As
the Dali Lama has once stated, “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.” According to Thich Nhat Hanh, “Through we all
have the fear and the seeds of anger within us, we must learn not to water those
seeds and instead nourish our positive qualities – those of compassion,
understanding, and loving kindness.”
At
this time in my life, the only way I feel I can respond to the current climate
of news events, is to create my art. While engaged in the process of creating
art all else slips away while I enter into a state of total peace, total
calm. I strive to create my art to
reflect and be infused with that calm and peace. I cannot
change how others think. I cannot change
how others act. All I can change is
myself and what I choose to send out to others in my thoughts, actions, and
creations.
I
wanted to share with you my latest creation.
She was inspired by Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion, one who hears the
cries of all beings. Others know her as a
Bodhisattva, one who puts off Nirvana in order to liberate all sentient beings.
Many representations of Kuan Yin depict her as a beautiful oriental woman in
flowing gowns carrying a vessel filled with the waters of compassion. She is often depicted standing or sitting
upon a lotus blossom.
In
this interpretation of Kuan Yin, I chose to place a hand crafted and hand
painted lotus blossom upon her head as a headdress. She wears a skirt and shawl of hand painted
cheesecloth which represent the waters of compassion. Her costume is hand beaded with silver lined
glass beads.
She will be on display at
the Quinlan Artist Doll and Teddy Bear Weekend Event in Philadelphia this
April. I will also be teaching a class
at the event on how to use watercolors for skin tone and facial
coloration.
The class is limited in size
to six students. If you are interested in joining me in the class be sure to sign up soon to insure your place. If you would like more
information about the event and find out how to register for the class click on
the following link to the event website
I have been working
on an early French Mignonette inspired doll off and on for quite some
time. This week I have been working on
her costume. She still needs shoes,
hair, and more embellishments.
The early French Mignonette dolls were “pocket” dolls that could be taken
anywhere by their lucky owners. The
early ones were bisque, jointed, and had inset eyes. My inspired doll is a needle sculpted cloth
ball jointed doll. She is hand painted
with watercolors and has a unique needle sculpting technique around the eyes to
give the illusion of inset eyes.
While
researching this project I learned some interesting information about the
bisque mignonette dolls which I will share with you in my next post. Until then wishing you a very creative week.
warm hugs,
