Tuesday, March 1, 2011

What is on my easel...



Last Saturday I finished this painting and I named it "Secrets of a childhood".Again I painted on an unstretched canvas with acrylics. The painting itself measures 33" x 35". with a band painted in blue of 4" all around it.

The subject relates to me when I was a little girl and I would hide little secrets inside certain dolls. It could be a pebble, a little note, anything that I felt to be my own little treasure and some things I did not want anybody to know about. But even though I was always a little afraid that somebody would find it, I never thought all these little things inside a doll's body would make a noise. I now know my mother would take the arm of the doll to look inside, curious what made that noise when she moved the dolls to clean, but she never said anything to me about what she would find.

13 comments:

Darth Weasel said...

maybe you stashed a winning lottery ticket in one? how cool a find would that be?

LL Cool Joe said...

I never realised that a doll could have a use after all! I love the painting and the dolls look of panic with her missing arm.

Senorita said...

Creative pic and nice story behind it. I was never that creative to stash anything in a doll as a kid.

Granny Annie said...

What a precious imagination you had as a child to hide secrets in your dolls. No wonder you are so talented and creative today. Your painting reminds me of a move our family made and my mother deciding to sort things out and get rid of some of my broken dolls. I cried and felt the pain of each doll amputee that went into the incinerator and can recall it to this day.

Holland said...

DW: That would be soooo cool...and by now sooooo overdue....lol

LLCJ: Thank you and don't forget that dolls can have many uses...;-)

Senorita: Thank you and now I wonder what you used to hide your treasures, if any...

Holland said...

Annie: I cannot even begin to imagine the horror you went through to see your dolls end up being burned.

Riot Kitty said...

That is awesome! Nice work.

Holland said...

RK: Thank you so much!

Unknown said...

SO much symbolism in this story. The secrets where carry, the noises they make the more we try to keep them silent. Ah....the arts.

jozien said...

This is lovely, both the story and the painting.
And you make me think about secrets; did i have some as child?
Now as soon as i reveal one, more pop up. I imagine my doll quite full, and when i take one out the others rattle!

Holland said...

Ricardo: That is the paradox of life. And how many women did you upset with your last blog? lol

Jozien: Now I feel like I am the doll itself with all those little things I keep inside. Not sure if I would rattle though... lol

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Wonderful painting and I love what inspired it, Holland....
Question: When you say unstretched canvas--I am assuming you mean not tacked or stretched on "stretcher-bars"....but how do you keep it flat and what do youy put the canvas on so you are able to paint it??

Holland said...

Naomi: I pin the canvas to a board and then prime it and paint. I keep always a board of 3" to 4", so in a later stage I can stretch the canvas on stretcher bars if needed. In the meantime (after it has dried) I can roll it and keep it in a tube for protection.

But it starts with me buying canvas rolls instead of stretched canvasses. I cut of what I need and my fun starts.