Happy Christmas Eve! Today I was actually productive as far as making things. First, I made a backup copy of Twas A Night Before Christmas (I printed copy off of gutenberg.org and bound the pages using the Japanese-style technique), since we were worried that we had lost our traditional copy. Later, I entered into an amazing project that made me feel really proud and happy to be working on it. It's taken me several hours, and I'm still working on the outfit and adornments, but thus far...
Jacob Marley! Of the infamous tale by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. In case you're unfamiliar with the story (but seriously, how can anyone be unfamiliar with A Christmas Carol?), Jacob Marley is Ebenezer Scrooge's dead partner, who is the first ghost to visit him, in an attempt to change his ways. This year has been the year of Charles Dickens, and I've been enjoying it quite a bit. I read the original story of A Christmas Carol, and learned that all of the film and play adaptations have been incredibly true to the short story. But oh my... Dickens' descriptions are wonderful. They cause utter yearning for food and light and Christmas-y surroundings of all kinds.
And so, Charles Dickens was my influence to create an art doll for Jacob Marley. Marley has always been my favourite part of the story. I like A Christmas Carol in its entirety (in fact, I love it. Ever since seeing the stage play, I've been in love. Incidentally, their depiction of Jacob Marley was what caused me to love it), but Jacob Marley... Wow! I'm thinking about doing art dolls for the other ghosts, but for now... Marley.
The body is made out of vintage linen, and embroidered with cotton thread. His hair is a mixture of colours, his face is fully embroidered and stitched in such a way that it makes contours and scrunched gauntness. His body is embroidered with the famous phrase 'I wear the chain I forged in life'. The scarf around his neck is a piece of aged lace, which acts as an ascot. His jacket and outfit are still in progress, but those will definitely be weighed down with chains and all of the ghostly forged metal. This doll is influenced by the 1951 film adaptation, the book itself, and the Franklin Exhibition mummies.
Only one more sleep until Christmas day!
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