JERRY TURNER
from Green Bay, Wisconsin
Tax Season
Doll named Sam
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Land of Odds, Be Dazzled Beads,
The Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts, and
The Open Window Gallery present…

SAM
BEADED COURT JESTER DOLL
(TAX SEASON)

I explore my beadwork with my fingers and all my senses. I feel my doll's creative aura -- one hundred years from now, I say, "when someone picks you up and holds you they too will be at one with the season of TAX. Tax season is in April and it's no surprise that the national practical joke day, known as April Fools Day is in the same month.

Although paying taxes is an important part of life, I don't know of anyone that really likes to pay taxes. Some may even say it's a joke, or..."I'm only getting that much back, they've got to be joking!" So what better to represent this season than a beaded Jester (Joker) doll with a grin on his face holding a money bag, and just waiting to collect your tax dollars you've been paying all year long.

So meet Jester the tax collector, also known as "Sam". Besides being a beaded doll, Sam also doubles as a bank. Just deposit your money through the slot in the back of his head. Sam is always eager to take all your tax dollars. But don't let his greedy look fool you entirely. Sam does have a sensitive side, and if you've paid money in, he is always willing to give out a tax return, although you may have to shake it out of him! If you would like your tax dollars back, turn Sam's head so that his chin points towards his money bag and his head pulls right off revealing a hole in his neck. To retrieve your tax return, turn Sam upside down and give him a little shake. The size of your return will depend on how much you've paid in this year.

Slot in back of head


Head facing money bag


Head pulled off

Sam also has another interesting feature. If you'd like, while you have Sam's head off you can put a glow stick or a small flashlight through the hole in his neck and then replace his head, and watch his eyes and mouth light up. This is his way of letting you know it's time to start paying taxes in again. And we all know we wouldn't want to upset the tax collector by not paying on time or underpaying. Sam's penalties are unBEADlievable!

Side Image

Back Image

Detailed Image

THE CREATION OF SAM

Sam was created from just an idea I had of making a colorful doll out of mainly all size 15/0 (approximately 1.5mm) glass Japanese seed beads. I came up with a pencil sketch of Sam the hip looking jester, and then began planning on how to turn the two dimensional sketch into a three-dimensional doll. He was made completely by hand. I used no machines or electrical appliances in the making of him. I started by making the internal structure out of bread twist ties, and then I covered the internal structure with homemade papier-mache. After completing his body, I then dressed him with approximately 150,000 beads in 27 different colors and shades. He is composed of 100% beads on the outside of which were almost all sewn on one bead at a time, using almost a half-mile of thread. Sam is my first beaded doll creation and took about 750 hours to complete.

I have always desired to be creative, therefore I decided to make up my own season in following the theme of "The Five Seasons." In making the decision to create a season of my own, my goal was to come up with a season that nearly everyone could identify with. After much thought, I came up with the "TAX SEASON" for my beaded doll. To portray the tax season theme, I gave Sam a look that says, "I've got your money!" I gave him a money bag and made him into a bank. And if you haven't noticed, he's even got the "bling bling" (Jewelry) on his finger and wrist, as you may well expect a tax collector to be decked out in!

Ring and bracelet

As another special touch, I beaded a small bag of beads some of every color used in the creation of Sam and placed them in to the heel of each of his shoes. If in a hundred years from now someone picks him up and they are at one with the tax season, and discover he has lost any of his beads they can simply repair him with some of the replacement beads from his shoe heels. I had a lot of fun in the design, creation, and making of Sam my beaded art doll. Now that he's complete, I like to sit and just gaze at him. I think you will see as I do that he has a mesmerizing way about him. I really believe that you also will enjoy Sam's creative aura as much as I do.

Sam
(rotation)

Materials Used for Internal Doll Form
o 48 - wire bread ties (skeleton)
o 8 - cotton balls (money bag)
o 4 - sheets of newspaper
o 1/2 of a 2 1/2" styrofoam ball (hat)
o 1 - clear plastic sheet (eyes)
o 1 4x4" mat board (neck and bottom of shoes)
o Elmer's art paste
o Elmer's glue
o Acrylic paints - red, purple, green, pink, white and black

Materials Used for Bead Work
o size A gold nylon thread
o size B white nylon thread
o size B black nylon thread
o 34-gauge silver beading wire (teeth & neck)

Seed Beads Used
25 colors of Japanese size 15/0 glass seed beads in the following colors:
o ceylon pale grey
o ceylon pale pink
o ceylon pale yellow
o ceylon silverlined silver
o fancy amethyst
o fancy dusty rose
o fancy forest green
o fancy orange red
o fancy peach
o fancy rainbow yellow
o goldenrod
o luster light pink
o luster pearl
o metallic dark gold
o opaque black
o opaque red
o opaque light red
o opaque white
o silver lined green
o silver lined light blue
o silver lined light gold
o transparent rainbow black
o transparent rainbow coablt
o transparent rainbow dark gold
o transparent rainbow orange

Other Beads Used
o Czech size 13/0 24KT gold glass seed beads
o Czech size 16/0 opaque black glass seed beads
o 1 - 4mm faceted fire polished bead crystal AB
o 3-10mm wood beads
o 6 - 6mm glass druk beads
o 7 - 3mm facted fire polished beads garnet AB

Body Creation Techniques
I created the Doll form completely by hand; no machines or electrical appliances were used. I first made the papier-mache by stirring newspaper, water and art paste together. I then made three newspaper balls for the head, jaw and nose. Next, I covered those balls with the papier-mache mixture. When those dried, I cut them open and pulled out the newspaper balls I used to form the molds with. I then re-glued two of them back together and used one ball as two halves to form the jaw. I cut out the eye sockets and glued a clear plastic sheet over them inside the head. I made the hat out of one half of a 2 1/2" styrofoam ball and wire twist ties, which I then covered with papier-mache. The body skeleton I made using wire bread tie twists, which I then covered with paper and paier-mache. As I covered it I used a paint brush handle to smooth and form the body. The entire body form is hollow with the exception of his hands and ears.

Beading Techniques
I used peyote as my primary stitching method with my own style of increasing and decreasing, in tube, flat, and round flat. Brick stitch is the second stitching method I used. I also used a lazy stitch method with thread and wire. I beaded the beads on his collar and hat in peyote and brick stitch. The only places where the beads are actually sewn to the papier-mache form are through the eyes, around the nose and inside the ears.

Size of Doll
11" high, 11" wide, 7" deep