Love It So Much, I Think I'll Marry It!

It's been said ~

"Good Artists Copy ~ Great Artists Steal"


That quote has been attributed to Picasso, Steve Jobs, T.S. Eliot just to mention a few ~ Well I do not know who to believe, but I do know a lot of heavy lifting has been going on for centuries by both sorts. I have been eyeballing my own subject for years, only to have found I am about 100 years too late.

I posted a story about Sherlock Holmes's creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle last year. Use the link provided and have a look see. Remind yourself that there were some girls that had everybody in a whirl about photographs they took of fairies. Now I'm not here to step on any fairies or anyone's belief in them ~ I did however love the illustrations by Claude Shepperson that others have said were the bases of the girls fairies.

This comparison would not have been possible if someone hadn't been poking around old children's books. So, thanks to them, I have been doing some heavy lifting of my own this weekend. Again the target is Claude's wonderful ladies from 1913. Most especially the one in the middle. (See illustrations below)

I've tried to keep his lines and the flow of the figure. What sparked my imagination was how light and airy she is. My contribution was to make mine feel even lighter, almost as if she were in flight. And of course color. I really nailed it there. If I'm allowed to say so myself. This figure is earmarked for an up coming job, but if that doesn't happen, I will surly do something grand with her!

Illustration for Alfred Noyes' poem "A Spell for a Fairy" in Princess Mary's Gift Book by Claude Shepperson. (Hodder and Stoughton, no date, c. 1914, p. 101ff). Compare the poses of these figures with those of three of the fairies in Photo No. 1. The figures have been rearranged and details of dress have been altered, but the origin of the poses is unmistakable.

Photo No 1. July 1917

Read Full Story of Sherlock Holmes and The Fairies

"Kathrine the Great"

This is the Batman costume my sister bought for me! I love the internet.

"Kathrine the Great"  ~ 2014

This is one of my favorite stories: I was four if I remember right. It has been over forty five years now; funny how something’s just stick with you. I was four and my sister Kathy was sixteen. When she was at school I would sneak into her bed room and steal the black leotards off this big doll she owned. I would then put them on with my “tighty whiteys” on the outside. After all, Batman wore his underwear on the outside didn’t he?! ~

I was happy to play that way all day, leotards, underwear on the outside, bath towel around my neck, and white hi-top tennis shoes, or at least till she got home! As I look back on it, why didn’t someone get me my own pair of tights? I remember Kathy getting mad at me, probably yelling and getting my Mom involved. Hey! That’s right, where was my Mom when I was getting into my sister’s room?! I remember one time; I was climbing up on one of my sister’s doll’s baby hi-chairs to turn on the lights and taking a header. That was probably the last time I tried that.  I ended up with a big goose egg on head that time.

To my sister’s credit she bought me a Batman helmet and cape for Christmas thinking it would keep her dolly’s nickers on! Can you imagine her frustration the first time she came home from school and there I was in the front yard with my Christmas present and her doll’s tights on! 

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