Dear Friends and Family
My "doll of the
month" (see http://artdolladventure.homestead.com
if you don't know what I am talking about) is La Femme. I realised, with a
shock, that I've got a week left to work on her. She's been the most difficult
doll so far - I just could not "make a connection". At first, I
thought I'd turn her into a "Folies Bergère" dancer (since she's French), all in black
satin and lace, red velvet, fishnet, ostrich feathers and spangles - make her
really sexy and showy. But she did not want to. I was going to cut up a
curly red wig of mine for her, but she did not want that either. I was,
most of all, unhappy with her proportions, so I started work re-shaping her
body. She was happy with that. The surgery was drastic. She got a waist, hips
and a bottom, shorter arms and bigger feet, and I smoothed out some of her
bumps and made her breasts the same size. As I worked on her, she looked more
and more like a visionary - she sort-of gazes into the
distance with a faraway Joan of Arc look in her eyes. At present I am nearly
done covering her in lace "armour". I hope I finish by Thursday…
Thus I wrote, today. But
it is not true that I was “mostly” unhappy with her proportions. I also hate the
kitsch stuff in the shelves of her box – especially the white “snot” used to
glue down some of it. I have puzzled and puzzled about how to remedy the
situation. If I have time, I’m going to pull it all off. I’ll put the animals
and the jeeps from Antoinette’s “African Safari” in a little box. Squares and
oblongs will harmonise with the clean lines, and will help return the whole to
the “look” originally intended – pure, virginal, sanctified, holy. I feel very
irritated, cross, frustrated – how can
some people be so insensitive, not even attempt to understand? I am gatvol fixing up: the first thing that happened is that the
wheels broke off. The way they’d been attached damaged La Femme’s beautiful
box/coffin/torture chamber. Then the “pulling handle” came off – the weight was
too great, and the leather tore. My eccentric neighbour fixed the wheels and
the handle. I also asked him to add “feet” to the box. The wheels were lifting
one side of the box off the ground, so that it tilted when upright. You struggled
to get it open, and once open, it looked rickety.
A solution to the kitschy disunity of the inside of the box is to overstuff the “ugly” shelves with so much junk that they’ll eventually look a bit like the outside of the box: gleaming rectangles of colour and texture. Problem is, I do not have much junk immediately to hand. I suppose I’ll find enough, once I start hunting through the house, but I am running out of time… My simple solution, is to “cover up” – I’ll make doors for all the “ugly” shelves that “don’t go”.
I have been thinking about La Femme for three weeks,
instead of just starting on her. I
used to tell my learners: “Inspiration comes while you are working. You cannot
steer a static vehicle. Just start, then you’ll know what to do.” I certainly
did not follow my own advice, this time! Now my head is just bubbling with
ideas – but there is no time left.
I am taking a fat chance,
venting my spleen like this, on paper. My husband just asked, reading over my
shoulder: “Gaan die ander mense dit ook
lees? Hulle gaan nie baie daarvan
hou dat jy
sê hulle goed is kitsch nie.” Don’t I know
it! With any luck, only Hester and Joy will read this page. They are the last
two people who will actually work on the doll.
Now that I have spent
about three solid days re-shaping La Femme, and bedecking her body with a
collage of lace, I am starting to love her. Before, I found her very
unapproachable. Now, I feel such tenderness towards her. She has gentleness and
courage and strength, although she is so frail. She is ready to do battle,
listening to a Voice we cannot hear.
I found a beautiful poem, author
unknown, for her book.
Erna