Gwyn

June 17th 2010

Here is a closeup of Gwyn sitting next to my artbox and paintbrushes. I think she is trying to suggest that I need to resume painting and drawing.

Gwyneth

June 17th 2010

Gwyneth is one of my favorite gnome girls. Today she sits contemplatively at the feet of a tall porcelain doll, a reproduction Jumeau elegantly dressed in gold silks and laces. Gwyneth is happy in her more humble garb, her hat ornamented with fishnet, a crab claw, shells, and a bouquet of sea wrack in her hands.

Dollmaker Movie

March 18th 2010

On December 25, 2009, New England Cable News aired this conversation between Amy Sinclair and Christine about her dollmaking and other arts.

The Workshop

February 1st 2010

the workshop

this page is still building, but here are a few hints of what the workshop looks like.

Christine Rugullies uses so many things to bring her dolls to life……Leathers, feathers, and furs… Old sweaters, woolens, muslin, designer cottons and homespuns, batiks, vintage fabrics, old laces…Fleece, mohair, baby camel hair, silk and flax roving for wigs….Silks, (“especially the silks brought by my friend who travels to India”) ….Ribbons, brocades, netting and tulle, beading, tapestry…Gem stones….Bells, buttons and birds…Hand-spun yarns (“I’m spinning a Jacob fleece at the moment”)…Dried and silk florals, pods and cones, mosses and shells, lichens and vines…..Shells, seaweeds, and fishnets…..

Welcome to Christine’s Dolls

January 3rd 2010

Christine’s Dolls are individually created in a sunny home studio, where antique trunks and bins overflow with natural-fiber fabrics and fleeces. An idea for a doll springs from a line in a poem or from a happy mix of materials or from a segment of history. The heads begin as a ball of hosiery stuffed with fiberfill, later needle-sculpted into shape. Fleeces from sheep or angora goats provide the wigs and beards. A bit of old brocade or lace or beading takes its place as the focal point of an exotic costume. Scraps of leather become tiny boots or slippers. Pods, cones, stones, dried flowers, shells, feathers and pieces of driftwood find their places in a pouch or bouquet or hat decor. The finished dolls keep watch from the bookshelf or fireside or sit amongst house plants. Some rest safely out of reach, rocking gently in their own tiny hammocks.