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Great Start to a Bright New Year

No, I wasn't here either - this photo is courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald,  but I was at the "Not the New Year's Eve Concert - Live the Music" at the Sydney Opera House  to celebrate the end of 2010.
It was a really fantastic concert with bright talented stars - soloist and orchestral musicians and opera singers. The venue was also magical . It doesn't matter how many times you visit the Opera House, each time is special . The architecture is amazing, the harbour sparkles and the concert hall is wondrous.



 What else have I done to herald the New Year?  I finally gave in and went to a SALE. I don't usually bother with the post-Christmas sales, but I just couldn't resist this skirt. It was still expensive even at half price, but it reminded me of a  wonderful boat ride down the Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo and it fitted me!
With the deadlines for the Art Dolls Only Challenges on New Year's Day, I have also been spending a lot of hours finishing off the two dolls for the Monthly and Quarterly Challenges. The December challenge was Jack Frost. It seemed a bit strange to be working on an icy themed doll when the temperature the other day was 39 degrees. I made "snowflakey" fabric with free form machine embroidery on water soluble fabric.


The doll I made for the other challenge "Copy the Masters" was inspired by the figure, Flora in  the masterpiece "Primavera" (Trumph of Spring) by Botticelli. She is a "stump" doll, with a cloth covered polymer clay head. I was rather fortunate finding a remnant voile, which was quite like the gown in the painting.

Hope you have enjoyed a great start to a bright new year, too.
PS Here is a link to a great youtube video of art dolls - mine is there too at the party. Just click....
Fair, Candy Floss and Pommes d'Amour
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