Christmas Countdown Characters #19

No prizes for guessing that today's S celebrities include the jolly man himself, but wait, there's more...

S is for Santa Claus and Suzy Snowflake

What do these two have in common - nothing much except a tentative Christmas link, a reference to the same era, and I think they look good in a snowy scene together.

I am sure I do not need to add much to the profile of Santa Claus because many of you are most likely experts on the subject. However, in Australia, I often see images of Santa in beach board shorts or even wearing a bush hat with hanging corks to keep away the summer flies and I wonder how it came about that red flannel and white fur are still the preferred attire for Santa.

Did you know that red and white became a tradition after Santa appeared in a Coca Cola advertisement in 1931? Coca Cola Company deny that they "invented" Santa Claus as we know him - plump, jolly, friendly and definitely lovably human. In the past Santa Claus had been depicted as a thin man or a spooky elf. I think Cocoa Cola had a lot to do with "shaping" the image of Santa Claus with their famous Christmas advertisements from 1931 -1964 by Sundblom. Perhaps Cocoa Cola didn't create the image of a 'modern" Santa Claus, but they certainly popularised it.

(://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/santa/cocacola.asp)

Now as we are going back in time in popular Christmas culture, the personified snowflake, called Suzy got her break when, in 1951, Rosemary Clooney recorded Suzy Snowflake as a Christmas song, with instant appeal to those who love Winter. Suzy Snowflake is thought to be a young happy character who dances her way through a Winter Wonderland. Although Rosemary Clooney's version remains the most popular "record" , I have included a dancing video version of this catchy Christmas song about Suzy Snowflake... just for all the tap dancers in my family.

Since hearing this song recently, it does appear to be strange that a snowflake , even with a name like Suzy, could take on human attributes, and it doesn't really make sense - such an impossibility here in mid summer.
But if you believe in Christmas, anything is possible.

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

#SeptTextileLove Day 12

#SeptTextileLove #STL26Day12 ‘Friendship’ … This is a story of friendship based on the love of textiles and fibre art . Gallerist and artist, Anne Kempton and I have been friends for 15 years , meeting when we had both retired from ‘ top’ jobs in a government department and a high school respectively. Neither of us were the retiring types - Anne was establishing the first commercial textile art gallery in Australia and I was looking for a creative direction. We discovered we were both driven by a sense of social justice and community and shared similar artistic aspirations . Since then, we have co- curated exhibitions, collaborated on many projects. supported community art and women’s causes, and grown in our individual artistic expression - Anne includes more stitching in her work and she has had a more painterly influence on mine . Moreover, this friendship is multifaceted, deep and personal and one I value and treasure . Thank you, Anne.

#SeptTextileLove26- Day 2

#STL26Day2 ‘Hand or Machine’ … Why not both? Two small stitched works in my stitched garden series, (left - free motion machine stitch ; right- hand stitch). Which do you prefer ? #SeptTextileLove

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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