Good bye Lucille.

Yesterday I let one of my dolls go. 

Some time ago I made a bunch of travelling dolls that I forgot to tell anyone about, and the idea was to place them out in town or together at the train station or something as a kind of "doll installation"...or put one on a train...but then I got too attached and couldn't let them go. 

Also a story of class difference, but more on that later.

I made them in the aftermath of my own immigration when I read more about the masses of people emigrating to America in the 19th and early 20th century. For obvious reasons I could relate very well to  the people who risked everything they had for a better life and a future for their children.. And as some of them were my own relatives and I wear an "America ring" around my neck almost every day I was easily sucked in. And in any case..I do love to travel around! But yesterday I saw my first travelling doll leave my cupboard and travel away..

It was this artsy place that I go to sometimes that collected artworks to put up in town and I dropped her into the artbox. Hopefully she will make it out there with all the other stuff...

And I will call her Lucille. After the song.

A taste from my Annoying-bowl

This is a post of annoyances. I think of it like this: all those small things that annoy me are like those sticky sweets in a bowl on an old ladies front parlour table. You reluctantly try to pick one...but here comes three!

Because no one likes the easygoing people anyway, these are the things that annoy me today:

nr 1

My sons infant school. 

Now, I'm sure the whole system is flawed. I'm sure all those princes in politicians clothing that generally seem to be running the country into the ground happily looked into their monocles and down on the people and said "we can't have you learning to think". And surely there is an excuse book at the office that the teachers have to master instead of pedagogy... But I truly hope my sons teachers smokes weed behind the shed because...wow.

let's hope it's this shed.

You can not put over your responsibility as a teacher or an adult on a 4 year old and shrug your shoulders and smile about it!! And if your attitude to the social, emotional and mental development of the kids can be summed up in "I don't really care" maybe teacher isn't the most fitting job?  Next time people complain about pregnant teens and unmotivated children...look behind the shed at the infant school. 

Warning: don't stumble on the excuse-book.

nr 2

Charity.

 Everytime I walk down Week street daytime I do a kind of street slalom between all the mousetrap-like charity people. Not because I hate lion babies or think cancer research is unimportant. I just don't believe in charity. In fact it makes me angry. They are only there to soothe the bad conscience of the comfortable middle classes. To stand there, on the streets of one of the richest countries in the world and pretend we need to give money to save the lions or the cancer sick?! We all know where the money should come from for those very important things. It's called priority. I'm sure the Queen could save all the lions in an afternoon if she wanted. And where does taxes go if not to things the people need...like cancer research. And schools. And hospitals. But the rich get richer and the poor get poorer every day and clearly people don't care enough to change that... So don't you dare stand there and ask me to enable capitalism.  It's like those "your money kills" signs, as long as we give to charity the rich can keep their money and the lions can die out, because seriously, how far will that one pound go? But it sure feels nice, doesn't it.

nr 3

Boobs

Boobs is such a topic of conversation now it seems, what's up with that? Are they good or bad right now? Recently a couple of women were thrown out from a bath house in Sweden for swimming topless. Not that it was against any rules...they were just afraid that men wouldn't be able to control their inevitable boners and it would turn into amateur porn (borderline watchable with strong rapey overtones?). But somehow it becomes the responsibility of women to take care of it. Of course they got thrown out. But man-boobs are ok!

 It's like that thing about not getting to breastfeed in public. Surely we have more serious problems if people immediately think of porn...or get disgusted..and men cant see a baby sucking on boobs without turning into a mentally challenged baboon? Because that's the reasons people give...sadly. Or maybe they all came over on Tallink where women were told not to drink because...you know that gets you raped, right! 

But I also hear braless is cool now again so lets hope we soon end up somewhere where we can do whatever the fuck we want about those boobs without all those opinions. They are not some kind of alien life form with magic powers.

And just in case anyone wonders,I'm not a man hating lesbian, I'm for legalizing drugs and I give money to homeless people on the street. Because I'm not a total bitch.

So that's today's annoying subjects. Happy St.Georges day :)

The witch in me.

So now, about something entirely different..but still the same in a way, Happy Easter to all! 

As a Scandinavian school girl and a member of a pentecost revival family I couldn't escape the notion of Easter as a very religious occasion..BUT, as I did grow up in a culture where religion and superstition still mingle quite freely there is something else that has always defined my Easters. Witches.

Of all things I always liked Easter the best. Swedish children dress up as witches on holy saturday and go house to house collecting sweets in a brass coffee pot...and then we eat the chocolate, painted eggs, put feathers on sticks and head out to see the bonfire. And I used to love that.

According to Scandinavian folk believes witches fly on broomsticks and cows to Blåkulla on maundy thursday for their feast with the devil (häxsabbat) to then come back on saturday...hence the fire. And yes, I told this story to my 5 year old. We did swap the fire with an egg-hunt though.. have to acclimatize. 

