It was a few days ride before Kyle and Adrian arrived at the Tavern where they had agreed to meet the man who was selling the horses.... The bar maid watched them come in... "Welcome. It's nice to se you again." They shook hands... "It's good to be back.." "...and this is my friend, Adrian. He's come along to help me with the horses." "Come, and sit down..." "I've ordered us some drinks...and dinner....which will be served shortly."
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Kassia watched them ride away.... Even though her 'happily ever after' hadn't turned out quite as she had expected.... ...or hoped.... She still loved him.... ....and was still going to miss him....
Kyle and Adrian mounted their horses and headed out.... Passing through one castle gate after another.... ...on this early Spring day.... The Prince was only too happy to be going out with his friend.... The sun was out and it wasn't too cold... It was the perfect day to start on an adventure....
One day Adrian's friend Kyle arrived... "Are you ready to go?" "Ready to go? Where are you going?" "Kyle is going to pick up some horses....at the far end of the kingdom......." "He asked if I'd like to come with him, and I said that I'd love to." "And you never thought to tell me??" "Well, it's not like we had anything more important planned..." Then he picked up Rags... "I'm really going to miss you, boy..." "And what about me?" "Well....I'll miss you too....of course..." Adrian started to leave.... "How long are you going to be away?" "I don't know. As long as it takes. Maybe a week....or two." And the two of them left.... "I guess we'll see you then....whenever you come back...."
It had been a few years since Adrian had broken the jealous Fairy Queen's vindictive spell, and released Kassia from her enchantment... ...and life as a wedded couple seemed to have lost some of its spark. "Would you like some tea?" But Adrian often seemed distracted by Rags, their cat... Adrian was very fond of their cat.... ...and Kassia sometimes wondered... ..if her Prince didn't in fact miss the days when she was still enchanted.... ...and in the form of a cat. After all, she had been a cat for the first three years after they first met...
I'm finally ready to start posting my White Cat Sequel. I started on it two years ago - in stops and starts - but never finished photographing it. Mostly because I hadn't figured out the ending. The story was to be about what happened after 'Happily Ever After' in the old French Fairy Tale, the White Cat the BackgroundIt all started thirty years ago, back in 1992, when my sister Marianne and I were just starting out making OOAK dolls together. We thought it would be fun to do a photo story using some of our dolls. I went through my fairytale books looking for an interesting, yet relatively unknown, story, and we ended up choosing the White Cat, an old French fairytale written by Madame d'Aulnoy, and published in 1698. We set about making the two main characters; Prince Adrian, and the Princess Blanchette in her human form. Marianne sculpted and painted them, while I made their costumes and finished them. We also made eight cat figures, which we sculpted and painted together, and I dressed. All the other human characters were existing dolls we had standing around at that time. The original Prince Adrian and Princess Blanchette. They were among the first of the dolls my sister sculpted, and not yet up to the caliber of her later work. But we thought they were great at the time. the StoryIn the White Cat story, a king, fearing that he will lose his throne to one of his three sons, sets them impossible tasks to distract them. First he says that the one who can obtain the smallest and most beautiful dog will become the next king, and gives them a year to obtain it. The three princes set off separately. The youngest son travels far and wide, and eventually discovers a fantastically decorated castle hidden in the woods, which is inhabited entirely by intelligent, talking cats. Their queen is a beautiful little white cat, who invites the prince to dinner and entertains him. He is surprised to see that the cat wears a locket containing a portrait that looks just like him. The prince remains in the white cat's castle happily for nearly a year, enjoying many entertainments, until the white cat reminds him of his mission and bestows him with an acorn, telling him that the dog is inside. When he returns home and breaks open the acorn, inside is an impossibly tiny dog which dances before the king. Although the youngest prince is clearly the winner of the contest, the king sends the princes out once more, this time in search of muslin fine enough to be drawn through the eye of a needle. While his brothers begin to search once more, the youngest prince returns immediately to the white cat's castle and spends another year there. At the end of the year, she sends him home with a walnut. The older two princes bring muslin which can fit through the eye of a large needle. Inside the youngest prince's walnut is a hazelnut seed, which contains a successively smaller seeds. Inside the smallest seed is a massive amount of muslin, magnificently embroidered, which fits through the eye of any needle. The king still reluctant to give up his throne, sets a third task, telling them that whoever can win the most beautiful princess for a bride would be king. The youngest prince returns once more to the white cat's castle, and she promises to help him win this contest as well. Over the next year, he guesses at the cat's background, but she refuses to tell him. At the end of the year, she tells him that she can give him a beautiful princess, but only if he will first cut off her head. The prince at first refuses to cut off his beloved cat's head, but is eventually forced to comply. Then, from the cat's body appears a beautiful woman, while the cat courtiers are transformed into humans. The princess finally explains her past, and they set out together for the prince's