Don't Worry!

Worry Dolls! These little dolls have so much appeal and power. Tell them your worries, put them under your pillow and overnight they will sort it all out for you. Amen - thank you very much, I'll have one hundred please!

Are you a worrier? I certainly can be, and unfortunately my little girl has the gene to some extent. In an effort to teach her that her worries aren't necessarily a reality and are just thoughts that can be overcome, we ended up with a pack of these beautiful little handmade dolls from the Oxfam shop. Originating in Guatemala, they really are so simple and cute, each dressed in a different version of a colourful linen frock and headress.

Their design really lent itself to drawing and pattern. It was such a joy to draw and colour them in. The pattern is simply a combination of a line drawing, a pencil rendered version and then varying combinations of the dolls lined up in rows. I then dropped them all onto a hand drawn grid to capture that lovely rustic texture of the fibres in the materials. I had a little help with a real linen image which I scanned and  used to fill some of their faces to give it depth - hopefully creating a really happy, colourful and uplifting piece.

This design was also developed further into a small collection of surface designs for one of my MIID summer school classes. It was targetted at the childrens market and came under the theme of 'Tribal geometrics' . It was a whole lot of fun designing this one from start to finish. It definitely cured my worries - well for a little while!