But here comes the connection to my dollhouse building: In the 1600's this turned into quite the panic all over Europe. So to portray my 1647 world in the most fun way possible I am going to have to throw in a witch! I must admit, the witch hunts have always fascinated me. There is something appealing yet horrifying about a fairy tale coming true..

I suppose spending the summers at my grandparents in the country did make me partial to superstition and folk believes.. I have after all feared näcken, herded cows and watched my granny cook on the stove to the sound of my granddads accordion music. And the jumping in the hay...

  I'm slightly tempted to make her into a Scandinavian witch..but I think this one will have to be English for the accuracy of it. Shame...maybe next time.

I got inspired to make my witch when I improvised some creative witch making with my Lus the other day..now I just have to decide what kind of witch I'll be making...

Just in case I'll lose it later, my witch documentaries! 

(Swedish)

(English)

Ps. as I'm having a day of restlessness and scattered thoughts, this is my current favourite furniture! always wanted one of these...

My man of the house (or, my matriarchical doll-world)

When building my houses I always have a 'model doll' to compare it to so that I keep the same size for everything...kind of like a measuring tape. A very complicated measuring tape. With a face.

Anyway, I've decided that I need a new one with the right look for the time I'm going for (my current one is mid Victorian) so it wont look so wrong in the rooms...and I thought hey, I do have a face already made that I could use!..but...it's a man. That's not going to work..is it..?

It's just such a clear subconscious sign of something deeper. Not once have I used a male model doll, it's never even crossed my mind to do so. I know women are way over represented in my doll making but that's partly because girls are often more fun to make..or is it? 

Women is just the norm in my world. It's not that I dislike making men..many times they just bore me.. 

 

Could it be that the world has shaped me to think that men take so little responsibility in life and usually amount to so little that they are at best fun accessories and at worst a necessary evil to the women who live the real life..that I hesitate to trust the reliability of a doll..?

Think about that next time you use the expression 'boys will be boys'.

Sometimes it's the small things that open your eyes to our subconscious and I find that one of the most exciting things of all..self discovery in a microscope.

But I will. Of course I will. The first doll of my house will be a man. For the very first time. In the end...I do adore them intesly..those men with a real mind.

But I will never ever use the expression 'boys will be boys'.

 Because immaturity is not charming in anyone.

Back in 1647

So I'm now making a new house. I know I've said that before and it ended up full of spiders next to my trash bin, but now I'm actually making a new house! 

Instead of building on my previous idea..again.. (Maidstone house of 1860) I'm just doing something entirely new and a little smaller. The house is a run down Tudor style timber-frame house that's been lived in for about 70 years...Now it's the spring of 1647 and there is a small ale house on the bottom floor and a family of modest means renting the rooms above...and I'm pretty sure there's going to be a witch of some kind on the top floor! 

Anyway, it's a 3 floor building with lots of, still unspecified, people. Maybe an animal or two. So far I've only had one major accident when I twisted off the light cord, but fortunately there's someone else in my home that knows how to fix electrics (Thank you..!) so it's on again! The first floor is already done in a very Tudor-like style and now I'm trying to figure out the second one...very happy with my Jacobean bedroom! The next room will probably take it either back in time or forward, not sure yet, since I want to make the impression of a house that's been lived in and updated over a long period of time.

I chose to put the house in the middle of the English civil war for many reasons. 

One of them is that I find the 17th century very interesting! Many things that we take for granted in ways of thinking starts at the questioning of the king, the church and the structure of society in general and there are so many new ideas that come up for the first time during this period of time. And that is aside from that rebellion and social unrest kind of appeals to me and it' something that is getting increasingly relevant in today's society as well..

I would say that if I lived in 1647 I'd be on the side of the parliament, obviously, but more importantly I'd be a Leveller which is the earliest form real of socialism I've ever seen..and that is cool.

Another reason for picking the 17th century is that my interest in fashion and history started there. My first historically inspired costume was from the pages of my mothers school papers on the baroque style..and the spark of interest for past times came from a history lesson in 6th grade on the sun-king. So in a sense I am going full circle with this house. 16 years it took me. And there will be many more circles to come...

So my past and my present interests meet in my new Tudor-Civil war house. Kind of. 

Fortunately for me the 17th century is absolutely everywhere right now! Lots of inspiration from Tv shows like 'the Musketeers' and different documentaries, French English and Swedish ones, everyone does them now...even Moliere gets in there on a corner! and of course my favourite,  17th century or otherwise, 'the Devils Whore'. 

And also...never forget that this is the golden age of the pirates..aaargh!

So inspired right now! It wont be long before I'll finish the house, make a matching dress and tie a seagreen ribbon around my wrist. Civil war re-enactment here I come! 

  

...Ok that was too far.