  “Where are the dolls? Have you seen the dolls?” For several years now, the CDAA has set up a booth at the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival every October in Toronto, for the purpose of giving the CDAA and it’s members some exposure to the public (After all, Canadian doll-makers are, for some, the best kept secret in doll making). This year the coordinating team included: Heike Blohm, Lucy Garvin, Maureen Thornton, Esther Schneider, Marianne Reitsma, and Donna Corby.
This year circumstances allowed me to attend for two days, although I was originally scheduled for only the Friday afternoon shift, from 1:00 – 4:30p.m. I planned to work my shift, visit the Eaton Centre; play the tourist. I found better things to do without ever leaving the conference centre. When I turned up for my shift, the booth was overflowing with both dolls and people. I’d never seen this kind of crowd outside of the annual Thursday evening pin doll swap, at our conferences. The questions ricocheted off the wall hangings: “Where did the dolls come from?” “How were they made?” A dozen voices all talking at once. Excitement rippled the air. Smiles beamed. Flyers and brochures disappeared. People left; more arrived. In the midst of all this, the shifts tried to change. Newcomers were thrown in at the deep end, as more people came to ask about the dolls. I answered questions, handing out flyers and brochures as I did so. “This flyer tells about our upcoming conference in Ottawa.” “Ottawa! I have a sister living there.” A mother. A friend. My cousin. At last, an excuse to visit Ottawa! “I live in Kingston; I could drive there!” I talked about the quilt; explaining what it was and how it came into being, while asking people to “please, don’t pet the quilt”. I pointed out the raffles, and explained the Deidre Foundation. And I listened to the people telling me how much they loved us. “You’re the first booth I visit.” “I brought someone just to see the dolls”. “The dolls are so wonderful!” That’s what we were called: “The Dolls”. I found this out later, when my shift was over, and I had a moment to check out the shopping. “Are you with the dolls?” “Can you tell me where to find the dolls?” Dealers were asking the same questions because they were being bombarded with people asking them where to find “the dolls”. I ended up spending much of Saturday in the booth as well. There were too few volunteers to handle the multitude, so people were working extra time; sitting the booth between classes or while they rested from shopping. We volunteers in the booth answered questions until our throats were dry. Lozenges were in demand. “I’ve never made a doll in my life, but now...” “Do any of you teach?” “I thought I was the only one...” “They’re so wonderful” “Are any of the artists here?” We talked some more. I worked the table; others worked the floor, occasionally dropping into seats beside me to rest their feet. I left Saturday at 4:00; trying to get my gear out around the throngs asking questions about the dolls, the CDAA, the conference, the quilt. I wanted to stay longer; there was so much work to be done, but my train wouldn’t wait. But I did have time for one last thing: I signed up for next year. Creativity at its best! - A CreativFestival review The dolls on view ran the gamut from porcelain and polymer to needle felted and cloth. We included a small set-up of dolls from past Conference classes, hoping to whet the appetite of onlookers for the upcoming Conference in Ottawa in 2007, as well as pin dolls and a series of round robin dolls. The response from the volunteers staffing the booth but especially from the general public was overwhelmingly positive. Here are just a few of the comments we received from the public and the volunteers: “I never thought of dolls as art before.” “Thanks! Beautiful!” “These are artists in every sense of the word.” “Every single spectator was enchanted with the dolls, the magical world they opened, the skill levels, the medias employed, and the creativity of all the doll makers represented. People LOVED receiving a free poster!!! Thelocation was stellar.” One woman came up and just stood in one spot looking over the booth, then said “Wow”. Not only did we have a display of creations to show what the CDAA was about, but we also set up a couple of draws. We had a donation box for the Deidre Foundation that asked for donations in exchange for a chance to win a Deidre or a Zak doll. The idea here being to raise awareness and funds for the Foundation. The second draw was for a couple of donated dolls, supplied by Charie Wilson and Heike Blohm. This draw did not involve donations, but the contact info on the draw ballot was asking if people were interested in receiving further information about the CDAA and the upcoming Conference in Ottawa in 2007. In addition to the in-booth draws, the CDAA had been asked if they would care to offer a couple of dolls for an eBay auction with all the proceeds going to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. Marianne Reitsma stepped forward and offered a doll for this purpose. I wish to extend a big Thank You to the teachers at this year’s Festival. All 4 classes went ahead as scheduled and left some very happy students behind! The teachers were: Jadie Wright with Heather Byrne as her assistant, Jane Altobelli with Judi Gunter assisting her, Wendy Rinehart and Heike Blohm. Without our teacher volunteers, we would not have been offered a booth at the festival. The many volunteers who helped us move forward with our booth this year were: Heather Byrne, Kinga Buday, Lydia Caine, Deb Colston and her son Chad, Donna Corby, Joanne Cranston, Marlene DeGenova, Deborah Downey, Lucy Garvin, Jackie Graceffo, Judi Gunter, Barbara-Helen Hill, Dianne Jarvie, Alix Jordan, Deb Lobban, Lynne Oyagi, Marianne Reitsma, Wendy Rinehart, Esther Schneider, Donna Sidebottom, Maureen Thornton (and an unknown friend) and Kathy White. Special thanks go to Donna Corby, Maureen Thornton, Donna Sidebottom, Marlene DeGenova, Lydia Caine, Wendy Rinehart, Lucy Garvin and Alix Jordan for volunteering extra shifts in the booth. I especially wish to thank Marianne Reitsma for taking care of the dolls and their paperwork, Esther Schneider for tackling the set-up, Maureen Thornton for taking everything down again and last but not least, Lucy Garvin for keeping us all on track with her extensive paperwork, organizational skills and reminders so we didn’t forget anything. All in all, the CreativFestival really showed what the CDAA is all about, and I am pleased to have been part of it. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
