I was thrilled to have my dolls accepted into the Petaluma Gallery Art Doll Show last summer. Petaluma is south of Santa Rosa, and has become in recent years a center of artistic activity. The Petaluma Gallery is inside an old train station, which has been rennovated into a very modern and appealing space. It has lovely paint colors and an impressive front atrium which unfortunately I took no photos of.....
Inside are two large rooms, one with tall dividers. On the dividers or baffles alone, more than a hundred dolls were displayed. There were many more hanging or wall dolls on display than seated or standing dolls in that room. The doll category included "figure" because many dolls were not poseable. I thought some of the best sculpting was by a ceramicist (in the foreground).
It was thrilling to see my dolls displayed so near the entrance. The show had an audio tour, and some video kiosks set up. I guess there were maybe 300 dolls and 60 dollmakers represented. Many were big-names and familiar to me, including Toby Froud, so this was actually a big boost to me, to see my work alongside theirs.
They also had a silent auction where you could buy work by artists such as Anke Daanen and many other talented artists from all over the globe.
The theme of the show was "Journeys Through Light and Dark." The dolls ran the spectrum and all kinds of dollmaking using many kinds of media were represented. All the dolls depicted an artist's individual vision.
I didn't offer my dolls for sale, only display. I am very thankful to the curators of the Petaluma Gallery Doll Show for giving me this opportunity. I am really glad I could go with some family members to the show, including my Mother.
