handmade doll

creating Pantovola Petit

Dear ones, In this blog post I wanted to take you on a little journey through the creation of Pantovola Petit; the fabric friends of my ever expanding Pantovola Petit family The wonderful thing about creating these wee critters for me is the way they come to life in such unique ways, always surprising me with their quirky, whimsical personalities. Because they are such spontaneous beings, I never sketch them out, I draw my idea directly onto the fabric and dive straight into the sewing, filling, painting and decorating of the dolls. I began creating these little figurines some years…

some questions answered

Dear ones who follow my blog here on this website, In this post I’d like to share some background to my decision to move some of my more in-depth content from this blog and social media channels, to my Patreon account. But first of all I want to give a sincere thanks to all of you who has shown an interest in my work and what I create, for your support and the kindness. I launched this website in 2015 and I have published tales, background stories and imagery surrounding my art via this here blog. I also started a newsletter…

patreon Pantovola

Travelling & Patreon

“Only they who are in the possession of an open, curious heart and a hunger for bewonderment, can find their way there…” Dearlings, I hope you are all well! It has been a while since I last posted here on my blog, as I have been focused on writing the story for my fairytale book these past months. Writing is something I have recently fallen in love with completely, it comes with a whole new set of challenges and discoveries and has given a new dimension for my imaginings to take shape in. This book, with this particular story, is…

Making Rosemary

Hello dear reader, Today I wanted to share a little doll making progress post with you on how I have made Rosemary Rosemary is a large art doll sculpture, she measures 135 cm’s tall and I custom created her for a special collector. This is something I rarely do, but the request was so close to my heart, I really wanted to bring this doll to life So in this post I’d like to take you through some of the steps in the creative process, starting with, as always: FABRIC I roughly draw out the shape of the doll and her limbs,…

Interview at The Huts Magazine

Hello! Long time since I posted here on my blog, I hope you have been well, enjoying the marvels of spring! This past week issue 5 of the Huts Magazine, an indie artzine, was published and I am honoured to be one of their featured artists! A five page interview “Viewing, Like Reading” can be found in it, plus also a little step by step progress story “Once Upon a Making’ which takes you through the creative process of making one of my larger doll sculptures ‘Persephone’ The Huts Magazine is an independent initiative, shining their bright light on beautiful…

Rains of Creativity by Milena Spasojevic

Dear reader, Today in this blog post I wanted to point you to the article Rains of Creativity by Milena Spasojevic, published on the Fourline Design blog, in which I share some of my ideas and thoughts on art, life as an artist and how it all started out for me. It was published a wee while ago already, but I hadn’t come round to posting about this publication, but… “Better late than never….”  is what my nan would have said I hope you enjoy the read! Sending hugs x P x

The Cursed Sea Captain on Grimm Gardenia podcast

Good day to you all dear readers, As the summer approaches and her garden of blossom blooms in fragrant colors to our heart’s delight, a little specter has lured me into another garden; fog heavy and of a more under-earth quality …The garden of Grimm Gardenia… ‘T is a new podcast by a Petit Phantom called Hope Stockton. Besides being a little ghost, Hope is also an incredibly wonderful Voice Talent, with whom I am delighted to have started a fruitful collaboration. Today she has released the very first episode of her podcast featuring my tale “The Cursed Sea Captain” The ambient…

The Cursed Sea Captain

The Cursed Sea Captain When he was but a young boy, he lived on the mainland. But his feet were landsick and his soul longed for freedom. So when the lad was old enough, he built himself a boat. He vowed loyalty to his ship, promising her never to set foot on land again. In return his ship made her promise keep her captain safe at all cost. For many a day the young captain sailed happily and content, until he noticed a small island lying peacefully on the horizon. His curious mind overcame him and he decided to take a…

Making Persephone

Hello dear reader! In this here blog post I wanted to open the curtain a little to show you my process of dollmaking, in particular, the making of my new large “Persephone” doll It all begins with fabric… The doll’s body (including head, arms and legs) is cut from calico which is an inexpensive medium weight unbleached cotton/pitjes katoen) and is sewn on the machine. It is then turned and firmly stuffed with a mix of poly fibre filling (for volume) and recycled cotton stuffing (for firmness and weight) The face and neck are sculpted on top of the stuffed…