kingdom, where she is found to be far more beautiful than his older brothers' brides. However, the former white cat rules over six kingdoms, and bestows a kingdom each on his father and older brothers, leaving her and the youngest son still with three kingdoms over which to reign. They celebrate a triple wedding. Our VersionAlthough we loved the main storyline, we found the ending too gruesome, so we changed it. Our book was made in the days before digital cameras, Photoshop, or colour printing, so we had to get creative. We had to take photos the old fashioned way, using a film camera, get them printed, and stick them onto colourful border pages with the text, and slip those into plastic sleeve pages in a binder..... I also didn't have all the sets I have now - in fact I didn't have any at all - so we had to get really creative with backgrounds as well. Some of the outdoor scenes could be photographed in our own backyards, but for fancier gardens and all the interior shots, we had to come up with something else. We'd look in our books for pictures of suitable interiors - or find calendar pictures. Then Marianne would take photos of the dolls in the correct poses in such a way that they'd end up being the right size in the photographs when we had them printed, so she could cut them out and position them on the book page and reshoot the cut-outs on the book photo, for the final photo. Or if we could find a close up picture from the same castle, we'd hold it behind the dolls.... Marianne would have to use the same cut-out technique to have it appear that the dolls were in a nice garden or exterior setting.... After finishing our books, I kept Prince Adrian, Blanchette, and five of the eight cats that we had made..... The years passed, and we stopped making dolls together, and I eventually discovered the world of ball-jointed dolls. I thought my Iplehouse BJDs were infinitely more attractive than those early sculpted dolls, and started eyeing their costumes. It seemed convenient that my JID ladies were roughly the same size as that old Princess Blanchette, and her costume although sewn on, did not use any glue, so would be easy enough to remove. So in 2012 I made the decision to just go for it. I carefully picked Blanchette's gown apart, and since the reworked version would need to be removable, I decided to make it into several separate parts in order to help reduce the bulk... The bodice could be worn with or without the sleeves, which could hook on at the shoulders. The skirt was made into two layers. My Isar, a JID from Iplehouse, had just arrived that spring, and she was the initial model for the reworked dress.... Then the search was on for someone to replace Prince Adrian. I purchased a Limhwa Mono on the secondary market, and thought he'd make a good Prince, so removed all the clothes off the original Prince, and reworked it for the new guy..... Yes, he was rather young looking, but mature looking dolls his size did not exist back then. He made a great Prince Adrian, and immediately adopted his name as well as his costume. Only thing was, I had a problem. Prince Adrian was a pale French resin, and I didn't have any pale resin ladies, and it just wouldn't do to have any of my darker resin ladies be the Princess. I felt that she should be pale like her Prince. So during Iplehouse's Winter Event that year, I ordered JID Kassia, in Normal resin, specifically to wear the white gown.... Kassia with her White Cat counterpart....photographed together in early 2020.... After photographing Kassia and the White Cat together, inspiration hit.....why not come up with a sequel to the story? Kassia and Adrian were definitely a couple, and had appeared in a few short stories together, but it could be interesting to come up with an entirely new story - a follow up to their original background story. I still had five of the original eight cats that we'd made thirty years ago, and with a digital camera and PhotoShop, so much more would be possible now. So I started to think about a rough storyline. I thought it would have been nice to have a few more cats, and Marianne, who still owned one of the three cats she originally kept, gave me hers. She had also taught some sculpting classes years ago, and her cat class had been a favourite, and I had one of her blank, wired, cat samples. In my new story I was going to need a cat version of Prince Adrian, so I painted my blank cat in colours close to Adrian's hair colour, and made him a costume as close as possible to the original which had been made thirty years ago. I even still had a few of the original fabrics! However, the only spare boots I had were brown, instead of black, but they'd just have to do. Then a friend, who knew about my plans for a sequel, and also had one of my sister's blank samples, offered me hers. So I printed out some nice cat pictures to help as a reference when I painted it.... Then I finished the cat, dressing it like a maid in a smaller copy of an existing costume, just in case she'd need to appear in her human form at some point in the story... Then in early spring of 2020 I started shooting my story.... I photographed Kassia, seated at the window, dreaming of when her Prince would return. It was the very first time I ever photographed a doll at that window in the bright light like that, and I loved it, and it became the inspiration for all the ones that have followed since... Then in March 2020, winter was almost over, and we went out on location to shoot a few scenes in the snow.... ...and at the Ruins Garden.... ....but then a few days later Jan got sick, and ended up in the hospital for a month, and they took away his driver's license for six months. Covid had hit at that same time and everything was in lockdown, and the photography had ground to a halt. I did get some motivation back later that year, and shot a few more scenes, but the storyline had gotten so complicated that I hadn't figured out a way to resolve it, so the photography stalled again.
