In 2010, the National Art Gallery's summer blockbuster show was called Pop Art; Life in a Material World.  It featured work by artists like Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons.  The  exhibit was dominated by kitsch; sparkly, day-glow kitsch.  Some of the installations made me think of Vegas casino lobbies; all brass and glass lit by bright lights.  Once again I found myself pondering the difference between art and craft. 

My brother is  a professional clown and sometimes I make costumes for him.  There are always remnants.  In addition, he presented me with a huge bag of remnants from a costumer who had gone out of business.  The same week, Toys R US had a sale on Barbie dolls.  I bought 10 and the Barbie Project began. 

My goal was to make a series of glamorous outfits for my new Barbies and to display them on brass and glass shelves.  I planned to shine 300-watt lights to maximize the sparkle. 

It was a good plan, I suppose.  But as the project to dress the Barbies progressed, friends donated more glitzy scraps and more Barbies.  I found a weekly sale that had a bin of nude, disheveled Barbies for a dollar each.  I bought a couple of dozen.  A forgotten box of my children's Barbies surfaced from the basement.  The lighting and shelving part of the plan was unreasonably expensive.  And now I have too many Barbies.

My new goal is to present each Barbie here with a little tale and maybe then I can get rid of them before I turn into a nutty old lady who plays with dolls.