Profile

Name: Cathy Pinchbeck (if you hadn't guessed already) ;-)

Date of Birth: 17 January

Age: Classified

Location: Australia

Work: Yes.

Things that consume my spare time: My art, scuba diving, renovating my house, stamping, writing, designing and making cloth dolls. Plus a few other things.

I have had a strong creative streak all my life, meaning that I always been creating something, whether if was drawing or writing even as a young child. Through highschool I continued to draw and write. But I also learned to sew and developed a keen interest in period costume and fashion design. In fact during highschool, I wanted to be a fashion designer. Life seldom turns out how you expect when you are growing up. Life contines. I became employed (not fashion design), got married, learned how to scuba dive and bought a house. Creatively, I dabble in a lot of different crafts, while still designing and creating my own clothes.

I had been watching anime for a few years before I even picked up a pencil to draw my first anime/manga style drawing in 1997. And while I still love to draw in anime style, I seldom have time any more.

The thing that takes up most of my time and creativity is the designing and making of cloth dolls. I had made one or two cloth dolls and a couple of teddy bears from commercial patterns but it wasn't until 2000 when I was at a craft fair that I saw the wonderful creative sculptures you could make from cloth and the artistry one could make from one of my passions. Fabric.

I fell in love with a cloth dragon pattern designed by Melissa Small Paterson and a kit that would make a 1920's style flapper cloth doll. I had already spent a small fortune at the fair and had $20 left in my wallet before I had to start using the plastic. So I was left with a choice, buy the dragon pattern or buy the doll kit. In the end I decided to buy the dragon pattern, and decided that I could make my own doll pattern. One day later I had designed my own doll pattern and had made the doll. And so the designing of cloth dolls has grown from there.

It was a couple of months later before I made my first dragon using the pattern I had bought.

Creating cloth dolls combines techniques of the arts and crafts that I like, such as sewing, using beautiful fabrics, and drawing anime. I feel that porcelain and other clay mediums are limiting where as a piece of fabric can inspire and turn into a doll or a cloth sculpture. I get ideas for my dolls from many sources. It could be a picture, a movie, one of my drawings, something that I have written or even just the fabric.

Frequently Asked Questions

I have emailed you or have signed your guest book but I haven't heard from you?

First may I thank you for taking the time to say hello, and I do appreciate that you have made the effort. Unfortunately, I have found that my real life job does keep me busier than I would like and doesn't allow me time to answer all your messages. I would still like to hear from you though.

Can I use your art on my home page?

Definitely not without permission. I do occasionlly allow my art on other home pages but mostly they are my friends and always only with my permission. PLEASE use my art only with my permission. You can link to my site but not to graphic, Don't steal my band width.

Can I link to your site?

Yes, my site is link free, which means you can link to my site without my permission. As the format of my sites and pages do change frequently, the address to link to is 'http://www.netspeed.com.au/qazicat/' as this page will remain constant

Do you do commissions for your cloth dolls or art?

I have done a few comissions in the past, but my life is so busy now that I hardly have time to do art for myself let alone anyone else. So the answer is, not anymore.

Do you ever update your site with new content?

The short answer is soon. I am really busy in my real life but I am always doing something creative. When ever I have made an update to my site, it will be listed in the updates.

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