We’re talking fashions and paper dolls with paper doll artist Brenda Sneathen Mattox. (Click here for Part One of the interview.)

How long now have you been making the paper dolls?

That first convention was in 1988 and I have considered myself a professional paper doll artist ever since. I have been selling my work by mail since 1989 and online since 1996. I have been a contributing editor to OPDAG’s newsletter since 1989 also, which has turned into more of a magazine now; it’s called OPDAG Studio News.

So, is this a full-time gig then?

I have been a full-time artist since 1990 and no, this is not the route you go if you want to make lots of money!

Describe the process of making a paper doll; what do you do?

After in idea comes and I decide to pursue it then there’s the research. I have a fairly extensive library and can usually find what I need, if not there’s the Internet. If I’m doing an actual person I must have good reference for their likeness and clothes they wore if possible.

The doll is done first, of course, sketched on tracing paper and then transferred via lightbox onto the art paper. I find it’s best to complete the doll, either in ink if B & W, or painted if in color, before doing anything with the costumes. Then I rough sketch the clothes on the tracing paper, this is mainly for determining where to place them on the page so there is room for big skirts, etc or for more than one outfit.

I refine the drawing on the finish paper and keep checking the fit on the doll via the lightbox. Believe it or not even after nearly 20 years at this, I’ll still find fit problems after the set is completed and have to go back and fix it.

(For more details, interested folks can visit here.)

About those black & white dolls… I didn’t want to interrupt the art lesson, but why are there black & white dolls?

Before color copiers and home computer printers, B&W paper dolls were the only ones that we could self-publish at reasonable cost and most of we artists started that way. Then there are some doll subjects that just don’t translate that well into color, brides for example as most of the costumes are white or shades thereof. Personally I like doing inkwork, it’s simpler and a change of pace from painting. And there are some collectors who like to color the B&W sets themselves.

As a designer, tell me, what’s the furthest you’ve gone, the hardest you’ve worked, to make that doll?

That’s a good one, I think the best is trying to sketch costumes from a paused video on a TV screen (before DVDs), or working from teeny, tiny grainy B&W photos… I attribute my having to wear glasses now to years of this!

How do you select which women to make as dolls? Do you focus on a particular period for the dolls?

This is a kind of hard to answer. Ideas can come from anywhere, I tend to view just about anything I see on TV or the movies or read about in paper doll possibilities. I don’t limit myself to a particular era, I just want the clothes to interesting to draw and paint. I love lots of detail and I have made myself crazy with it at times! As to selecting a historical figure for a paper doll, it has to be someone I admire — or am intrigued by and they had a varied wardrobe.

How many dolls are there in the collection?

Right now there are about 85 sets available on my website; though if you add in the books I’ve done for Dover Publishing, it comes to a little over 100.

How many are men?

I currently only have two sets that feature men but that will be changing. I used to dislike doing male figures as I could rarely get them to look truly masculine. However in the past couple of years (maybe it’s a mid-life thing) I have really been into the guys and if I do say so myself, they’ve vastly improved. I even created a mer-man paper doll!

Have you retired any paper dolls? And if you do retire dolls, what moves you to retire them?

I used to retire sets after they had been available a year or two or there had been a decided lack of interest. Now they are sent to the Archive on my website where they remain available indefinitely, but I don’t keep much stock and print only as needed. The Archive is exclusive to my site, these paper dolls are available nowhere else.

How many paper dolls do you own — your entire collection, not just those you make.

My collection is pretty modest compared to many. The vintage books fill one printer paper box, the contemporay books another box, and about 14 3-ring binders contain loose page paper dolls such as those by other artists. So it all still fits in the closet with some space to spare! I know people who have had to devote entire rooms to their collections!

That’s the same for all collectors — addictions are addictions, right? Based on your experience, why do people collect paper dolls? What’s this specific addiction all about?

That’s very subjective, but what I’ve observed is that just about everyone begins with “buying back” the sets they remember having as children (myself included).

