Thursday, October 18, 2007

The Month of the Dead, October




This month I created a doll in honor of my friend Mari who committed suicide several years ago.


She was creative and funny, with a wicked New York City sense of deliciously sarcastic humor, an astounding skill for astrology powered by an affinity for channeling and a deep spiritual connection that might seem impossible to reconcile in someone other than Mari.

She was of Italian descent and whenever we were out together, I was amazed by the spell she cast over men and women alike. She was so tall! So solidly confident! I was furious with her for taking her life, mad because there were things I wanted to tell her, things we shared and laughter that danced around us when we talked about even the most grim of things! She loved to play solitaire on the computer and had once owned a bookstore. She lived in Taos and had a dress shop in the corner of the square that was full of sheer fabric and silk thingy-dos. Her favorite color was beige, she smoked and her fast little red car was always saturated in Benson & Hedges residue and littered with potato chip bags. She did sweet things to surprise you but if you crossed her, she shunned you for awhile... then shaking a finger in your face with a look that skewered you onto the wall of the present, noted that you might not have your priorities straight because they were different than hers! Hah! Then later, it was all OK. Mari changed her name from Lynn to Mari and Mari was better.

She was haunted by something fierce, deep and sharp, but many of us loved her dearly and felt blessed by her life, including me. Halloween Thanks Mari...



This doll was created with wire, paper clay, fabric, stuffing, gauze, Kreninik Metallic threads and the arms of a dollar store Barbie that are tied behind her back. Enjoy Halloween and create something that is a stretch for you, something that wakes you up to a slightly different way of looking at this rich and juicy life we have! Make Stuff!




The book is still on sale! Go to Amazon with this easy-Parcheesi link and buy one!


4 comments:

Unknown said...

I think she is quite cool! Without knowing the spiritual connection, one may think she is ghastly and goulish. but then, I like dolls on the edge and am not afraid to go there sometimes. I can do creepy stuff and neeed not for all my dolls to be sugar and spice. nice work!

Unknown said...

She's cool and I like her! One might think she is goulish if they did not read about the spiritual connection. I like dolls on the edge and am not afraid to to there. Dolls need not be all sugar and spice if art is to be revealing of life. Very nice work!

Shashi Nayagam said...

She is very thought provoking as JudiA put it. One begins to understand her having read the story behind it.

Erica said...

I really like this doll, the shape, colours, draping - everything, and she seems to have a wistful look to her face - how sad that she took her life, to read her story she sounded like someone who had everything and would have appeared to the rest of us as being on top of the world - so many times you read stories like this in the newspapers about celebrities, you might think if only I had what they did, then I'd be happy, but of course that's not how things work, sorry to ramble on, I was very touched by the doll and her story...