EDIT: 20 out of 26 of these sold at ConnectiCon 2008. I won't say which ones, so that I can keep you guessing which ones are in the picture.

One day a while back, I was sifting through some old clay daruma dolls I had sculpted for a Japanese holiday a few years ago, and suddenly came up with the idea of customizing them with some of my favorite video game characters..."Nintendarumas" were born shortly after.

What is a daruma doll? They're a kind of wishing doll, originally modeled after the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma; legend has it that he meditated for so long a time that his arms and legs fell off (hence the roly-poly shape) and he lost use of his eyes (I believe; which is why the eyes on the dolls aren't filled in). You're supposed to make a wish or some type of goal and fill in the left eye of the daruma doll after doing so; then, you fill in the right eye when the wish/goal is achieved. Most often, only one daruma is kept at a time.

I was very...hesitant to make these, at a time. Not only are darumas supposed to be hollow and round, but these are a bit wonky and not at all hollow (I had to sculpt them from clay). A lot of darumas, when tipped over, stand upright again--symbolizing perseverance and optimism. These...well, they fall over with a soft *clunk,* haha.

I suppose part of me was also apprehensive because I haven't seen anything like this done before. I've seen daruma chibis and alterations of the dolls, but nothing like making them into video game homages. While I personally love them (I think they're a neat spin on an old classic while still maintaining an interesting tradition), I didn't want to come across as someone who's ignorant or disrespectful of Japanese culture or the Buddhist religion, or someone who simply wants an excuse to plug Nintendo fangirlism. Not at all the case. I'm all about old-meets-new, putting a new spin on things, is really all, and it was a spontaneous idea, so..hopefully it doesn't come across as something negative. ;

Anywho..these were all painted in acrylics and sculpted with Stonex block clay, and all 26 will be available at my table in ConnectiCon's Artist Colony.

I won't tell you which is which...I'll let you see if you can guess all of them.

Nintendo characters @ Nintendo
Darumas @ me