Then it generally becomes more specialized such as babies or movie stars or even particular artists’ work. The latter is often very difficult with older commercial sets as they were rarely signed. For me I collect primarily other artists’ work and it is the costumes that appeal to me.

Who do you think buys/collects paper dolls more, men or women?

Traditionally women have been the big collectors, but I know of several men with extensive collections. I think more men have been getting interested in recent years though either with their wives or girlfriends or as artists.

One last question, Brenda, but it’s a doozey: What is your favorite doll that you’ve created?

Oh man that one’s really hard! I tend to regard my artwork as my “kids” so I don’t like to play favorites.

But Brenda, you must — I’m going to make you select just one…

I had to pick one from the current crop I’d say The Romantic Hero. *sigh*

Huh. I was expecting you to pick a bride paper doll. Just when I thought I had you all figured out!

**

If you’re thinking of starting a paper doll collection, the OPDAG has a nice beginner’s guide to help you figure it all out.

As for figuring out the paper doll designers themselves, there’s no guide for that yet — you might say it’s hard to keep tabs on ‘em *wink*

All images © Brenda Sneathen Mattox and FancyEphemera.com

It’s only taken years upon years of whining and frothing, but it’s our blessing that nerd voices are shrill and grating. We did it, guys. We got the original Star Wars Trilogy on DVD. Let’s pause for a moment of thankful silence. Follow that up with a raucous moment of cheer. And maybe after that, a moment of Doritos and Fresca, or whatever it is that we keep down here in the basement of our parents’ houses besides fansubbed anime videos and a high-speed internet connection which is mostly used to ‘research’ images of Lucy Lawless.

Getting the original theatrical editions of Star Wars on DVD is a big deal, mostly because George Lucas, mighty overlord of all things Wars, pretty much said ‘up yours, you ain’t gettin’ it’ to the collective of fans. He’d re-edited his films a few years back, added in a few lost scenes, added a mess of new digital effects, and sent them back into theaters, and then again for another DVD release. That’s all well and good. The artist has every right to desecrate and re-realize his own artworks, but why wouldn’t he let us take home the versions of his films that we fell in love with? You don’t give a kid a puppy, take it back, replace its head with a coffeemaker and its legs with fine Omaha steaks and give it back to the kid expecting him to be placated, much less thrilled. Sure, it’s still fundamentally a puppy, but it’s not one you can play frisbee with without shattering its glass, coffee-filled head.

Lucas treated these original films as ‘visually limited’, and his remastered re-releases as what he meant to do in the first place. Another scene with Jabba the Hutt, more big monstery things, more blaster blastiness. However, last week saw the release of these original, unmodified films on DVD, but as nothing more than afterthoughts on the ‘bonus disc’ of a 2-DVD set for each film. The three mini-collections weren’t advertised as ‘the original theatrical cut’, but instead advertised as ‘Star Wars, and oh yeah, that old Star Wars too, but why would you want THAT, you geek?’. It was flippant, and there’s already been complaints that the prints aren’t as clean as they could be, and that the sound isn’t re-mastered and super-hi-fi and that the discs weren’t pressed in an anti-gravity environment on the outer rings of Saturn, but you know what? I’m happy. I can watch Star Wars again. Previously, only VHS and LaserDisc editions of the original films existed.

I don’t need ultra hi-def imagery, and I probably couldn’t tell the difference if I tried. I don’t have supremely acute vision, and honestly, my TV goes all blurry anytime the collected image on the screen has too much yellow or orange in it. I’m not fancy. I don’t wear a monocle to bed or use the phrase ‘m’lady’. I often forget to shave and my shoes have holes in them, and I don’t need my Star Wars to be completely indistinguishable from reality. Reality is challenging enough without probe droids. I have no complaints about these cuts.

