New work in progress
A new series of cloth dolls, will soon be ready to decorate your walls for Xmas.
I’ve been inspired by the photos from the Galley Museum in Queenstown. What fascinates me about these historical photos from the early 1800s is the fashion from that period, the long black taffeta skirts, and cinched in bodice, the wistful faces and the theatrical backdrops.
I had already made several ink illustrations from these photos for an artist book I made about the women of Queenstown/West Coast. I wrote a bit about it here and here
When I recently came across photos of 17th century embroidery I was fascinated by the other worldly flora depicted in scenes with birds and women gathering bouquets of flowers. This led to researching old names for plants and animals to use as titles for these works. Like, did you know ‘Rosa canina’ is the name for Dog Rose also known as Common Briar or Briar Rose?
Several of these paintings will be on display at Soggy Brolly mid November.
While working on these watercolours I imagined how I could replicate the figures in fabric. Making a simple template from the silhouette of one of my figures, traced onto fabric, stuffed, stitched and painted!
I think they are so much fun to make and soon I hope to make a small tutorial on the making and painting of these dolls. The finished dolls and art work will be available soon at Soggy Brolly.
I am endlessly amused and delighted when drawing and painting a face, just a few simple little lines create so much personality and an immediate empaphy: a story begins and your imagination is in a happy place … I call it, a tiny bit of creative alchemy.
The Victorian skirts allow for some fun themes to emerge, like a theatrical set with curtains on either side.