If you know
anything about me or follow my blog, you will know
that I follow everything shiny down the artistic rabbit hole. I thought you might enjoy finding out how
this affinity for chasing everything shiny led me to create the Moulin Rouge
Dancers and La Fae Verte.
Hand beadwork for Ocean Goddess by Marla L. Niederer
Prior to the Moulin
Rouge Dancers project I had been working on my Ocean Goddess for six
months. I was trying some new techniques
with her and wanted to use beadwork to create the shimmery scales of a
fish. After doing a few rows of the
beadwork on her I knew this was going to be a long project. The process became
quite meditative and something I looked forward to each day. When she was complete I felt a bit lost and
was looking for something not quite as intense and a bit lighter to
create.
 |
| Hand beadwork for Ocean Goddess by Marla L. Niederer |
 |
| Ocean Goddess by Marla L. Niederer |
I had been
fascinated with the costumes of the Moulin Rouge and thought it might be fun to
create a Moulin Rouge Dancer.
I started the
project by developing a pattern that would utilize a wire armature to hold the
pose of the dancer. Then I started searching the internet for pictures of
Moulin Rouge Dancers to use as inspiration for the pose and the costuming. This is where the chasing everything shiny
down the artistic rabbit hole kicked in.
 |
| First Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. Niederer |
As I was creating
the first Moulin Rouge Dancer which has a very happy expression on her face, I
started to research the history of the Moulin Rouge and the stories of the dancers
on the stage. I found out that the
Moulin Rouge, which is still a tourist attraction in Paris, was where the
can-can dance started.
 |
| Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. Niederer |
I also learned that
the Moulin Rouge was a place where the different social classes would
mingle. It was also frequented by many artists,
one of which was Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
 |
| Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. Niederer |
Henri de
Toulouse-Lautrec was known for painting the most realistic portrayals of the
Moulin Rouge. As I researched more about
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec I found out about his fascination with the dancer
Jane Avril who was the subject of several of his paintings. Of course that led to researching Jane
Avril.
 |
| Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. Niederer |
Jane Avril had a
very difficult life which was the basis for the character Nicole Kidman played
in the 2001 movie Moulin Rouge. Of
course I had to watch this movie again for research purposes only, wink,
wink. I then created my Jane Avril
inspired Moulin Rouge Dancer with the not so happy expression on her face.
 |
| Jane Avril inspired Moulin Rouge Dancer by Marla L. Niederer |
Originally I was
going to do the costuming completely with fabric but soon found myself
utilizing beadwork in the costuming inspired by some of the costumes used in
the 2001 Moulin Rouge movie. I guess I
just can’t leave those beads alone!
 |
| Moulin Rouge Dancers by Marla L. Niederer |
I was enjoying this
project so much that I decided to continue to create a series of Moulin Rouge
Dancers with three different poses from the can can dance.
 |
| Moulin Rouge Dancers by Marla L. Niederer |
When creating an
art doll project I tend to immerse myself in everything to do with the project
and since I enjoy reading I tend to do quite a bit of research along with
it. I continued to read about the Moulin
Rouge and how the artists tended to gather together there while sharing their
ideas and a drink or two of absinthe.
Absinthe was called
La Fae Verte (the green fairy) by many and five o’clock was often called the
green hour due to the popularity of the drink.
La Fae Verte became a symbol of artistic transformation and artistic
liberty.
 |
| La Fae Verte by Marla L. Niederer |
When Absinthe is
prepared to drink, cool water is slowly dripped on top of a cube of sugar on a
slotted spoon placed over the glass of absinthe. This process transforms the drink into a
cloudy greenish-white mixture. As the
drink transforms from the green liquor into the cloudy greenish-white mixture,
it is supposed to transform the mind of the drinker liberating his/her
thoughts. Absinthe was considered a muse
by many artists and writers.
 |
| La Fae Verte by Marla L. Niederer |
Once I read this
information about absinthe and La Fae Verte, I had to create my own version of
La Fae Verte, the green absinthe fairy leaping out of a bottle of Absinthe. Maybe she can act as my very own artistic
muse!
If you wish to join
me in a class to make your own Moulin Rouge Dancer, I will be teaching this at
Artistic Figures In Cloth and Clay April
25-28, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio.
For more information on the Artistic Figures in Cloth and Clay
conference and to sign up for the Moulin Rouge Dancers class go to the website cyndysdolls.com
Until
next time……..
warm
hugs,
Marla
