Exquisite Work!!

I meet the most fascinating, funny, and talented people on the internet that I ever imagined. Gail Hendrix is the kind of artist/designer in needlepoint who makes me hang my head in shame and think of burning my paint brushes and taking up pottery again. I talked her into doing a blog several months ago (her husband thinks I created a blog monster), but it has been one of my very favorites for quite a while now. Yesterday I found these ornaments, and am, once again, astounded by this woman's ability in putting a design on canvas - besides the wonderful subject matter. This one really made me laugh and remember - clear back to those Toni Dolls of my childhood - the ones who had that awful spun plastic hair and a sugar water solution for giving them "home permanents." We won't discuss Barbie here, who, in my granddaughter Madeline's opinion, has descended into a world of a "lot of pink plastic stuff." Both my "Granny's angels" here in Austin have the American Girl dolls, and they are beautiful and wholesome things for a little girl to own, play with, and display. As you look at these pictures, do notice the beautiful, nearly perfect detail of Gail's stitch painting - even the little doll hands will work well. (more of Gail's work can be seen here.) I think my favorite of this collection is the gorgeous Indian maiden - "Pocahontas" immediately comes to mind. This ornament is small, but looking at it on my screen makes me want to stitch it, as I can see Very Velvet or suede fibers, beads, and other fine things to make a piece of needlepoint art come to life. I also like the idea Gail has expressed in her blog, that long after the dolls have met a sad end of one kind or another, the ornament would remain as a beautiful reminder. (To see her other AG doll ornaments, click on AmericanGirlDoll on her blog Tag Cloud - to which you can find a link on her web page) Our Madeline and Julia have no brothers, so their dolly friends have a better prognosis. I will not go into the grisly details of the demise of my girls' dolls at the hands of their four brothers, but it wasn't pretty, and if I want to throw a tidbit into the group for immediate lively discord at a family gathering, all I have to say is "remember when poor Emily lost her head?" These people are in their 30's and 40's now, but this kind of question gets immediate results! (Granny is wicked these days, but I have earned the privilege.)