Mini-Me Marionette
So, I was envious of my girls going to college, and decided I would take some classes for myself (they shouldn’t have all the fun!!!!)!
I signed up for Montgomery College classes in Doll Making and Introduction to Jewlery Making (this class very humbling and reinforced the need for stronger readers!!!) this past spring. Meeting every Friday morning from February 6 to April 24, 2026, I worked with a talented group of women at the Takoma Park Montgomery College classroom. The class drew on a lot of skills: sculpting in paper clay, beading, painting, hand and machine sewing as well as engineering the structure to thread the connecting chain (representing the ties to my twins) through in my yin/yang gut through my heart and the hinging for the appendages. Huge shout out to my doll-making guru and Montgomery College teacher, the talented Wendy Daniels (astraarts@comcast.net)! From initial sketches, to getting body proportions laid out with card board tubes and aluminum foil, and shoulders and neck from an Ajax bottle, it was fun to use a variety of materials. Also, I could not have done this without the emotional, yarn, and sewing support from the super crafty Beth Clawson (she handspun the majority of yarn for the wig cap... and pieces of hair that fell out during the process were used to create the mask’s tassel held in the marionette’s hand). My talented daughters also helped; Freya sculpted the face and Mila did my ears! It was a huge undertaking and thrilled that it now hangs in my living room.
