There wasn't much opportunity to take photos in the Scillas this year. Along the town line they were overgrown with dog strangling vines, and the ones in my backyard seemed much more sparse than usual due to the weird winter we'd had. The weather also didn't cooperate during their short blooming period. So Willie and Winston wanted to take advantage of the one good day and have tea together in the flowers....
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I've been inspired lately to take 'artistic' photos featuring my dragons, and I really love this set of photos with my beautiful Agnes....
Monica and Narin had left, so Lawrence tried to get back to his work... But he didn't get very far.... ...before Monica came back in, with all their children... "What now?" She loved the painting and was excited to show the children. "Look at this beautiful painting of your father." "It's brand new, and was just hung up here earlier today. Isn't it wonderful?" "Wow!" commented Ringo, "He looks just like a KING!" Everyone stared at him... "Well, maybe that's because he IS one!" "Yeah dummy!" "But..." he stammered,"...what I meant was..." He was feeling so embarrassed...and went over to his dad. "I didn't mean it like that." "It's alright..." "I knew exactly what you meant."
Lawrence was really pleased with the painting, and had it hung above the fireplace in his office... "It looks good there, don't you think?" Then he sat down at his desk....in hopes of getting back to work.... But Monica wanted to discuss something with Narin. "I may have another job for you." She turned to Lawrence. "Narin is so talented, and I'd love for him to paint another portrait. A special one just for me." "A painting of you in your armour." "You look so handsome in your armour. " "But I have a lot to do, and I'm way behind." "I have more important things to do other than getting dressed up to pose for paintings." "I'm not even caught up yet from all the time lost with that last one." Monica leaned in close and whispered something in his ear... His eyes lit up..."All right. I'll do it." Monica turned to Narin, "So it's settled then. His Majesty has agreed to pose for another portrait. When can you start?" "Well, it's all up to his Majesty. Whenever he has the time." "Well, how about as soon as we get caught up with all this paperwork?"
Lawrence stood, studying the painting... "So, what do you think dear?" "It's magnificent." "It's far beyond anything I was expecting." He extended his hand... "You've done an amazing job." Narin was both relieved, and very happy at the reaction to his painting.... "You've really outdone yourself, young man." "Thank you."
It had been a few weeks since Lawrence had posed for his portrait, and Narin had finally finished it, and he was ready to unveil it... It was the best painting he had ever done, but he was still a little nervous.... Lawrence was secretly a little nervous as well.... Well, he thought that he'd better get on with it, so Narin started to remove the draping... "I hope it meets with your Majesty's expectations." Lawrence was speechless... Monica broke the silence, "So, what do you think dear?"
The twins were enjoying their new freedom, flitting about the garden, checking out the spring flowers...
I had wanted to make little butterfly fairy costumes for the Avery twins so they could go out and about with the Grandma Phairby. So, last month I started on the wings, forming them out of wire, and then gluing on white cotton with Gemtack glue. I didn't feel like painting all the fine details of monarch butterfly wings, so I researched other 'orange butterflies' so the kids would still be the same colour as their Grandma. I settled on the Tawny Emperor Butterfly. Then I started painting the wings.... It took forever since both sides of the wings needed to be painted, which meant sixteen sides altogether. Then they were sealed with a few coats of matte varnish... I started on tiny fairy outfits based on the ones I had made years ago for the OOAK polymer clay fairies, but they just weren't working out, so I gave up for a few weeks and went on to some other things. Then a month later I decided to try finish the two tiny fairy outfits I'd started, as I really hate having unfinished projects laying around. Especially after having put all that time into the wings. So I tried the outfits I'd made onto the dolls again and determined that what had tripped me up was trying to make fairy outfits with no sleeves, and that they would be worn with bare legs. I realized the two dolls didn't look very good with bare limbs. They had way too many tiny joints (the arms have five separate pieces alone) and their arms are always twisting all over the place. The dolls needed long sleeves and tights. So I made both dolls black stockings, and stitched tiny orange tubes for sleeves, which I hand-stitched into the existing armholes. I thought the pigtails of Emily's wig would obscure too much of the wings, so tried on a commercial wig that I'd originally purchased for her years ago. I trimmed all the long curls at the sides and back. Then I stitched the two long braids into little buns instead... Then the twins were ready to go exploring with their Grandma...
It was World Puppetry Day, and the royal children were playing with their knight puppets with their young dragon friends. Most of the little dragons were afraid of the big scary knight puppets.... ...except for Scorch, who took matters into his own hands...
We hadn't had a decent snowfall all winter. Every time there was a 'storm' in the forecast, it would start in the evening after dark, and it would look gorgeous outside when we went to bed. But in the night it would turn to rain, and in the morning it would be a totally washed out mess. So, on March 22nd another storm was forecast, and it was supposed to start in the morning for a change, and it did. Big soft flakes started falling at dawn, and actually stayed on the ground. We were expecting several centimetres before it was over, and it looked like the perfect snowfall for some doll photos. I'd wanted to take photos of Matias and his horse in the snow, so I packed them up, and off we went to the Guildwood Ruins Garden. As we arrived, the softly falling snow turned into a blizzard, and the place was deserted. But we weren't deterred. We trudged through the snow to the first place I had in mind for some photos. That ruin had a nice, raised, stone railing on which to stand Matias and his horse, so I posed them on it, and started taking photos. When taking photos in the snow it's always important to take more than one, because you never know when a snowflake or three will streak in front of your subject's face. Like here... It's fine if there are streaks of snow anywhere else, as it adds to the reality of the storm, just as long as there aren't any streaks across the middle of the subject's face.... Then I wanted to take some photos over at my favourite spot between two large pillars with the Greek Theatre in the background. It meant posing Matias on his horse on the ground, along with the dragon. The spot was somewhat sheltered by some tall trees, so the snow wasn't coming down quite as hard. But it was windy, and very cold. I knew I'd wanted to take photos in this spot, and that meant getting down on the ground, so we'd brought along a tarp for me to lay down on. The best doll photos are always taken level at the doll's eyes, so that meant laying flat on the ground. It's the only way to get a photo like this.... Then it's just a matter of zooming in for some closer shots... ...and squirming around on the tarp for a different angle.... I love taking photos in the snow, especially while it's actually snowing, as it gives a certain, magical quality to the scene. Almost like a fantasy painting. I had wanted to take some photos of the ruins as well, but my fingers were in severe pain from the cold (even though I was wearing mittens) so we just left. In the end I was thrilled with the photos, and was glad we'd made the effort.
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AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
April 2024
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