and put all the rooms together into a cohesive house. It was exciting to see everyones work come together!

No doubt youve looked at the lovely dollhouses for sale at craft stores and hobby shops but have put off buying one. Building your own dollhouse, even from a kit, can be daunting: all those little piecesand that price tag! Creating the dollhouse of your dreams can be fun, but it can also involve a lot of time, patience, and money. And where will you put your great big dollhouse when its finished?

Prefabricated right down to the furniture, predesigned dollhouses can also be a bit impersonal and, well, boring. As an artist, you want a dollhouse thats more like a work of art and says something about who you area dollhouse that breaks the mold and is completely unique.

Maybe you arent as interested in making a dollhouse as you are in creating assemblage art. Fortunately, the foundation for creating both is the same. This chapter will help you take those first steps toward creating the dollhouse or assemblage piece you want. Youll also find a list of tools and materials needed to decorate and furnish your altered dollhouse.