In the Studio

ARTELLAGRAM 10-4-2012:
An Interview with Chris Hammer


Chris Hammer
Chrise Hammer



Artella: How would you describe your work?

Chris: I am an artdoll artist. My artdolls are handcrafted Spirit dolls. They are heartfelt and soul filled messengers. My present artdoll series is the outgrowth of a particular and recent challenging time in my life. A coworker, in an effort to offer encouragement to me, each day, would leave a rock with a word imprinted on it like Hope, Love, or Faith. This collection of rocks inspired me to do a whole series of artdolls.  Each rock and the inspirational quality printed on it, is my focus as I create the artdoll. I let the quality speak to me and through me, as I create each piece. The dolls are created using polymer clay, paper clay, wire, stuffing, material and beads. An essential part of my artdoll and process is to write a blessing and affix it to the back of the doll.

I call my collection heArt Doll Blessings. With each piece, I set an intention to invite Spirit into the whole process. My artdolls evolve without having a specific end sight in mind, though I do have vision for an end feeling. My intention for the end feeling is that I feel happy with my creation and that I love the process. Throughout my process, I remind myself of my collaboration with Spirit. In that way, I am inviting Intuition, Fun and Surprise to enter. My wish for the viewers is to invite them into a deeper relationship with the quality I have portrayed by the artdoll and blessing.

Listen
Listen

Artella: How did you first begin making art dolls?

Chris: Art has been my passion since I was a small child yet I did not pursue it in my formal education or profession.  Art took a backseat and was labeled “a hobby”. But for as long as I can remember, I have made dolls, and  puppets along with painting, drawing and sewing, In my early adulthood, my art surfaced in my own children’s Halloween costumes, decorations and the like.   When my children were older, I immersed myself in soft sculpture dolls and did well at art shows and in sales. However, I dropped this as my 4 then teenage children’s needs pressed forward and the old nagging voices pushed my passion into the background.

I made several artdolls as gifts for special people in my life but again had not fully called myself an artdoll artist. After several life-changing family events happened, I decided it was time for me to follow this inner and persistent calling of the artist. I retired from my profession as a Physical Therapist, and focus now on building my artdoll business.

Grounded
Grounded

Artella: What do you love most about the work that you do?

Chris: My artdolls integrate all of my artistic loves as well as all of the years of touching bodies and lives as a Physical Therapist and a Rubenfeld Synergist. I love the human form and particularly the hands, so sculpting expression into the hands is a great pleasure for me.  I am not looking to make my artdolls pretty or refined.  They have a handcrafted look and this allows me to loosen the idea of making them look perfect. I am more interested in the feel of the image, the posture and the embellishments. I also love engineering how to construct each figure.

Because I have intended to be a co creator with Spirit, I am letting go of “trying” to make the doll look a certain way. Rather I am led along the way. The doll evolves, which I find more fun. My process is filled with curiosity as Spirit and I join to portray how that particular spiritual quality of the rock moves in me.

Artella: In your mind, how are creativity and spirituality related?

Chris: During a meditation I heard Spirit say, “Let your work be my playground.” Hmm, that was different!  In my early religious upbringing, Spirit and playground were not a pair. Yet I felt the delight in this statement. I began to question my beliefs about Spirit in my life. What would that be like to play? To let fun and enjoyment be my lead?  Was that what Spirit wanted for me? That was different!  And what if the fulfillment I received in being creative was exactly what Spirit wanted for me?  I began to feel all the possibilities in this idea and all the beliefs about hard work and suffering began to shift too. This was a much needed balm for my hardworking mentality. So it was time to play with my dolls again!  I am now re-pairing my beliefs. Creativity and Spirit? Check. Fun and profession? Check.  Art and Abundance? Check.

Creativity and Spirituality are now intricately and intimately bonded and my mind, body, emotions and spirit delight in the paradigm shift.

Breathe
Breathe

Artella: What does your future hold? What projects are you working on now?

Chris: One of the artdolls that holds special meaning to me is the one called “Breathe”. Both my parents died from lung disease. As their caregiver; I watched how precious even one breath was. The embellishment on Breathe’s dress is made up of my mom’s oxygen tubing that I cut up and sewed on as beads. The Blessing for Breath invites the reader into a connection with the sacredness of breath. This artdoll has generated a series of smaller artdolls that also has “breathe” as their message.

HeArt Doll Blessings have a broad future.  I have a vision of bringing the healing art of doll making to a larger community.  This has endless possibilities as I can combine my ARTbundance™ coaching, Rubenfeld Synergy and artdoll making in classes and presentations.

Artella: How has participating in "Mapping and Mentoring with Marney" affected your work and/or your life?

Chris: Marney is a brilliant facilitator of energy flow. Marney’s drum beat of following the energy has given me the momentum to confidently focus on my artdolls. She excels when one of us feels stuck. Marney demonstrates the “just right” challenge informed by her intuition and amazing endless inner rolodex of ideas. Her ability to encourage each of us creates a feeling of belief in our possibilities. She mixes her own brilliance and experience with a sense of humor and deep belief in our brilliance. With this combination of talents, Marney midwifes our group to “birth” what is precious and sacred to each of us. No “birth” is too small for Marney to invite us to celebrate.  She calls forth our calling.  And I, for one, am glad I didn’t have a busy signal!


About Chris Hammer: Chris is an artdoll artist, ARTbundance™ coach, and practitioner and teacher of the Rubenfeld Synergy Method. After retiring from her profession of over 30 years as a physical therapist working with children with severe developmental disabilities, Chris is now focusing on her first and enduring love: art. Chris finds she can combine all her loves, talents and skills into the art of doll making. She knows her artdolls are a blessing in her own healing process and hopes they can be that for others too.


Applications for Mapping and Mentoring with Marney are now available for spots opening in late October! You can get more info, here.


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