The Never End...

The Story Behind this Page of Art

A Doll's Dream is inspired by my childhood and is definitely influenced by my reading of Alice in Wonderland, loving the ideas in  C. S. Lewis' books about Narnia, viewing Jean Cocteau's movies (Beauty and the Beast where Belle's bedroom is in a garden) and listening to an amazing CD. 

Strangely enough, this art is also a result of my current fascination with modern art (I watched all of the DVDs for Art 21) and how beauty can be created from treasures you find around your home. 

So, all these pictures were spontaneously created with things I had around the house (except I asked my husband to pick up a bunch of flowers at Costco on his way home) and the doll is a Madame Alexander Doll  (I call her Angelique) from my childhood, along with some of the furniture given to me by a kind relative. 

The story of the furniture is interesting because when I went to live in Africa as a child, my mother said she gave the bedroom set to my cousin. I then remember crying over such a loss of my treasured furniture. 

Years later when I went back to live at my grandmother's home in Seattle, WA - guess what appeared? A box had been left in the basement of my grandmother's home and I finally had my doll furniture back again. 

The little handkerchief with the cat print belonged to my grandmother. Angelique is wearing a little outfit I found for her and her original cape  and original tea set. 

Some of the fun things I found as a child include the bottle she is holding. It has real soda syrup in it and we found it in Africa. The Belle Fleur candle was sent to me by a friend who read about it in the New York Times and it is delicious with pomegranate and orange blossoms. 

So the entire time I was creating the art, this candle was scenting the room with a gorgeous fragrance. 

Kitten Meesa snuggled up on the blue blanket my mother bought me and I thought it was so cute. My mother wanted to call me Angelique but my grandmother wouldn't let her, so my doll from childhood now has the name. 

A Doll's Dream is my idea of how Angelique loves the ocean, flowers and has a dream where she finds herself inside a wardrobe and disappears into another world. These are all things she does when I'm not around, including taking naps with Kitten Meesa. 

Belle Fleur Candles

And last but not least, I would like to thank my mentor and life guide for saying my first attempts at art were beautiful and that I should continue on in my quest.