Category Archives: Art

Artwork and various creative projects and obsessions from Berlin artist Suzanne Forbes.

A dollhouse maid upgrade for the Beetlejuice fashion revival!

Six inch scale dollhouse maid Beetlejuice custom by Suzanne ForbesTim Burton stripes are back, big time, and I’m also in love with bustles again!

Not that I ever stopped loving the bustle silhouette, but wow I am suddenly so excited to wear it and draw it and see it again. The goth and burner fashions of San Francisco in the Oughts were absolutely marvelous, and I am personally ready to bring these looks back in Berlin. It’s gonna be cold drawing at outside events this Fall and I am happy to wear some layers đŸ™‚

six inch scale bustle dress dollhouse maid custom by Suzanne Forbes August 2021 three shotLike this little commercial maid doll who I radically upgraded into the goth maid my dollhouses need!

I used fourteen different trims, ribbons and micro-picots plus three fabrics to do this customizing! Of course all the original articulation of the doll is preserved, and a cool bonus to narrowing her skirt silhouette and loading it with ruffles is that she now stands on her own!

I hadn’t touched my black-and-white trims bin in years and it was marvelous to see how many cool things I had saved every scrap of.

Below, the doll (I have named her Myrtle the Maid) with my biggest Little Shop of Horrors Audrey Two, made last year. The last image is the original doll before mods.six inch scale bustle dress dollhouse maid custom by Suzanne Forbes August 2021 outside

If you’d like to see more of my doll customizing, check out the Dollhouse and Dollmaking category on here, or these specific stripey-doll projects:

Gothic Lolita Nico Minoru custom

Gothic Burlesque Bride of Frankenstein

Other bricolage dolls and fairies I have made:

Fancy Wasp Dolly

Reserved Parking for Eliza

Valentine’s Monster Doll Armada

Snow Queen/Jadis

Fearless Pink Gay Santa

Gothic Rococo Horribella

Horribellas

Mummified Fairy King

Evil Mermaid

Opal Fimo Mantis Doll

Earliest dolls! with bad photos!

Drawing Rah Hell at Adenauerplatz, August 2021..

Rah Hell at Adenauerplatz by Suzanne Forbes August 27 2021I had another meet-and-draw, with Beloved Friend-Muse-Patron Rah Hell!!

Rah is one of my oldest Berlin friends, and has been an incredible muse to me. Drawing her playing the drums is one of the most fun challenges I’ve ever faced!

So since she won’t be in Berlin much longer, we had to meet up outside Graffiti and have a chat and a draw.

Rah Hell at Adenauerplatz by Suzanne Forbes August 27 2021Such a pleasure to see this dear friend and draw her familiar face.

As you can see from the scan above versus the photograph at the top of the post, it really is hard to convey how the pastels look in these drawings. But when I photograph drawings with the ipad, there is orthographic distortion. So it’s kind of a tough call.Rah Hell at Adenauerplatz by Suzanne Forbes August 27 2021 detail

In this case, the photograph looks so much better, even with a little distortion.

Rah will be performing with @felineandstrange at Steam Ball, a female-fronted alternative music festival, next weekend here in Berlin!!

I hope you will also check out Rah’s drum teaching Patreon đŸ™‚

So grateful to longterm Patron Rah (who was my first German Patron!) and to all my other Patreon Patrons, whose monthly financial support makes it possible for me to continue making art as a vaccinated but Covid-vulnerable disabled person.

With your support, I can work from home or safely outside and keep telling the stories of Berlin.

Other drawings and portraits of Rah:

The most punk charity benefit.

The most gay rugby benefit.

With Alfred Ladylike at Art Stalker.

At The Night of The Living Drummesses!

At the Tom Petty tribute show Rah helped create.

New Year’s 2018, at Lagari.

More New Year’s 2018, at Lagari.

With The Erinyes at Art Stalker.

Band practice at the secret space.

My portrait of Rah hanging at Ludwig, the first painting I showed in Berlin.

Rah at Uke Boogie, a delightful event she created and ran for several years.

More Uke Boogie.

Rah filming Das Fluff at Monster Ronsons.

With Donut Heart at Arcanoa.

Starting the big portrait.

With Donut Heart onstage at the Lesbisches and Schwules (Gay and Lesbian) Festival.

My first time at Uke Boogie!

And the Donut Heart video release party, which was when my life in Berlin really crystallized and began.

I am so grateful to Rah for the belonging, friendship, inspiration and laughter she has given me during her Berlin years. I look forward to hearing about her further adventures.