Pierrot Tag Doll by Julie Ann

Hello and Welcome to Calico Craft Parts blog, where it's my turn to play. As you may know I love to make art dolls. It's such fun to gather some pieces that suggest a character to you and then set your imagination to work. I've recently been teaching an on line class where we've been creating Art Dolls and many of the class have discovered that this is a great form of self expression and a wonderful way of telling their story.

Calico have a versatile range of Art Doll Kits, which can be mixed and matched - not only with each other, but with all kinds of other Craft Parts -  to create unique dolls. This week, though it's 'Curtain Up' on a little Pierrot I created from a tag and an egg shape with some exquisite little Craft Parts to evoke a mood.

Sometimes I look at a collection of shapes and they suggest a character to me...

The oval of the head suggested a Pierrot with his chalky face tilted downwards very much like a pose I had been working on in a portrait class. Once I'd gesso'd the pieces, I had decided - this was definitely going to be a Pierrot doll.

I tend to start with the Art Doll's face and the character evolves from there. For my Pierrot, the white Gesso was the perfect clown's foundation make-up and I just had to add features in pencil, going over them with a fine black marker and adding a hint of colour with some water-colour pencils.

Water-colour pencils over gesso were great for adding layers of translucent drapes and folds of Pierrot's costume.

To convey the tender nature of this doll, I added just 3 embellishments: a simple heart, a delicate wild rose blossom and a little wren.

The finishing touches are some gilding, a white brad on the chin, so the head can be inclined and a swirl or 2 of blue glitter on the pom-poms.

Since first seeing images of the 'Sad Clown' in my childhood, Pierrot has intrigued me. I was - like many children - disturbed and scared by traditional circus clowns but Pierrot enchanted me with his melancholy white face and diaphanous costume.

We still recognize this sad, unrequited lover, spurned by the beautiful Columbine who chooses Harlequin as her beau. His image goes in and out of fashion but he never disappears completely despite having first taken to the stage way back in the seventeenth century! Perhaps it is his innocence and that he has come to symbolise the lonely artist, rejected by the world but still in love with its beauty that has appealed to so many from Picasso to David Bowie. Thank you so much for stopping by and taking a look at my little Pierrot today. Happy Creating until we meet again in a fortnight.
Calico Craft Parts used in this Project
MDF Tag Shape Round Top 125 mm x 62 mm
Plain Egg MDF Wood Shape 60 mm x 45 mm
Primitive Heart Mini Plaques
Sheet of Mini Garden Birds Wood Shapes
Flowering Dog Wood Sprig