But I have it pretty much figured out now, and am back to shooting the missing scenes, so am ready to start posting the first part of the story....so stay tuned... In the world of doll photography some photos come about as a result of a sudden inspiration, but most take some planning. Like Baron and Naomi's wedding, which will take place at some point later this year. But I'm actually planning even further ahead, to when the two of them will have some children. So I purchased a set of twins from Junkyspot last month. A little boy and a little girl; Myou Du Du and Feng Linger (who will definitely need new names). They are a little bigger than baby Sena, so too big to be 'babies', but are the perfect size to be toddlers. When they arrived I thought I'd check them out size-wise with their future Mom.... The twins are about the scale of a one-year old toddler.... Junkyspot also sent a free gift of a little Hujoo baby along with the two Myou children. It's the right size for a baby, but doesn't really work aesthetic-wise. She'd work much better as a Fairy baby.... So I gave the baby some eyes, and borrowed some of Sena's clothes to see if they would fit the three of them, and they did, although everything was a bit too short for the twins, and way too big for the baby. I also borrowed a wig destined for someone else, just to see how it would look on the little girl. Then took some photos of the three of them.... The twins will need both Medieval and contemporary outfits, as well as wigs, but I put them back in their boxes, since I'm nowhere near ready to tackle either just yet. I have plenty of time since their future parents aren't even married, or expecting yet. At least not as far as I know.
I finished Naomi's wedding gown, so now that the most important dress is finished, I can move on to other costumes for a summer wedding. I actually made two identical gowns, one for Naomi and one for a friend's Bianca. So I used Bianca as my model.... When I was finished both I couldn't resist trying one on Naomi and taking some studio photos of the two ladies modelling their gowns together. ...and then a few more portraits of Naomi in her gown...
I have my first book! Well, second book if I count the one my sister put together with the photo story I did with her gnome characters. My sister Marianne is a professional graphic designer and layout artist, and offered to create some books for me. She thought my Alphabet Challenge series from ten years ago would make a great book, so that's the one she did first. The photo series was done as a challenge by an Iplekids Yahoo group I belonged to at the time, with members challenged to take a photo of each consecutive letter of the alphabet for 26 weeks. I only had three BIDs at the time - Elin, Nami, and Byuri - but I enjoyed the challenge so much that it started my obsession with doll photography. So, this series of photos was what started it all. I've toyed with the idea of eventually making books with my photos, but I'd never have been able to come up with the wonderful designs and layouts that Marianne did. Here's a few of the pages..... Unfortunately I can't offer it to my fans at this time because it's way too expensive. The regular price of the 65 page 11x8.5" Classic Landscape Glossy hardcover Photo Book came to $147. Canadian ($115.US) not including the shipping.
