Vintage Dolls of the World

pen and ink, watercolor in Moleskine sketchbook

We've been home almost three weeks and all my good habits, like working out, like scheduling time in my studio, like housecleaning, are right out the window.  I have turned into a slug.  I read and I take walks outside.  At night we watch movies on DVD. That has been about it lately. Maybe this is just spring fever, a time of transition.

Anyway, today I decided to sketch these little dolls that Grandma Tess gave my sister and me fifty years ago.  She and Grandpa would go on summer driving vacations and then bring us gifts, often dolls of the world.  They never traveled to Peru, just for some reason these dolls appealed to her.  I got them back, along with many others, when Mother died in spring 2004.  They were dusty, but I cleaned them with an old dry toothbrush, and they today look good.  After looking at our Peru trip pictures, I realize their costumes are pretty accurate, too. When we were at Machu Picchu, there was a market near the train, and a lady was selling miniature llamas.  I bought one for the girls, but he didn't get sketched.  Maybe another time.