I found myself watching A New Hope and being able to name the model number of every droid that was captured in the belly of the Jawas’ Sandcrawler, and every patron of the Mos Eisley Cantina. From Gonk Droid to Dr. Evazan, Momaw Nadon to Garindan, shutting down all of the garbage smashers on the detention level and knowing that the Sandpeople are easily frightened but would return in greater numbers… I could probably watch these endlessly and never get bored. Even if they ARE treated as bonus material in addition to the remastered editions, don’t have fancy packaging and barely any bonus materials. There are other sets for that. It’s presented in desirable widescreen format, and the sound, for you audiophiles, it presented in Dolby 2.0, as opposed to the Dolby 5.1 of the remasters (presented on the first discs, along with creator commentary). There’s about a million behind-the-scenes featurettes on other releases.

Lucasfilm has released these ‘for a limited time’ only, without really specifying an actual time period. There’s no telling how long these will be available, but at about 18 bucks each and presumably epic wait for the next release to occur, I’d snap these up if you have any love for Star Wars in you at all. And if you don’t, I find myself genuinely concerned for your soul. I suggest a trip to the swamps of Dagobah or the forest moon of Endor. Or Best Buy, where they have an exclusive set of all 3 films collected into a collectible tin.

Stained glass windows have been used in churches for hundreds of years and were once a popular feature in homes. Today they are sought by collectors who love the images and the look of light filtered through the jewel like colors of the windows. Fans of antique stained glass windows often use them to add warmth and charm to newer homes. Although antique stained glass windows are delicate, there are experts who specialize in restoring and repairing them.

The method of making stained glass has changed much since its heyday in the medieval age. The glass is made and colored with metallic oxides, then the different colors of glass are held together in a design with lead strips. There are references to stained glass from as early as the 7th century, and by the 12th century stained glass windows were a common feature of churches throughout Europe. There were fewer practitioners of the art as time went on, but during the Victorian era there was a resurgence of interest in stained glass. This Victorian glass is the source of much of the stained glass windows collected today.

Antique stained glass windows can generally be found at antique shops that specialize in architectural salvage. In addition to stained glass windows, these shops also carry home accents like mahogany stair banisters, brass lighting fixtures, glass door knobs and porch columns, to name a few. Most of these beautiful items have been salvaged from crumbling buildings and homes that were knocked down to make way for high rise condos and other newer structures. As the demand for architectural antiques has grown in recent decades, more and more shops focusing on this market have appeared. For those who can’t find a good source for architectural antiques nearby, there are plenty of shops that deal over the internet.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/glas/hd_glas.htm

http://www.stainedglassmuseum.com/

“Keeping TABS on Historical Fashion” is paper dolls maker Brenda Sneathen Mattox. I’d tell you more about her, but she’s so charming (that ‘tabs’ pun, for example), why spoil the fun? So here’s my interview with Brenda…

Introduce yourself, dearie, and tell us everything and anything you want us to know about Brenda Sneathen Mattox.

I’m a life-long artist who always loved fancy “old-fashioned” clothes, well, old-fashioned anything. I’ve come to believe I was born in the wrong century; I should have been born 100 years earlier.

I studied fashion illustration at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, graduating in 1982. Not much work in that field anymore, but through a happy accident paper dolls turned out to be the perfect niche for me. I live just outside Indianapolis in an 1891 Victorian house, with my husband, 3 cats and lots of Victorian stuff.

I know you are a fashion collector. Is there a period or style you focus on?

Victorian has always been big for me and that probably makes up half my collection, though I have pieces that range from the 1820s through the 1960s. When I was thinner I liked to wear vintage and was particularly fond of 30s and 40s suits & dresses.

When did you begin collecting vintage fashions?

I bought my very first vintage item, an ostrich feather fan, when I was 16 years old (and I still have it). I began collecting in earnest in 1983 after discovering a wonderful vintage clothing shop in Indianapolis called The Red Rose and attending my first vintage clothing show.

Along with the garments themselves what else do you collect?

