BJD Hobby: My Reflections

This is more of a chat post, because I felt that I wanted to share some of my insight on the hobby and... that is why I have the blog for! This is not a scheduled post, so please excuse the quality of the pictures: I am back to taking photos with my phone, as I sold my camera before moving countries.

Also, cheers to my partner, 10/10 totally recommended, because he stood there patiently while I wrangled with Venezia's wig. "Why do I have to pose, instead of you?" he asked. "Because I like to take pictures, and you are terribly framing a photo" I explained. And so, these pictures happened. BTW, I am in-love with V's outfit here.

How it all Started

So, a couple weeks ago I was talking with a colleague, and they asked a very simple question: "do you have any hobbies?". And then, my mind went into the deep abyss of the BJD hobby. How could I explain something like this to that person? Even if some people have an open mind, I don't appreciate divulging the fact that I'm a grown up woman playing with toys. So I summarized it easily: "I love photography".

What can you do in this hobby, then?

But regardless of that, I remembered something I read somewhere: "the BJD hobby is the hobby of hobbies". Seriously! Let's make some items, from my point of view:

• Do you like sewing? Go ahead, you can sew for dolls, and break your head trying to port traditional pattern-making or fashion design into the miniatures of a doll body, where 1mm makes a hell of a difference. In my case, I love period fashion, and I really enjoy sewing... never mind the intricacies of making my math to create a pattern out of scratch, making darts and all of that.
• Do you like crafting in general? Go ahead, again, you can craft shoes, eyes, wigs... because if you want a weird, Reinassence-style updo for your doll, animals included in them, you can do it. Do you like needle-felting? Of course, you can do pets for your dolls, even hats!
• What about miniatures? You can ask... I'll point you to the amazing dioramas and roomboxes I've seen in this hobby (seriously, check ResinRapture's blog, because her skills are otherwordly!). I have made a lot of furniture for my dolls as well, and really enjoyed it as well! My TreeStump diorama is my favorite craft, honestly
• Do you like writing or world-building? Of course, you can use your dolls as your characters, and create stunning worlds, while having your characters IRL with you, in a physical form. I could point you so many incredible writers in this hobby!
• Do you like painting/sculpting? Of course, again! Not only you can paint the dolls (this was a dream of mine, and I thoroughly enjoyed doing this), but you can also sculpt on them, create fantasy parts, or even your own dolls!
• And if you want an always-available-never-complaining model for photos? Of course, BJDs. And you can also take pics of your dioramas, crafts, miniatures, frames for the stories, outfits, and even the faceups and paintings you did.

It took me six items, and that was making it shorter because, for people inside the BJD hobby, I was already stating the obvious. How can you explain this to other people?

The Community

And then, you have the community. If I look back, so many things I happened, and I think I never shared it before, openly, here in my blog.

It all started after a failed Google search, as it did for many people. I ghosted around DoA for two or three years, never feeling part of it because my doll was homemade of cold porcelain, and I didn't have a "real" resin BJD. And then came my blog, and you people embraced me and followed my adventures.

Then, recasts started to get popular. I was part of a local Facebook group, and things with recasts got so bad that people started to bully pro-artists. I had written a pro-artist post, explaining a lot of details of the process, and people were mean to me. My account got reported and closed, and I felt like I was out of place on this community.

I went back to my safe heaven, my blog. And eventually, Instagram came. Yeah, there is still drama but I have learned to keep safely away from that. And one day, I needed the help of the community: I asked for help to keep my cat with me, and people helped me. They purchased my patterns on Etsy, they shared my links and posts, and they donated me. And now, it is thanks to this hobby that I am here, sitting with my cat in my lap, across the world where everything started, sharing this.

Is it a hobby? Yes. Is it only a hobby? No, it is way more than that. It is not only a venue for expressing a thousand of artistic threads, but it is also a group of amazing people. I owe this hobby so much, and I wouldn't have expected it seven years ago when it all started.

That is why I cannot express it easily or summarize as a society-appropriate answer to the question "do you have any hobbies?". I would still go with photography, because it is the side I enjoy the most after sewing. But at least I was able to rant here.

Food for thought. If you want, I dare you explain what this hobby is for you! Have a nice weekend, and thanks for reading this wall-of-text.