Paper Dolls for the Modern Girl
As a child, I lovedpaper dolls and labored for hours carefully cuttingthem out from the pages ofMc Calls and paper doll books till I had a shoe box full of them. So when I saw these lovely creations by Australian born artist Joan Pitman in this monthsFrankie, I was smitten.
Pitman was born in 1917 and studied art in the early 30s going on to teach and work in theater production. Using water colors, she created these figures of Hollywood icons and wardrobes when she was just 14. Never published, they were passed down through family members and then donated to theTasmanian Museum and Art Gallery after her death in 2004.
They have produced a limited edition of four paper doll icon sets includingMarlene Dietrich,Jean Harlow,Katharine Hepburn andClaudette Colbert for 14.95 each.
I then discovered this promising looking offering coming out in November by artistEmily Martin available for pre-order fromAmazon. Can't wait? Check out her wonderfuletsy store and she just created thisnew set of dolls below...so cute. I especially love herLost on the Midway, carnival series.
all content © Lara Rossignol
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 5:00AM
Reader Comments (6)
I cannot believe she made those when she was 14 - blows my mind. I loved paper dolls and would like to have these even now, they are fantastic.!!
Love this post. The top ones are amazing but what a find is Emily Martin!
Love this! I love paper dolls, and I'm so happy you've spotlighted Emily Martin. Not only do I love her paper dolls (and eagerly await her book!), but I am lucky enough to own two of her original paintings, and they are luminous...definitely future heirlooms!
This is a great post! I love paper dolls! I've recently bought some customized paper dolls for my nieces to be from http://babalisme.blogspot.com/.
Hope you're having a nice day!
Miki.
I loved this post. I was obsessed with my paper dolls when I was younger and this just brought back memories.
OMG...I remember spending hours and hours playing with my paper dolls. Thanks for bringing back those wonderful memories for me when not so many of them were wonderful :-)))