Finished Dolls by Artist Author Valentino Zubiri!

Ummm,  I had to mention my name on the headline because Google indexes that. I'm not self-centered, I assure you, but it occurred to me to once in a while add my name on the heading.

I'm sorry it took a while to get back. I have been busy up until May, doing something else. Then I decided to finish the dolls, but I also felt I had to study more stuff, including enamels, engraving and stained glass.

I'm uploading 130 plus pictures in separate blog entries. So here is the first set, which will be the shoes, all finished and shaped like shoes.

If there is any knowledge I can share with you. The shoes are striped to match the fabric. They have metal inside, and it's the metal that is keeping the shoe shape.

My desire to make the shoes as "realistic" as possible, is due to lessons in engraving using gravers. Engravers actually use microscopes, or scopes, in order to keep their work as detailed and accurate as possible. If they have this type of discipline, then I thought I should also probably have this type of discipline, at least with the shoes.

I'm sharing all the pictures I took, because there might be kids out there who might want to use it for their internet presence, especially since this set is done.

If you are interested in collecting my work, I'm available. I would prefer that you get in touch with your favorite art gallery, art representative, doll store or interior designer to get in touch with me, unless you are okay dealing with me directly. The dolls in the picture already belong to someone else. I only plan to use a doll's head twice, once for the collector, and once for myself, so I could tour the work, or take photographs.

Just to remind you, making the art dolls from scratch is very time-consuming and there will always be a wait.

I am still looking for a literary agent and have yet to finalize anything with a commercial publisher, but you can now purchase and read Dollman the Musical, A Memoir of an Artist as a Dollmaker, on both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com. It's a good read, about children and their problems once they've grown up. It can change your life. A Hollywood film company expressed interest in reading it, and all this can take years, if something even ever happens.

I am getting more exposure, having finished this set and sharing pictures on flickr and facebook, together with BlogSpot.