Tuesday 7 August 2007

Isn't she lovely?



I find it so difficult to put up something tentative, not worked out here that I've had my finger on the delete-button umpteen times since I posted 'Played myself a drawing' and only refrained from erasing it because I so much wanted to. So today is much easier, as I've finished a piece of work that is close to my heart. A set of four hairdresses, in work since last summer I think, each about 45 - 50 cm high, hung from branches. I'll introduce them all, but start now with the one I just finished. 'She' is the most furry one. I've crocheted 'her' from thick strands of ginger and dark brown hair and the fur is the bits that I leave hanging inside everytime I start a new strand. When finished I turn the dresses inside out. The texture here is lovely, the stitches dense and tight and contrasting with the softness of the strands' ends. There is a wildness about this one that cuts through the cuteness evoked by its size. I want to tell a story with her, a story that is only unfolding now that I see her.
(I found myself humming Stevie Wonder's Isn't she lovely... while I wrote this. It's true, I do feel strongly about some of my work, something like affection, love, pride, joy - I've made this one! -, esp. when the work has presence as this one does when seen in the flesh)

3 comments:

Daniel Yuhas said...

she's very lovely indeed! i love it that you shared that the furriness is basically yarn-ends that a maker of something more fussy and prim would try to hide. I'd been wondering how you made the tufts! there's something powerful about building the imperfection / fragility / unpredictability into the piece itself... like designers say, that's not a bug, it's a feature.

it's a great feeling, isn't it, to look at what you've made, and then look at it again...

redredday said...

oh Marjojo!! i feel like i just found a kindred spirit after reading your response to Autobiography of Red. THAT was EXACTLY how i felt when i read that section! i've been coming back and back to it ever since (the book literally sleeps by my bedside). oh i'm so thrilled you are also taking it in so intensely.

and SHE is beyond loveliness. i clicked to see the large image of the close-up and something about it just took my breath away. the color, the texture, the interlacing of the hair...it's scary and haunting as much as it is delicate and lovely. oh how i wish i could see this and the Five Perfect Maidens in person and touch each one...

Susan Kruse said...

Yes, she is lovely.