Now I'd like to put together a book with my favourite Fairy photos, and this time I would like to try keep the page number down so it becomes more affordable. But since the books are primarily for myself at this point, it will be what it becomes. I wanted to photograph Rex and Baron on their horses in as many different places as I could so it would look like they were actually 'travelling'. On one of our drives just to the north of us, I'd spotted a bend on a quiet road in the country where there were huge snow banks from the snow plow after the last big snowstorm. So We took Rex and Baron there, and I posed them on their horses on top of the snow bank.... With the dolls raised up on a snow bank, it was easier to take photos of them at their eye level, since I definitely didn't want to get down in the snow.... I had painted the griffin on one side of an old pennant, which was originally made decades ago for a Joan of Arc figure. I never throw out anything since you never know when it might come in handy. I made a pocket on one end to hold a dowel, and it was first used in the scene above. But it was windy, and it was obvious that I'd need to paint the same griffin on the other side as well....so I did. I'd also noticed another promising spot maybe two miles from home where there was a trail into the 'woods' in a hydro corridor. So, after another lovely snowfall with the snow sitting nicely on all the branches, we took Rex and Baron there. There were two huge concrete barriers laid beside each other across the head of the trail to discourage motorized vehicles. I made my way through the deep snow in the ditch, and posed the knights on top of the snow-covered barriers. Then I bent down to take their photos straight at their eye level. The snow on top of the concrete blended in nicely with the snow on the trail behind them.... Then before packing them back in the car, I took another photo from the other side of the road.... Many of the shots, especially the ones where they came across some people and other characters, were all shot in our upper garden after a fresh snowfall on three separate occasions....(note the different amounts of the snow on the bushes behind them) They were great, and I was really happy with them, but I never took any behind the scene shots. It was usually very cold, and my bare hands were hurting, so everything got cleaned up quickly and taken back inside. Meanwhile I had the main room in Miho's castle set up on the dining room table for scenes with Naomi. I always print out a photo of every unpopulated room setting (like this one) and file them in a binder so I know exactly what furniture and props go in each room. It makes it so much easier the next time I need that same set again... Back at the CastleOnce the main room had been set up, it was time for the doll and whatever props that were needed.... I even had several REAL miniature cyclamen plants to put in the sunny window.... the Ice FallsI had several 'travelling' scenes with Rex and Baron already, but I was really hoping for some more. But it all depended on the weather, which had been like a roller coaster all winter; lots of snow, but followed by either a deep freeze way too cold for doll photos, or a warming spell when much of the snow would melt. I liked it best after a fresh snowfall when it stayed in the branches of the trees, but then it also couldn't be windy, or it would all blow out. I already had several scenes with that kind of snow, and really wanted something different...and unique. I'd been thinking of going up north on a day trip, to take some photos of my knights with an ice falls. A few hours north of us lies the Canadian Shield, where the major roads and highways have been blasted through the granite hills. In winter the groundwater spills over the edges of the rock cuts and freezes into amazing, giant icicle formations. Of course most are along major roads and highways, where one obviously can't stop, but we know of one place where there's a road that was blasted through the rock, right beside, but separate from, the main highway. It goes to a camp and boat access, both closed in winter, so there's no traffic at all. So we can just park at the side of the road and leisurely take doll photos there. We discovered it several years ago, and have been back to take doll photos there three times over the years. So we decided to make a day trip out of it, and we were not disappointed. The ice formations were amazing.... The rock wall faces west and gets lots of sun, so the snowbanks at the base were not very high this year.... We had brought along a shovel, so I made a nice flat area on top of the snowbank to pose the horses on.... ...then photographed my two knights at their eye level.... ..and remembered to take plenty of close-ups. It was then that I realized I'd forgotten to bring their pennant. I had been so busy packing stuff to bring with us that I totally forgot their flag. I was very disappointed but it was what it was. Oh well, no one noticed when I posted the photos on my Blog, and if they had I would just have said the icy mountain pass was so treacherous to traverse, that they needed both hands on the reins. After taking a series of photos with the blue ice behind them, the guys and horses went back in their boxes back in the car to move up the road to a new location. I'd also brought a second set of dolls and horses for photos for another story...and they were all lined up in the back of the car..... We moved up the road a bit to a new location with green ice formations in the background.... The snowbanks here were even lower so I ended up having to sit down on the pavement to take the photos.... Being stuck on the ground, I'd have to ask Jan to make any adjustments.... It was a very cold day with a high of -12C that day, but it wasn't too bad in the sun. I hadn't noticed that the icicles were dripping from above, and when I went to put Rex back in his box, I noticed that the right side of his cloak (nearest the ice) had gotten wet from the dripping icicles high above, and it was frozen stiff as a board. So I had to remove it to let it thaw and dry. Both horses had what I thought were 'water drops' all over their right sides, but when I went to dry them off with a towel, I couldn't because they were frozen solid. So they had to lay out on towels so the ice could melt. I'd also taken along Kassia and Prince Adrian (in his cat form) for some photos with ice and snow, and took a few photos of them... After having finished taking photos, we started on our way towards home along a favourite back-country road with the hopes of taking some more photos of the snow and ice. But we encountered an icy spot on the road, and the car slipped off the road into a deep snow-filled ditch. Well, there was no way to get out of that without a tow-truck, so Jan, who was able to get out his side of the car, made the call to the CAA. They said they were very busy and it would take a while. Thankfully I'd brought along extra food, and I had my iPad, since with the car on a steep slant into the deep snow there was no way for me to get out. So I played games on my iPad for the three hours it took the truck to arrive. Thankfully we weren't hurt, and the car wasn't damaged, and we could just continue on our way, but the sun had set, we'd missed the sunset, it was pitch dark, and there would be no more photos that day.
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AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
March 2024
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