Christmas Firsts #7

Christmas Firsts #7 - Movies

What is your favourite Christmas movie? Perhaps one of the old classics of the 1940’s like “Miracle on 34th Street” or “It’s a Wonderful Life” or even more modern 1990’s classics from The Muppets Christmas repertoire?

Long before, there was Santa Claus, the first Christmas movie Santa Claus was the creation George Albert Smith, a British pioneer film maker. Produced in 1898, this short film was one of the first on any theme, not only Christmas. Because of its clever editing techniques it has been hailed a technical marvel of its age.

"What makes this treatment considerably more interesting than a conventional piece of editing is the way that Smith links the shots in terms of both space and time, by placing the new image over the space previously occupied by the fireplace, and continuing to show the children sleeping throughout (their bed occupies the left-hand side of the screen throughout the entire film). Santa then emerges from where the fireplace used to be, distributes the presents, and disappears via another jump cut.

This is believed to be the cinema's earliest known example of parallel action and, when coupled with double-exposure techniques…, the result is one of the most visually and conceptually sophisticated British films made up to then. ( from neatorama.com )

While this short silent film may not appeal today when we are so used to technological advances in filming and so many amazing special effects, I think there is such authenticity to this little film - just like a home movie of the past!

Obviously Christmas is a theme many film makers, amateur and professional explore. Some of these suggest that Christmas might be just an excuse to make a bad movie. You can tell just by the title that the reviews aren’t going to be five stars, for example, Santa’s Slay, Santa Claus Conquers the Marians, Revenge of the Mutant Snowman, and the series of horror movies, Silent Night Deadly Night. If you are interested, I found this list of ‘every Christmas movie ever made - will almost.’ And I am sure you will find your favourite Christmas movie there.

OK, I am admitting I favour the schmaltzy, happy ending Christmas movies. When I was young (an impressionable 13 year old ? ), my favourite feel good movie was ‘Lilies of the Field’ and I still love it, so of course, on my long list of Christmas movies I enjoy, the sequel, “Christmas Lilies of the Field” very narrowly goes to the top above other sentimental favourites like “The Bells of St Mary’s”, “Holiday Inn” and “Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence”.

Now here’s a great Advent/ Christmas activity, make a list of your favourite Christmas movies and relax and and watch at least your top ten this festive season!

http://www.neatorama.com/2012/12/25/1898-The-First-Christmas-Movie/

Stitched Faces

I 've always enjoyed that imperfect line of "not quite in control' free motion machine stitching.... I think it really suits creating portraits , giving them some character and even a quirkiness that hints of personality plus. These ones below are from my " Red Cheeks" series from a couple of years ago, and are amongst my favourite stitched portraits. The current Stitch Club ( textileartist.org) workshop, by Batool Showghi has inspired me to stitch more this week. Batool , of course, is in complete control of her machine stitching and her works are exquisite and they tell a moving story. ... " Working with paper, print, paint and stitch, her textile art bears witness to displacement, silenced women and the damage that authoritarian regimes impose on ordinary lives. Batool’s mixed media wall pieces are incredibly striking, but her artist books truly set her apart. Printed imagery of family photographs, birth certificate documents and her o...

#the100dayproject : Inspiring Women Days 1 - 4

#The100DayProject is a *free* global art project that takes place online 🎨 E very year, thousands of people all around the world commit to 100 days of creating. Anyone can participate . The idea is simple: choose a creative project, do it every single day for 100 days, and document and share the process online. 2026 is my 8th year of participating. I have stitched daily observations, painted my egg cup collection, collaged postcards and envelopes, written poems, explored colour palettes .... this year I am researching, sketching and stitching 100 inspiring women. Fortunately I purchased a piece of beautiful linen, with preprinted outlines of 100 women ... just one issue - the figures are tiny (height 6cm /2.5 ins) My first week started tentatively ... I thought I would start with Empress Wu, after whom I named my creative activity. This is when I discovered how difficult it is to applique and stitch on these very small figures - I used tweezers to put pieces of fabric down, tried t...

A spider sandwich for lunch?

Close -up of the base of "witch with sticks' art doll Did you know that if you were a witch, eating a spider sandwich could give you special powers? Rosemary Ellen Guiley says in her Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft, and Wicca that in some traditions of folk magic, a black spider “eaten between two slices of buttered bread” will imbue a witch with great power. If you’re not interested in eating spiders, some traditions say that catching a spider and carrying it in a silk pouch around your neck will help prevent illness... So, while creating my art doll witch, a spider was always there amongst the drawings and plans. rough drawing of an idea for the base of the doll I rarely take photos during the process of making a doll, only because I get so engaged in the making I forget to take a photo at each step of the way . I am not entirely comfortable creating witches, so I took a few photos of my process.... when I remembered.... sc...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Search This Blog