Oh Lord, this may take a while! I wanted to mention before leaving the garments that I have special fondness for bridal gowns and accessories. I currently have about 20 gowns dating between 1850 and 1950 plus shoes, headpieces, veils, etc. I also collect antique fashion prints (again with a focus on brides), books on period fashion, and antique wedding photos. Add to that just about anything with lily of the valley on it (my birthflower), Cinderella stuff (my childhood obsession), and, of course, paper dolls.

I’m under the assumption that you collected fashions and then began making the paper dolls… Please tell the story of how you moved from a collector of fashions to creating paper dolls.

You are entirely correct, vintage fashion led me directly to paper dolls. I was subscribing to The Vintage Clothing Newsletter (published in the 80s by Terry McCormick) and in one issue I noticed a little ad by Sylvia Kleindinst for something called The Original Paper Doll Artists’ Guild (OPDAG) and was intrigued. I had loved paper dolls as a child and had drawn my share of them, but never imagined that there were adult artists still creating them.

Receiving my first issue of OPDAG’s newsletter opened up a whole new opportunity to me and once I attended my my first paper doll convention (something else I had no clue was being done), I knew I’d found where I belonged and the direction my art career should go.

Wow, you sure remember the details of that moment!

Of course! I can honestly say that joining the Guild changed the direction of my art career for the better. At last I could draw old clothes to my heart’s content and share my work with people who were truly interested in it. I might add a little preamble here: a fellow vintage collector had suggested to me doing a vintage clothing paper doll a couple of years earlier, which I did, but since I had no way to promote it, the art ended up stuck behind a door until OPDAG came along.

So, it was a life changing moment, that little ad… The birth of an artist! It seems like this would be a great time to hit ‘pause’ and take a break… Brenda and I will see you soon, in part two of her interview. (Oh, and you may want to bring your art supplies along next time because Brenda will be giving us some design tips!)

All images © FancyEphemera.com

So, you take a toy, you mutilate it, and hopefully, something great comes out of it. This is how a small group of artisans are making a portion of their income - modifying and collaging existing toy shapes into better, crazier toys that could never be manufactured with such grace and detail. It’s the surrealist love of id and an appreciation for the innocence of toys, often subverted into more adult-themed works, that drives this on.

If you watch the fringes of the art world carefully, you’ll see many gallery shows cropping up which focus on toy design and modification. While some of them are populated only by well known, established artists, other shows happily accept creative submissions from the public. Many home collectors have been tinkering with their extra toys and looking for a place to show them off beyond ill-populated internet forums. It’s this kind of accessibility that’s causing this art movement to spread.

At the recent Paint Ball, organized by KidRobot, alternative creators from all over were invited to create custom works out of FatCaps and Dunnys, two mainstay forms of the custom toy scene. The results were wildly diverse, and involved such personalities as Jackson Publick, creator of The Venture Bros. cartoon, and artists representing Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. The objects were then made available to the world via eBay, and all proceeds from the show were subsequently given to charity. This art movement is also very socially conscious, as one can see through this set of highly generous auctions and by exploring the ongoing Gimme Shelter exhibit.

Florida’s Uberbot is one of the many locations that are combining neat pop culture shopping with a gallery experience, and recently hosted a show of customized Munny figures which you can check out in their online gallery. Despite this spirit of rampant creativity and independence, American corporations are beginning to take notice. Asian corporations have embraced and supported these arts for a much longer period of time, where the toy culture is more respected and not relegated to children.

American Greetings recently sponsored ‘The Grumpy Freak Show’, which featured customized Care Bear forms. AG was unafraid of the horrible things that might happen to their bears, which would begin as the epitome of love and caring and very likely end up representing the opposite. Some great things came out of the show because of this freedom, and again, the proceeds went to charity.

Keep an eye out for The Bomb Project, which focuses on BUD customs (including one of my own), and We’re All Mad Here, which is an exploration of the Cheshire Cat (sponsored by Disney themselves). And don’t be afraid to make a mutant toy of your own.