Feature - An Artist's Original: Mau

Feature - An Artist's Original: Mau

To start the interview off, please introduce yourself :

I'm Andi Sobiech ("Ashbet"), and my partner is Caitlin Ashford ("Caitlindevi"). We've been friends for a number of years, we're both artists, and Caitlin is a professional model maker, so it seemed to be a natural collaboration to work together.

Have you always been interested in art?

I have! Art has been one of my passions since I was a little girl, and I even have a picture dating back from when I was 18 months old, labeled "CAT," which has a recognizable head, ears, and body (and about eight legs, if I recall correctly.)

I'm a multidisciplinary artist with a focus on digital portraiture, although I love fantasy art and I've done a little bit of everything in terms of technique and media (I love making papier-maché masks, and I've painted with everything from watercolor to spray paint).

Caitlin is a painter and designer with a special talent for sculpture and model making. She created a popular line of character figurines based on the illustrative work of Rachael Huntington, and is now employed as a sculptor and creative for a collectable-figure company.

Do you have other dolls besides BJDs?

I've always been a doll and bear collector -- I started out with a couple of Madame Alexander dolls in the late 70's/early 80's, but I was delighted when I discovered the more realistic adult Effanbee dolls, since I preferred a more mature face and body. In my early teens, I had two beloved Effanbee girls who I made clothes for and treasured, but I was frustrated with their lack of pose ability. I first discovered BJDs by finding an issue of "CharaDoll" magazine at my local comics shop a few years ago, and I was fascinated by the 1/6 dolls featured there, even though I can't read a word of Japanese.

Currently, I only collect BJDs, although my daughter, Kira, inherited some of my older dolls when she got old enough to enjoy them. She's also a fan and collector, and owns two Unoa Light dolls, Artemis and Akiva.

Have you had any formal art training?

I was invited to an early-admittance program at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, but I wound up having to leave my scholarship behind when I moved cross-country just before my daughter was born. I'm mostly self-taught, although I very much appreciate my high-school art teacher leaving me alone to play with all the materials in the art room!

Caitlin earned a BA (hons) degree at Sunderland University, majoring in information design with a specific focus on 3D model making and sculpture.

What inspired you to make a BJD of your own design?

I've always been fascinated by anthropomorphic figures, from ancient Egyptian gods to modern anime or 'furry' characters, and feline-women often figure in my art, so it was a natural progression to wanting one in doll form.

When I saw Rainman's Elfdoll Catsy, I thought she was a wonderful fey creature, but I wanted to create an SD-sized girl who could interact with my other dolls - thus, Mau was born!

How long did it take you to make Mau?

I started work in August of 2005, and Mau will be officially released on February 1, 2006.

The sculpt itself went surprisingly quickly, she took about two days to make, although further refinements were made by Caitlin once we had a resin cast of the prototype, and we went through three master molds before finalizing the design.

What materials did you make the Mau prototype out of?

I used an Obitsu vinyl head as a starting point, in order to have a hollow structure to build Mau's features onto, although Mau is an original sculpt with no remaining resemblance to her vinyl progenitor. I added Super Sculpey to build up her cheekbones and jaw line and to create her muzzle and ears. Caitlin then cast my prototype in resin, and we worked out refinements to strengthen the interior of the head, bevel out eye wells, and restructure the head cap.

Where did you find inspiration for her?

Mau is in part modeled after my cat, Zuul (her brother, Gozer, is quite incensed that Mau doesn't look like *him!*), especially around the muzzle.

What has been the hardest part of the process? Did you encounter many obstacles in making her?

Since I'm in the US and Caitlin is in the UK, we've done a lot of shipping back and forth, and we needed to work around her professional schedule and deadlines. I definitely think that the time spent has been worth it, though - we've both put in a lot of hours and a lot of thought into Mau, and the while there were some frustrations about logistics and financing to deal with (resin and silicone are EXPENSIVE!), we're really happy with how she's turned out.

What has been the most rewarding part of the process?

While having the first resin-cast Mau head in my hands was amazing, I think the best part, for me, has been seeing the amazing face-ups that Lyn (Lyn_R) and Bev (Vanillashine) have created - they've really brought Mau to life, and the girls they painted, Citrine and Cyan, are embodiments of a dream come true!!

Lyn's website, Filter OffKilter, can be found here: Filter OffKilter (Lyn will be featured in Dollicieux next month in our artist section).

Bev's website, Ragnarok Repaints, can be found here: Ragnarok (Bev is our featured artist this month).

What have you learned from the entire process?

PATIENCE, mostly!! It takes a long time for an idea like this to come to fruition, and I'm delighted that the wait is almost over. I can't wait to see our Mau heads in the hands of their new owners, and I'm really looking forward to seeing all the different designs and interpretations that they come up with.

BJD collectors are a creative bunch, and I've been very impressed with by customizations I've seen on other dolls through my membership at Den of Angels. I've already been amazed by the directions taken by Bev and Lyn in their face-ups on Citrine and Cyan!

Where did Mau's name come from?

"Mau" is an Egyptian word that means "cat," and it's also the name of a breed of cat that I admire. I was trying to think of a name for the sculpt, and "Mau" immediately came to mind.

It's been a little hard giving it up as a name for my first Mau-girl, but I decided that it'd be confusing to refer to her by the same name as her head-sculpt, so she was renamed "Citrine" in honor of Lyn's Bengal cat, Citrina (Lyn's inspiration for her face-up). Her "litter-sister," Cyan, is named for the color of her eyes - my human-girl dolls mostly have botanically inspired names, so I thought that it might be nice to name my Mau-girls after gemstones or colors.

Can you give us Mau's details? (edition size, eye size etc.)

Mau will be cast in a limited edition of 30 heads - 25 'normal skin' and 5 white heads.

She has 18mm eye wells, and she best fits 8-9" wigs, although the fact that her ears attach with pegs (which can go through a mesh wigcap without causing damage) means that 9-10" wigs can be easily secured on her head.

What bodies does she fit?

Mau's head and neck opening are sized to be a good fit on several popular doll bodies - CP/Luts, Obitsu, and Dollfie Dream. I have not had the opportunity to try her on a Volks resin body, but I think that she could be made to fit with some modification to the neck opening.

How long has the entire process taken you? (from the first day you started sculpting to the first Mau completed and on her way home)

I started sculpting in August 2005, and received the first final-cast Mau head in December 2005. Mau officially goes on sale on February 1, 2006, and we'll be shipping the heads in mid-to-late February.

Where can someone buy Mau? How much is she?

At the moment, all the Mau heads from this special edition are pre-ordered by collectors who have been keeping an eye on the project since the beginning. Their encouragement, enthusiasm, and support have made this project a real pleasure to work on.

'normal skin' Mau heads will be priced at $125, white Mau heads are $150.

We will definitely be offering more heads in the future, although they won't be exactly the same sculpt, in order to keep this first "litter" unique.

Are you planning another head or doll? What are your future plans?

I have several sculpts in mind for 2006, including an Anubis/jackal/wolf-style head designed for male bodies, a Sekhmet/lioness head, a Kitsune/fox head, and eventually a Mini-Mau head for MSD-sized dolls (which I've already had several requests for!).

I'm really excited about our future plans, although they'll again be dependent on Caitlin's ability to work around her other projects. We've had a lot of fun working together to create Mau, so I can't wait to apply what we've learned to upcoming heads!