Good question. Since finishing work for my current show at Soggy Brolly, I’ve been working my way through unfinished dolls, which led to starting some new projects and ideas.
One new work that I am immensely happy with how it turned out is the above work, titled, Lady Londonderry. It’s a small painted fabric doll inside a shadow box that I have lined with watercolour illustrations. The watercolours have been sealed in a wax varnish.
The process of using a wax varnish on top of watercolour is relatively new. Why it works is because it doesn’t lift the water based pigment off the paper. It also makes the work archival and light fast.
Lady Londonderry was the name given to the garden designer Edith Vane Tempest- Stewart. One of the most notable 20th century gardeners from County Down, Northern Ireland.
Want to know more about Lady Londonderry, there is a documentary HERE. It’s in French but has subtitles.