I love the idea of terrariums, miniature gardens under glass that can be so magical and whimsical, like little worlds unto themselves. On the weekend I was messing around with materials that I had lying about the studio, bits of broken pottery too full of potential to throw away, parts of antique porcelain dolls that had been unearthed from the reject dumps of the doll factories of Thuringia, Germany (c.1850 – 1920) and bits of ground cover and flowers from my garden.  Here’s what I came up with, though some of them are really vases or planters.

Charlotte’s Blue Star Creeper standing knee deep in a field of moss under a glass dome.

Hands Up Pitcher holds various antique porcelain dolls arms reaching out of the sedum.

I love the reaching gesture of both the sedum and the little flowerlike hands.

Baby Doll Blue sprouts sedum as well, suspended by a wire, she can be planted or hung.

Remember 1 and Remember 2 serve as little vases for forget-me-nots with a big presence for all of two to three inches!

I hope these little constructions don’t come across as too creepy. I feel it’s rather appropriate to use these figures in conjunction with earth and plants and flowers, referring to the history of these broken or imperfect dolls that were long buried because of their defects are at long last seeing the light and being played with.