Reshare from Archive: October 2014
The year had been a definite season of Life for me with my Father's passing and then deep family issues...it threw me for a bit.
Still, I did survive and realized that many things in life that deeply challenge us are there not to hurt us, but to help us evolve to a higher understanding of just who we are and how we fit into this world. We may encounter ugliness, yet there is always a balance of beauty.
We just need to hold firm and find that beauty.
I was so deeply affected by this that I wanted to express it in my work, using the Seasons of Life — the Four Seasons and the beauty each holds.
Since Autumn is upon us ...I thought that I would start with her...
Photography: Mark Mortensen
Hand-made wood stools: Gary Leitch
This doll is held in a private collection
...and so, during this journey, I felt fragile and realized I needed some emotional protection. I researched various plants that bloom in China during the fall, and this is what I found: the Chinese lantern, which offers protection and also serves as a light to guide the way.
Beautiful Haven
美丽的天堂
Měilì de tiāntáng
Chinese lantern flowers symbolize an endearing and joyful emblem of warmth. Given that these flowers enfold and defend the small, delicate fruit buried within their husks, they may be the perfect symbol for protection. Their fiery orange-red hue denotes a passion for life, amiability, endurance, and vitality.
When selecting my fabrics for this, I wanted to use rich, warm colors, such as oranges and reds. I started with the peach-toned fabric of her dress, featuring delicate embroidered flowers. Found a bit of vintage kimono in just the right shade of red for her cuffs, leaning more towards the orange side.
The entire dress is lined with traditional vintage red Chinese silk.
To highlight the red in the cuff, I chose this silk brocade for the pants cuffs. Each piece is carefully placed on the fabric to make the most of the design...fussy cutting...and yes, most of my beloved fabrics look like Swiss cheese!
Not visible is the wonderful silk fabric for her pants, a lovely black and grey silk. The grey is flat, whereas the black is lightly gathered.
Shoes made from the remaining scraps of hat fabric and tipped with the tiniest sequins (from Australia).
Her crowning glory...her hat.
I found that many hats in China had a bar-like shape that mounted on top of their head...I wanted that basic shape, but also being able to spotlight the fabulous fabric.
Part of our endeavor as artists is to find things to inspire us to create something within our own personal style. Not to copy...it is a well-traveled road to be original.
I had just enough vintage fabric with this most perfect weaving in it. I had to use it.
Full hat view
I added the red sequins as an afterthought, letting the open space between the red weaving within the fabric guide my placement of each sequin.
Hand-made tassels using threads with a hand-painted metal cap to symbolize the outer shell of the Chinese lantern flower.
And in final thoughts...
Her face...I love the texture of the silk crepe that I use for her face overlay as well as her body. Her eyes are hand-painted with multiple layers of gloss to create the rounded shape of the eye. Shading done with pastels, a very sharp sepia pencil, and a fine line marker. All sealed with a workable matte fixative that does not change the fabric characteristics.
