Dear Yogis,
The school holidays will soon be finished and life can get back to the usual routine. It doesn’t make any difference to me, except in school holidays I have more time to do my own thing – which at the moment is making dolls, and soon (of course) I will hold classes. Remember the long lost wisdom of making things with our hands – a skill that our ancestors innately knew. You will be able to join us for an evening of doll making – as I take you take you through the steps of making your own magic doll. Come andd see the dolls I make at our open day, and decide what kind of doll you will make. You can discuss times and dates with me then.
Magics Dolls have also been known throughout history as Medicine, Spirit or Healing Dolls. Our sculptural works are created with natural and recycled materials.
I stopped making dolls when I lost everything in the Ash Wednesdays fires. I stopped a lot of artistic things then because it was as if all the creativity just left me, and I haven’t really been able to get it back. Somehow, now I am just full to bursting with doll making ideas, just like before the fires. It has long been believed that creator of the doll is able to weave a wish for oneself or the recipient, into the creation.
I have always loved rag dolls. When I was a child I had a china doll. She lived on top of the wardrobe, but I never felt it was really mine because I had to ask to play with her. She was too precious to play with. Maybe she was passed to my sister, who knows. My favourite doll was a simple rag doll. There were a number of them. They were not expensive, made out of fabric scraps. When I was growing up there was always patchwork and doll making happening because there were always scrap fabrics to be used.
With my children I kept up the tradition although I was not a patchwork person, but I did make block squares blankets and quilts, and i particularly remember a black doll my son had. He used to take it to school with the anticipated result. It was always being taken and buried or hidden by the other boys, so I was always on rescue missions both to find the doll and clean/repair it.
I still love working with well worn textiles that tell a story. Antique fabrics, even old fabrics from friends, doilies, simple linen scraps, threadbare wool. I love them all. This week I repatriated a pair of large 100% cream linen “safari” shorts the size of a small tent, from the op shop. These are perfect for doll clothes and rescues them from landfill perhaps.
My first sewing machine practice happened on a Singer hand operated machine, and then to the sophistication of a treadle (I am looking for one if you have one in the garage) which I learned to use at the Singer Children’s Sewing classes at their shop downstairs on the corner of Swanston and Latrobe Street in Melbourne, and when I first started making dolls on my own I was given wool sweaters and socks that had been badly laundered, and fabric scraps not suitable for my mothers patchwork. I even made clothes for them.
I have a deep commitment to wherever these dolls will take me. It is not only me who is craving this kind of connection with a doll, but I am creating a modern heirloom that everyone, not only children can hold, love and pass on. You can do this too at our up-coming doll making classes. It is not about complications, it is about simplicity and heart. The Spirit of the doll you will be working with. The “dolls for children” (some are for adults) have the look and feel of a toy that is not the usual mass manufactured item. A doll that is a bit more sophisticated and has personality – a GENTLE SOUL that is not trying to teach or tell, just there to give the child comfort.
CURRENT STUDIO/ZOOM SCHEDULE: (Studio Yoga – Mondays at 1pm are Full) (PLEASE BOOK AHEAD – NO YOGA STUDIO DROP-INS, sorry)
ZOOM: Mon. 6.30 FREE OF CHARGE Teacher Training, Tues. Herb workshop 7.30 ($50 per month – part of the Bach Therapist Course only).
STUDIO YOGA:Mon. 1pm (full) 2.15pm, Wed. 1pm Restorative(vacancy for July only), 2.15pm Friday 2.15 Restorative.
Fridays only – If you book you can join us at 3pm for a short meditation session on Fridays only. Because it is the end of the class and I need to plan, you will need to book.
CONSULTATIONS: Zoom Tarot/Bach/QHHT HYPNOTHERAPY (a very powerful form of hypnotherapy), Bowen or a combo – by appointment only. $85 To discuss or book, email yogafirst2@bigpond.com
MONTHLY LUNCHEON: Thursday 28th July at 12noon at “The Vic” in Woodend (If you are running a bit late, relax, it’s OK – drop in for dessert. We have the meeting room, so it is separate and quieter). Please let me know if you can join us. We will post an invite closer to the day. RSVP PLEASE
WEEKLY MEETINGS: We have free Teacher Training zoomed on Mondays 6.30pm, and we began our yoga teacher asana class/meeting in the studio WHICH WE HAVE ORGANISED FOR EVERY SECOND SUNDAY BETWEEN 2 and 3pm. NEXT STUDIO TEACHER TRAINING CLASS Sunday 31st July at 2pm.
DOLL MAKING CLASS – TIMES TO BE CONFIRMED.
OPEN STUDIO. Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th July, 2pm to 4pm BOTH DAYS. I have been looking forward to this right through Covid zooms.
Please pop in between 2 and 4pm on Saturday or Sunday and see (purchase) paintings, my dolls and other goodies – herbs, smoking herbs, vintage items and fabulous pendulums. You can even have a PENDULUM lesson in using the one you purchase. Of course there will be champers and Christmas nibbles. It is after all July and we can have a CHRISTMAS IN JULY. . You can even come and discuss a tarot booking, But especially look at my dolls.
I WILL SEE YOU ON THE MAT (or zoom).
NAMASTE – JAHNE