Reflections on custom work, cost and role of dolls in art.

"If the dolls go missing, no one will notice."

That is how I called my publication, which caused a discussion and great resonance.

This phrase was said by one person who wanted to order a portrait doll, but was not ready to pay the stated price for it. By the way, the price is quite democratic. After a long and strange conversation, he began to ridicule and level the art of the doll in general.

There are puppeteer masters who do not work to order, or rarely agree. On the contrary, I really like to work in this way. For me, this is an inspiring experience of communication and co-creation with interested people. I like it when there is a specific task. I like creative interaction. I like it when a person is waiting for his doll, presents it, dreams.

It is amazing when there is a coincidence with the customer at the level of feelings, understandings, desires. This is an incredible energy exchange. And people, so distant and alien, become close in spirit.

When, after a while, you review the archive of photographs and see dolls made for specific people, you remember them as old distant friends. It costs a lot!

A doll that is created specially, by order, in which all wishes are taken into account, when there is constant correspondence and coordination, is expensive. It's like custom tailoring. There is always a choice, to buy a ready-made item, or to order an exclusive from the master.

Each artist sets the cost of a custom-made doll at his discretion. The price is not fixed and is made up of many factors. It depends on the unconditional, generally recognized skill of the author, on the cost price and uniqueness of the product, and on the circulation. And each master decides this issue based on his own criteria.

For example, as an artist, when setting a price, I take into account many components. This is all my experience and knowledge that I have received at the moment, the level of technical skill and quality of performance, in which I do not stop improving. This is also the high quality of materials, which I do not save on. Expensive and durable materials provide work not only with excellent visuals, but also with a long lifespan. This is the time of execution and the complexity of the doll and, of course, the mental effort, the energy that I put into the work.

In general, few people take them into account, but they are very significant.

Of course, this is a favorite thing, but ... A doll is not just a piece of fine art, it is a prototype of a person. The doll tells a story, conveys emotion. The process of its creation affects the spiritual and spiritual essence of the master. No wonder, the viewer says: She is like living, she has a soul!

Of course, these are all just materials; wire, plastic and paints. And there is nothing alive there. But there is an attentive viewer who reads exactly this energy superimposed in the process of creating a doll. It is she who resonates.

Each master has his own depth, level of education and skill, everything that can make the work energetically capacious. This is what is the most important component of the value of a doll..

The art of the doll is young, it grows and develops. But already today there are masters who are able to raise a doll to the level of a work of high art.

We understand that the Doll is a synthesis of all the arts and crafts that mankind possesses today. The history of its emergence is equal to the history of human life on earth, since the day of creation.

Right now, the Doll, having gone through all the changes in the roles assigned to it, becomes an independent phenomenon.

The doll is the most "human" art, it reflects the reality, emotions, feelings and life of people as much as possible. It is worth a lot to own such a work, also created to order!

Material prepared Evgenia Egorova. The article is illustrated with the works of the author.