Friday 8 November 2019

BJD Journey – Let it Begin

© Melissa Gaggiano

In my twenties I had this idea, of wanting to make modern china dolls. I hardly knew where to begin, and the internet as an educational platform was an infant. I didn't even know about blogs back then. So my notion of making a sculpted doll was nothing more than a pipe dream.

Two decades on, the internet has grown into a platform for learning, making it easier for introverts to study and practice skills that might otherwise never be realised. 

For the past ten years I have been drawing up and making cloth dolls. I would also sketch ideas for BJDs (ball jointed dolls). And although I took strides in learning to make articulated cloth dolls, I hesitated at the precipice of clay sculpted dolls. Until now. 

My kids will cheer me on: You do your best to encourage kids to try stuff and not give up. Then one day, when you're at your lowest, there they are spurting back to you all the encouraging things you've been teaching them. Not long ago one of my kids said to me, 'You've been talking about wanting to make a BJD for years. So just 'do it'!

So here I am, beginning a new, slow journey up a whole new mountain of doll making. What will I find at the top, I wonder.

© Melissa Gaggiano