Me and my doll
This painting has been sold
Acrylic on wood panel 8" x 8"
My doll, Diana. She really was as tall as she looks here, quite beautiful in a kind of "don't mess my hair and my dress up" sort of way. Look at my body language. I knew my place. She was the first walkie-talkie doll anyone in my school had ever seen or heard of. My uncle who was in the Merchant Navy, brought her back from the Far East - Hong Kong or Singapore, not sure which. I don't know what happened to her but she isn't around any more. She probably got a top job at the European Commission in Brussels and just packed her bags and left one day.
Technical point: I am addicted to scumbling in acrylics, building up the layers; it's a magical way to work.
(By the way this is number 7 in the "Not the Sheila I know" series).
Acrylic on wood panel 8" x 8"
My doll, Diana. She really was as tall as she looks here, quite beautiful in a kind of "don't mess my hair and my dress up" sort of way. Look at my body language. I knew my place. She was the first walkie-talkie doll anyone in my school had ever seen or heard of. My uncle who was in the Merchant Navy, brought her back from the Far East - Hong Kong or Singapore, not sure which. I don't know what happened to her but she isn't around any more. She probably got a top job at the European Commission in Brussels and just packed her bags and left one day.
Technical point: I am addicted to scumbling in acrylics, building up the layers; it's a magical way to work.
(By the way this is number 7 in the "Not the Sheila I know" series).
posted by Sheila Vaughan at 11:24 AM
13 Comments:
yes the textures are so shimmering and edgy, love the way you omit the face and concentrate on the really characteristic hand.
Thanks Simon, yes I also liked the way my head was hidden in shadow as I bent round to look at the doll. As to the acrylics, it also helps because I am working on wood and I find the grain helps the texture along.
Wow. Beautiful technique, evocative subject(s) sensitively rendered... More, please.
Hi Diane, thanks for your visit and comments. These "older" portraits inevitably evoke memories for me which get stronger as I paint so it is a very interesting experience to do them.
What a great series you've got going, Sheila. This one is a very brave and bold design and psychologically penetrating. It has very much a dreamlike character--the way our memories often seem.
Sheila,
This is sooo different, and has a really mysterious quality to it. Perhaps because we don't see the girl's face. Very soft and dreamy.
Hi Don, I didn't originally plan to pack the girl's figure (me) in so tightly but I thought it would give it energy because the doll is so sort of static. Yes, its dreams and memories, funny, it doesn't seem that long ago I held that doll.
Naquayia, thanks for visiting and your kind words. It's good to experiment with different ways of applying the paint I think.
very interesting series. this one is my favorite of them so far!
Love your series and your earlier still lifes. Your style is great and glad I discovered your blog!
thanks Olha for your encouraging comment.
Thank you Susan !
Still love this painting...fab.
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