Leap of Faith
Once upon
a time, in a land far away, there, Over The Rainbow, I discovered you,
embellished with a kind of light and charm, mystery and magic, that one
finds only in this special place. Whether it was Fate or Luck, we met
again, my Beaded Art Doll, and I renamed you appropriately enough, Leap
of Faith.
Her
pose is permanently fixed, because for her as with each of us, every
day is a Leap of Faith. One leg is stretched out behind, the other bent,
both just clearing the obstacles of today, yesterday's hindrances left
safely behind. Her legs are covered with hosiery made of crystal clear
inside rainbow seed beads which let the vast experiences, memories of
the past and knowledge of brighter days to come all held within shine
through.
1. Her Legs
The
expression on her face, molded by life's experiences, shows her willfulness
and sheer determination, reflective of the rainbow of experiences each
day has brought, yet glowing with individuality, poise and grace. Her
chin is thrust ever forward in defiance of whatever life, love, or fate
throws her way; daring them to try to make her falter. Her skin is smooth
and silky, so far untouched by the ravages of time, this she accredits
to her Mother who, upon her passing, had nary a wrinkle at the age of
58.
2. Her Face and Hair
Her
lack of hands or arms is of no consequence; for if any of us should fall
from our daily leap of faith, we cannot stop it; or prevent what is in
store for us. Fate rushes in and each person is swept along on the tides
of their life, until such time as Fate chooses to allow you to scramble
up once more gaining a foot hold in self confidence and enabling us to
resume the endless leaping required by each day's happenstance.
3. Her Lack of Arms
Her
skirt is a combination of stitches each held to the other with the weaving
of the common thread of life; because no matter how well laid our plans;
Fate has its own ideas of what should take place. Free form peyote wraps
her waist, as free form as the movement of time itself. Moving down it
changes into more orderly chevron stitches and finally vertical netting.
All of the stitches in her skirt are intertwined, as each life is; there
are the occasional flowers of love, peace or happiness. As well the unavoidable
black leaves or grey beads of missed chances, lost loves or family members.
The inside rainbow colored beads of this garment were chosen to represent
the rainbow of life, a higher power, fate or luck, whatever you may perceive
as your guiding light. They contain the colors of her particular rainbow,
for the coloration of each person's rainbow is unique; reflective of
all of their life experiences.
4. Her Skirt
The colors of her skirt were taken from the fabric design of her life
itself, from the hem up. Beginning with the darkness of a childhood
and youth filled with abuse, and pain, but as you can see that was
not all
fate and life had in store. Here and there you will see colorful shiny
beads within the darkness, flecks of hope, and rays of sunshine are
intermixed with droplets of rain; for there must be rain to make
a rainbow. As you
move up through the years of her life, the darkness fades into the
rainbow containing all of the promise of goodness and light that
life should
be. Oh yes, here and there you will still see some grey and shades
of black, these are the sad times of later years. A child lost forever
represented
by the one black leaf falling onto a grey patch still on her hip where
she would have carried this infant through his childhood. Still securely
attached forever a part of her, lost but never forgotten, always there
in her heart, mind and soul. This black leaf of mourning is surrounded
by the grey of illness, sadness passed but still part of the ever-changing
rainbow of her life. Still, further up, a little later in life the
bright colorful rainbow of her skirt changes quickly into the clear,
true whites
of security, marriage, home, a closer tie family; a strong healthy
child and still later her grandchildren, [the very light of her life]
Peace
Security and Contentment. When those little faces look up at her at
times she cannot help but to envision her own child that was lost.
However,
she quickly banishes those thoughts and then is glad for their strength,
health and well being and focuses once again on the here, today and
tomorrow. She would, without thought or pause, put her self in danger
for her family.
She would gladly face any unknown and be grateful for the chance to
protect them; she would shield them with herself.
5. Black Leaf of Mourning
Her
hair is a golden reddish color with the rainbow glowing from within.
Each strand of hair was stitched on with a combination of bead embroidery
and fringe technique. The ends of some strands of hair are tipped with
the same pearls of wisdom that surround her glowing face. Each pearl
gained with the effort of an experience, a lesson learned, and some small
bit of wisdom gained from the activities of daily life.
Her
bodice is a freeform bead embroidery confection that has been appliqued
onto her torso by the stitches of life, which attempts to embroider each
of us with its joy, and happiness if we would just let it. A mixture
of beads collected over a few years, each kind was a favorite squirreled
away for some special purpose, not knowing just yet what that purpose
might be. They were finally brought out of hiding to be part of this
expression of the designer's life experiences.
6. Her Bodice
If
you look closely in the back hidden in the folds of the skirt, there
is still room for what ever tomorrow's Leap of Faith will bring. She
will be ready to add those beads to herself, whether they are the result
of
being fearful, sorrowful, cheerful, joyful or just the product of some
sheer happiness brought to her by Fate.
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Side Image
Back Image
Detailed Image
Leap of
Faith
(rotation)
List of Materials
and Techniques Employed
Dimensions:
Leap of Faith is 15 1/2 inches tall. She is 3 inches wide at the hip and
2 1/2 inches deep, at the bust she is 2 inches wide and 1 1/2 inches
deep.
Construction
Techniques:
Leap of Faith's body was created from Egyptian cotton cloth sewn by machine
and by hand. Her face is polymer clay finished with nail polish. Her
bustier is made of beaded embroidery sewn on to stiff interfacing and
appliqued by hand sewing onto her body. Her skirt waist is freeform peyote
with rows of chevron then moves into vertical net which was then handsewn
on to the body at the waist. Her face is attached with hot glue and then
two drop peyote was done around joining it to the head. Her hair is fringe.
Her legs are attached with hot glue and sewing, both the legs and the
torso are covered with seed beads that were strung on thread and couched
onto the fabric. Her panties area is covered with netting, freeform in
places to adjust the fit.
Materials
List:
Seed beads of various colors, mostly inside rainbow [all over]
Crystals
of assorted shapes, sizes and colors [in skirt and bustier]
Pressed
glass flowers and leaves [in skirt and bustier]
Bugle
beads [in skirt and bustier]
Delica
[two drop peyote around face]
Pearl
drop beads [around face and ends of hair]
Polymer
clay face, finished with nail polish
Form:
Egyptian cotton body stuffed with polyfil
Techniques:
Couched strung beads; legs and torso
Various bead embroidery stitches; bustier
Vertical Netting; skirt
Free Form Peyote; skirt/waist
Chevron Stitch; skirt
Fringing; hair
Free Form Netting: panties
Two Drop Peyote: around face
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