Express Yourself!!

"Body Parts" for our doll

I am back at work at Campbell Folk School after spending last weekend with my family. I have connected with some of my high school classmates and this week I’m having dinner with a group of women who were my closest friends in school. It’s hard to believe that it has been nearly 45 years since we graduated!

I am doing a very fun class this week at Campbell. It is a class in making dolls. In particular we are learning to make a doll from fabric. Today we began putting the “body parts” together and sculpting the face. I am in the class with women who have been “building dolls” for years and I love working and learning with these women who are from a variety of backgrounds. Though made from the same pattern, our dolls will no doubt express the personality of each “creator.” (This is sound theology as well!)

Our teacher is Leslie Molin, who is from Denver, Colorado. You can see some of her beautiful work at www.rootie.com She makes artistic dolls for people who collect dolls as well as teaching all over the U.S. and abroad. I love watching her hands as she works on the dolls, demonstrating for us the next step in our creative process. She is untiringly upbeat and positive. When someone makes a slip, or takes a snip in the wrong place she says, “Don’t worry, I’ll show you how to fix that!”

The meals at Campbell are stimulating events. We eat family style at tables with 6-8 persons. It is an opportunity to sit with people from different parts of the country who are taking courses in blacksmithing, or wood turning, glass bead making, basketry, cooking, and so many other interesting artistic disciplines. Many of them are professional artists who come here to teach or hone skills or develop new skills. We all come in from our hike in the cold to the dining hall where warmth, chatter and good food prevail. The conversations range over any number of topics and there is much stimulation of the mind as well as food for the body. The food is wonderful. Great Applachian Mountain fare like "sawmill gravy and biscuits!" I've decided this week to skip lunch and have an apple so I can eat with less guilt at dinner!