Artist Profiles-Kristel Jacobs

 My name is Kristel Jacobs, I live in Belgium and I make ooak Fantasy Art Dolls out of selfhardening clay (la Doll) and hardened with Paverpol.
About 5 years ago, I started to make statues out of self-hardening clay and I've been addicted to creating these dreamy, fragile creatures ever since... Practising my art, I strive for the incarnation of youth and innocence. My dolls are a fascinating mix of temptation, naïvety and vulnerability..
Lady Shoe-Shine

Lady Shoe-Shine sits in a very elegant manner in her silk shoe, holding an umbrella made out of ribbons and pearls. I made her dress by hand out of silk and lace, covered with little pearls and ribbons. I gave her a rather simple hair-do, which makes her look even more innocent and which places the attention of the viewer on the beautiful umbrella...

Clothes, shoe and hair have all been hardened with Paverpol. I painted the lady with Acrylics, I gave her handpainted eyes and varnished her several times.

Lady Shoe-Shine is 29 cm high and 24 cm long.
My art dolls are made out of La Doll and Premix, a lightweight self-hardening clay which, once sanded, gets the structure of porcelain... I make their clothes myself out of natural materials s.a. cotton, silk and lace, which I harden with Paverpol. My figures have hand-painted eyes. Their length varies between 28cm and 55 cm. Their hair-do's are made out of strands of cotton, also hardened. Everything, from the sometimes ingenious hair-do's to the lace and silk clothes, is completely hand-made.
I paint my dolls with Acrylic paint, and then varnish them. Sometimes I also paint the clothes, but most of the time the fabrics are so beautiful and rich on their own that that isn't necessary.
Espérance

The theme for Espérance is 'Spring', I dressed and painted her in vivid springcolours, and I also tried to show this feeling of something fresh and new in her facial expression and pose.

Espérance is wearing a top and skirt made out of lace. She wears beautiful pearls in her hair. Her wooden base is also decorated with pearls.

Espérance is 39 cm high.
I really love working with Paverpol. The combination of clay and hardened textiles lends a beautiful 'frozen' look to my figures. For me, it is the ideal combination, the perfect picture.
The moment that I (finally) get to dress the dolls and harden everything is the highlight of each creating process ; then everything comes together and I get to see the doll- how she will become.. During the time that everything has to dry, a sort of calm comes over me because the actual work is then finished and it is out of my hands at that moment. The only thing I have to do then is to check the doll from time to time to see if it all dries well, and check if I don't have to make small adjustements before the Paverpol has really dried out and I won't be able to change anything anymore.
Alizée

Alizée is named after my little godchild, she is very eager to know what the future will bring, therefore her open expression. She is wearing a silk top and a flounced skirt. She is holding a scarf, decorated with little pearls. Her ingenious hair-do with braids and pearls frames her sweet little face. The path of life that she will eventually follow is already starting to show itself in front of her...

Alizée is 39 cm high.
Each art doll takes approximately 50 hours to make, and more if I use special accessories, s.a. the throne of Queen of my Castle or the shoe of Lady Shoe-Shine. Since I spend so much time on each art doll, I sometimes get the feeling that part of me, in a way, blends into the doll.
Lily Rose

With her long hair and open face, Lily Rose is almost the reincarnation of youth and freshness. At the same time, she has been frozen in a rather sensual pose, leaning slightly forward and stealthily peeking at the viewer.. Innocence and temptation in one.. I dressed her in a silk top and skirt, with a decoration of lace. She is wearing roses in her hair, which are made out of silk. On her base I also placed roses, made out of Premier and painted with oil paint.

Lily Rose is 49 cm high.
Queen of my Castle

In a stately manner, the Queen is sitting on her really high throne. She looks very focussed on what the day will have in store for her today.. She is majestically dressed in a gorgious gown made of shiny silk and lace. She has an ingenious hair-do with ribbons, pearls and braids. I made her throne out of Premier clay, clothed with lace, then hardened and painted with Acrylics. Finally, I decorated it with little mirrors.

Queen of my Castle is 56 cm high.

You can find out more about Kristel and her amazing dolls on her website:
www.kristeljacobs.be.

If you have any questions or if you would like to tell Kristel something about her work, you can contact her by email at:
info@kristeljacobs.be.