NOVEMBER 19, 2009 ISSUE
Ford Semi-Finalist in National Beaded Art Doll Competition
Local craftswoman Kathy Ford is a semi-finalist in a national beaded art doll competition, and online voting is underway. Ford is “very proud” of her doll, Jolyma, she said. Photo submitted Kathy Ford, a co-proprietor of Kingfisher Crafts along with husband Alistair Burke, is one of six semi-finalists in the national 2009 Fourth Bi-Annual All Dolled Up: Beaded Art Doll Competition.
Online voting is currently underway and interested persons can view the dolls and vote by clicking to www.landofodds.com/store/alldolledup2009contest.htm.
The contest theme was “The Earthen Mother” and entries were due in August. Ford discovered the contest through a beading website and was inspired to create an entry.
“I love the earthen mother theme,” Ford said. “I thought, ‘Wow this would be challenging’ [and] I do like a challenge.”
Ford, a puppeteer, has made puppets and dolls before, but never a fully beaded doll, she said.
“She’s been working with her hands most of her life,” Burke said. “She’s an incredibly creative person.”
Twenty-five percent of the judging comes from the online votes each doll receives, and professional bead judges decide the other 75 percent, Burke said.
“I’ve done a lot of beadwork on masks, costumes, necklaces, earrings [and] other stuff to sell at the [Watauga County] Farmers’ Market,” Ford said. “This is more seed beads.”
Whereas her puppets are usually large, the doll she named Jolyma presented a challenge because of her tiny size, Ford added.
Ford worked on Jolyma over the course of eight months while doing other crafting projects simultaneously, she said, adding that the last two weeks “were more of a deadline,” and she regularly spent 10 to 12 hours on Jolyma.
“I definitely need a deadline, a goal,” Ford said. “Otherwise, I would still be making it, puttering around.”
In August, Ford submitted photos and the written part about the materials and techniques used for her entry.
“I’m pretty much self-taught; I didn’t know the lingo,” Ford said. “I’m more of a sewer, really.”
Ford brought the doll to the Watauga County Farmers’ Market for several weeks, because she wanted to get feedback from local folks and thought Jolyma “should get a little love from people around here,” she said.
“They love her—she’s got a lot of charisma,” Ford added.
Burke agreed.
“When we brought the doll to the farmers’ market, people gave us email addresses,” he said. “There have been a lot of folks supporting the doll on its journey.”
In October, the couple drove the doll to Beadazzled, a bead store in Nashville, Tenn., which hosts the competition.
“I didn’t want to ship her,” Ford said. “If she were to break, I didn’t want someone else fixing her.”
Ford and Burke started Kingfisher Crafts about a year ago, and they keep a booth at the Watauga County Farmers’ Market every week it is open, Burke said.
“It’s such a fun atmosphere,” Ford said of the farmers’ market. “It really starts to be like an extended family.”
Ford encourages people to go to the website and view all the dolls, because all the contestants put a great deal of time into the dolls, and they should be appreciated and voted for, she said.
Because only a percentage of the final decision on the winner is decided by the online votes, the contest avoids being a popularity contest, Ford said.
“I like that,” she said. “I want it to be fair.”
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