about this site…

How it all began…

Xmas Fairy 2001

Personally, I blame it all on the Christmas Fairy. If I hadn’t started dressing up dolls for the Christmas tree, none of this would have happened.

There were two fairies. The first one had horns.

The following Christmas we had just moved house, so, up to our ears in boxes, no fairies were forthcoming… (there were a few Packing Demons around at the time, of course, but that’s another matter, and everyone knows you can’t see Packing Demons)

The next Christmas Fairy had a lip ring, a little leather dress (with chains) seamed stockings and a whip.

And that’s how it started… (no, I’ve left something out… what really made me do it was the very idea of that sanitized, anorexic, and manipulatingly sexist doll …wearing a strap-on.

Each doll is dressed and modified individually, starting from a basic fashion doll − the usual brands. The many treatments and processes employed here range from creating realistic looking nipples (even re-modelled cleavages), outfits in leather and rubber, hand stitched stockings and, of course, the handmade strap-on dildos… Well, it keeps me off the streets…

I built this site because it amused me to do so, I hope it amuses you. If you don’t like it, then you really shouldn’t be here…

Xmas Fairy 2003

Erotica and Fetish

I never intended to ‘get into’ erotic art − I just sort of stumbled across it within my own work… I’m anyway attracted to things you’re not supposed to do − because of course that makes them more fun. There is often an erotic content to my painted artwork, a lot of which comes from an appreciation of the female form as a subject − though this, for me, is not sufficient subject in itself. There needs to be a few quirks − fairies up to no good, demons dressed in fetish gear, and other attractively proportioned monsters populate my work. In common with my photographic work is a penchant for staged scenes − not merely stuff going on, but a certain poise balance and theatrical arrangement. Fetish subjects lend themselves well to this approach − this is not the plain simple fact of sex, or the potential of sex − this is also play acting and fantasy − the stimulation of the brain as much as any other part of the body − erotica, as opposed to sex, happens in the mind.

Dolls

Dolls are very peculiar − they have their own inner life. They are not the same as a painting of a human being; rather, they are a representation of a human in a far more visceral way. This is easily forgotten as one grows up and stops playing with dolls (if one ever used to). As an adult I find dolls have a slight creepiness in the way they look at you, in the way their expressions seem to interact with their surroundings − because while, of course, their expressions do not actually alter, they appear to do so because the different surroundings or situations that they can be put into may convey quite different meanings on their facial expressions and supposed body language. Honestly, one can be made to feel quite the Dominatrix making the uncomplaining dolls do whatever one likes! A painting will never interact with its surroundings in this way − and it certainly won’t smile at you as you make it bend over!

Materials: cameras and strap-ons…

By training I’m a jeweller, and I’ve also had a lot of training in museum work as a metals conservator − which means by nature I’m very picky and probably have far too much patience when it comes to recreating in miniature. There are certain things I am always being asked, so here are a few answers:

I make most of the clothes and items myself − except those things that look like normal doll’s clothes, etc… The strap-ons are made of ‘Fimo’ − a modelling material which you bale in the oven, and I've made good use of a piece of pond liner hoarded evr since we put in an ornamental fishpond − this has produced the ‘pants’ bit of certain strap-ons, and some clothing. I tried using latex sheeting, but it’s too thin to sew without tearing, and too small and fiddly to glue, but cloth-backed pvc works well. I could name any number of materials I’ve experimented with, although ‘Milliput’, an epoxy putty, is favourite for a lot of alterations − this produced Nursie’s boob job etc − the advantage is you don't have to bake it.

When it comes down to it, though, I see the photographs as the final 'finished' artwork − the dolls are a means to an end, and sorry, not currently for sale…

Most of the photography I’ve done with a digital camera, except some of the early photos where I used 35mm film, but it doesn’t enlarge so well, so far as I’ve found, and you have to scan all the negatives in, too.

The camera I have is no specialist item − it’s a several year old Cannon ‘Power Shot’ – but without getting a highly specialist bit of kit these are very good for close-up photos, and it has the best feature I could want for this sort of work − namely an LCD viewing screen that swings out and rotates (a feature that for some reason is usually popular only on video cameras), so if necessary one can hold the camera right down on the ground and swing the screen to still see what one’s pointing the lens at − this is the best thing ever for a doll’s eye view (also good for taking amusing pictures of cats, if one has the inclination.…). It doesn’t take the largest pictures, but sufficient for enlarging to 20x16 inches with some pretty standard interpolation software − the sort that comes with any photo-editing package. Ok, that is all the technical info I am going mention… you can come back now!

The Guild of Erotic Artists…

My painted artwork has been known to alarm and disturb, but it is usually not so ’up-front’ as to be unable to be placed in most galleries, and the sense of humour it employs softens it and broadens its appeal. However, I was somewhat at a loss as to where I might place my doll photographs, apart from on the internet, and it was while looking for details of the Erotica shows that I stumbled across the Guild of Erotic Artists. I joined in March 04, and the dolls have found themselves an appreciative audience for their talents.

The Guild has a permanent exhibition at Beaumont Hall Studios near St Albans, open on ‘Event Days’, and also exhibits around the country, notably at the ‘Erotica’ exhibition in Olympia, London, in November. For more information visit the website.

Newsletter and mailing list…

If you want to be kept informed of exhibitions and new work, I have an emailing list that I use to mail the occasional newsletter. This covers both the dolls pictures and my painted artwork, and I keep the pictures on this very low-key − my work covers a range of styles and not everyone appreciates the dolls! If you'd like to be added to this list please e-mail me − I won’t pass on your address to anyone else.

My other stuff: Painted artwork…

In case you’re wondering what I do with the rest of my time… I really don’t have a sensible office job in a respectable company. Actually I’m a full time artist and I usually paint pictures… see my main website for these − they’re a sort of quirky satire / fantasy, − a sort of re-working of fairytales, with more than a hint of the irreverent. Here's a taster to be going on with.

'Medusa, Veiled'

'Mrs Cyclops, Lately Widdowed'