For me art is pure experimentation, trial and error, build, take apart, and start over again.
Such is the case with this piece. I actually started working on this project months ago. It started out as an altered brush believe it or not. My vison was for the bristles to be the underskirt of her dress then build it up with laces and flowers and do a Marie Antionette inspired piece.
Originally, the handle was to be the base for the body and I envisioned this beautiful side sweeping dress coming out from a corset bodice, a beautiful RELICS & ARTIFACTS® head and face painted and embellished all fancy-schmancy. You get the picture.
I created a beautiful side-sweeping lace and fabric dress on the brush and it looked awesome. It was everything else that was wrong!
The corset just didn't look right and the arms were a challenge. Then the head wasn’t just right. I put it to the side (and not very quietly, mind you). It sat there staring at me for a long time. I glared back at it and called it names. I was determined to make this happen. I wanted to make a couture dress and pair it up with a beautiful Relics head piece. It was frustrating for me that my original plan just wasn’t coming together until…
I was searching online one day for a wire dress form and I found this adorable Christmas ornament and a light bulb flashes on. I know right? It was a good size, the PERFECT size for my couture project. I ordered all they had left in stock and since it wasn’t Christmas time they were on clearance. WIN-WIN!!! Go me!!!
So now I’m looking at the brush that the dress I made is still attached to and it's only half of a dress. Hmmmm. I pulled the dress off of the brush and I laid it out on my table. I got my vintage laces, fabric pieces and trims out and I created a mirror image of the other piece I had made. I cut and sewed and glued until both sides matched. This was so exciting!
My vision was coming together and once I completed painting and adding some fine details to the Relics and Artifacts face and head it was just the perfect touch.
I am thrilled with how she turned out. Something that started out as one thing came out so differently than originally planned can be so rewarding. So when you get frustrated with a project, don’t toss it too far out of sight because you just never know when the right thing will come along and pull it all together.
