Yes, I think that Ivy has embodied the soul of a dreamer. I am going to tell you why I feel this and it has a lot to do with how she was made and what has transpired these last few days. Long time ago, when I held the fabric she is made with in my hands, I had a bit of a vision of what a doll made with it would look like. Once I started to actually work on her, that vision became stronger, and stronger, so strong that I actually thought I was not going to be able to translate it to the fabric. It just didn't seem possible to me to make her exactly as I saw her.
The day I made her face, and embroidered those eyes, I knew. I knew she was here and that she would be entirely different than what I had anticipated. I have talked to you before about the change of outfit and all that jazz, but it had more to do with the personality of Ivy. I had envisioned a quiet and kind of shy girl, but Ivy is just not that person. She is determined, independent and a little stubborn. Maybe she resembles more of me than I would like to admit. Full of contradictions, of dreams that seem not possible and yet my daily life is nothing but a dream come true.
As the days progressed and I got to see the changes in light over her face, the way her hair bounces when at the slightest movement, the way her arms sway or rest by her side, her pose, her gentle gaze, I became utterly in love with her. Ivy is not only a unique doll for me because she is the first I have made like her, but because of how she won me over. While I will never be able to replicate her face, personality or intent, I will forever be chasing this relationship that has developed between us. Not so much a collaboration, but is like she held my hand and took me out for a walk in a meadow full of wildflowers and gently pointed at her favourite ones by holding them in her hand. Her look and her smiles told me everything that she had to say.
I try, very hard, to decode her thoughts. I sit with her on my lap and I ask her questions, there are no answers. Ivy talks in a language of nuance. Not by chance, but very clearly when something doesn't suit her or she doesn't agree with you. Is like her entire expression changes. I have been extremely lucky not only of happening upon her, but of having her as yet another teacher. Listen within she murmured, and look. Pay attention. Don't let life escape through your fingers. Listen within. Dream.
And as I always write on my doll's sketches the characteristics of the dolls, their number, their date, what they ended up wearing, who buys them and where I send them to, from now on I will also write on said book: the little notes that my dolls seem to slip my way, the small events that catapulted part of their story, and maybe even the internal and external weather of the day when they were born.
Oh I am ever so thankful Ivy, for your visit, your pretty hair that gave me so many giggles, and for your life lessons. I am going to let you go and find your own adventure to live, I will let you find a family on which you can shower some more of that spunk and maybe a lesson or two. I hope you are happy, that you find your purpose and I will try my best to follow the advice you have given me: to listen within and to always dream the impossible.
If you would like to participate in Ivy's auction, please visit this link. She will kindly receive your bids for a period of two hours, starting at 8 PM EDT. I am very excited to see where Ivy goes, anticipating the shock someone is going to receive when they open her box. As much as I tried, my photos do not capture Ivy's personality in one frame, she is just too good to be true…like an impossible dream!.
See you all later tonight, Ivy and I will be reading a book and playing one last time.