Collaboration, choreography and human form are rudiments that have flowed through my life ~ surfacing in different combinations and to varying degrees of importance, yet always infiltrating my endeavors. This project began with those same smoky wisps of inspiration.

As an artist, I am a part of a group whose identity is earmarked as sovereign characters. We tend to work independent of one another. Even at art shows, we have to hang at our booths, only having fleeting moments to introduce, share and discover with fellow artists. Artisan guilds provide gathering places for information exchange and support. However, these avenues don't allow us to get our hands dirty with one another. This was the impetus for the collaboration.

Being relatively new to Kentucky, I entertained the idea of a state-wide venture to metaphorically embrace my new state. Consequently, the concept of rotating artwork became a viable construct for the project. Quilts, journals, stories and even dolls have all been subjects for rotational efforts. Nevertheless, by choreographing this adventure with artists that were unknown to each other supplied a newly cut facet to this pursuit.

It was easily to decide to use dolls as the rotational subject. From my perspective, inherent to a doll is the capacity for expression, representation and authenticity while retaining its individuality. This would allow each artist plenty of space to approach this symbol from any direction, to use material and make it any size they conjure up.

The idea of mingling artists, who manipulate assorted mediums, working together on a single endeavor, was extremely intriguing. For this reason, the "call to artists" was deliberately designed to invite more than doll makers to participate. I distributed applications at the Kentucky Crafters' Market and contacted a few artisan guilds throughout the state to post the information in their newsletters. Twenty five people responded and six were chosen.

Personally, I wanted to be involved from a different vantage point. Instead of being one of the doll artists, I sought to chronicle the journey. Just as the six selected artists wanted to expand their creative boundaries, I felt writing would be the creative boundary I wished to push most.

Another important component was my propensity towards spontaneity and the unexpected. In any given situation I welcome room for multiple possibilities to be unveiled and assorted pathways to present themselves. This was my approach when conveying The Art Dolls' Adventure guidelines. I kept the directions as laissez faire as possible in order to support creative expression and allow for an organic maturation process to arise.