*Izannah Little Red*

There are many, many, interpretations of this little fairy tale~~what do the woods symbolize? The wolf? Why is the little girl wearing red? A quick bit of research will reveal all you ever wanted to know~~and more~~about

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Little Red Riding Hood...

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To be honest, I usually enjoy "the annotated version". But not so with this classic tale. I prefer, in this instance, to take away my own impressions...my own thoughts.

The woods can be unsettling when you're all alone...terrifying when you're not alone. Critics and literary scholars return again and again to the childhood fear of "being devoured"~~a much more realistic fear in early 1800s Germany where Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published a series of stories collected from peasants and villagers...Grimm's Fairy Tales. All of these tales have a "moral", or lesson, to teach their audience (children). It was a very good thing to be afraid of wolves if you were a child who lived in the scantly populated countryside and often~~or seldom~~ walked alone in the forest!
Little Red Riding Hood remains universally popular, even being used for political propaganda upon occasion, throughout history. While the psychological elements and symbolism within the story can be a bit overwhelming, the tale has certainly been utilized for many different purposes~~probably because of all of the "layers" and psychological suppositions...
So what is my personal connection?

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A memory...of walking alone, in the woods. Leaves that crunch and twigs that snap...being so deep into the thick oak trees that a sunny afternoon seems just a few moments before nightfall, the light is so dim and hazy. Knowing that you ought to be completely alone~~aside from harmless deer and perhaps a stray songbird...knowing that you should be, by all reason, alone. But that you are not. And then imagining, planning, rehearsing...
what you will say to the wolf.
©2009 Megan Wommack

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This latest paper poppet is available in my etsy shoppe,

or on eBay~~

*The Paper Poppet*

In a questionable attempt to become more p-r-o-fessional, I have opened up a second etsy shoppe, *The Paper Poppet* (it's right here, if you'd care to visit!)

This location will carry all of the paper dollies, note cards, prints...and hopefully, some little theatres & small *scenes* of some sort. Perhaps cloth dollies with paper dresses? I'm in that place where ideas are just little snippets and thoughts and images in my head...little brain doodles, if you will. I would like to have scenery that could move, different backdrops, etc. Wouldn't that be fancy?! I'm thinking Midsummer's, Rome and Juliet....Peter Pan....maybe some Jane Austen? Emily Bronte?

Maybe just some little folky nonsense scenes...a little wooden dollie (think Hitty) who goes to visit her family (a grove of trees...!)...she'd have all sorts of lovely adventures...

And what is a poppet? many things, evidently...(i'm thinking more along the dollie-child line than voodoo). And i do like the fragile aspects of paper--you can sew on paper too, you know! And i must admit, it's much, much, less expensive than wool or mohair. More portable--you've no idea the lengths to which I went to take my rug-hooking to Grand Lake for five days last summer! I think too, these little prints and dollies should be limited editions? What do you think?

I'm in the middle of an Izannah Walker paper doll~~her dress is a scene from Little Red Riding Hood...hope to show it to you soon!! That dollie (Izannah) is such a mystery...I had a theory about her eyes...they seem to me to be spaced "close"...like a little old woman's. But I may not be correct about that--it was just my perception when trying to draw her little face. However, as these dolls were made one-at-a-time, there seems to be some variance within the face structure. (Like this Izannah on Dixie's Blog). hmmmmm....any thoughts?

blessings,

meg

Fairy Tales....Hansel & Gretel

*Mother?*

Really, at the center of this queer little tale is hunger...and so, there is an oven--a witch's oven--precisely where this doll's stomach would be...there is day (a sun) & lonely night (a crescent moon), both helplessly watching a family's journey...

The four travel from their cottage into the woods...the children go further on, of course, after their father and stepmother have abandoned them--further on into the witch's candy house with feather beds and plenty of sweet food. At least, for the moment. But when your stomach is empty--truly empty--the moment is all that matters....

Maddening white birds flutter throughout this tale...and why white? For they only lead the children further astray--they are the witch's birds, and should really be crows or something like. Tiny white dots embellish the entire scene--they even illustrate the tattered lace on the witch-mother's dress...they are snow and cold...bread crumbs...light and flowers...and the lace...things seem different that are really quite the same, depending on which part of the forest you are in.




In this old, old, fairy tale...the children do escape (but you knew that). When they return home to their father, the stepmother is "dead"...do you think, gentle reader, as I do, that the stepmother died precisely when Gretel pushed the witch into the oven?

Megan Wommack©2008-2009

Each paper doll is laser copied onto acid-free card stock from my original *Paper Poppet Prints*, adhered to substantial paper, cut out & jointed with tiny brads.

*Mother?* is styled after a c.1600s wooden doll~~This doll has the unique feature of a "spinning head"~~she may change from witch to stepmother....did you ever make your witch, er, stepmother's head spin?????

By the by, I do love my stepmother, very much...she is NOT a witch! :)
measurements are as follows:
witch w/ boots folded up: 10" (includes hat)
witch w/ boots folded down: 12" (includes hat)
skirt is 8+ inches across at widest point

stepmother: 8.5" high (no boots)

this piece is available from my etsy shoppe, or eBay~~as you see, you may display her on an easel frame, though there is a double-loop of thread should you wish to display as a wall piece. Or, I suppose you could "frame" her...she does all sorts of things--don't you love dollies you can play with?! Her head spins 'round and is designed precisely so...the witch's hat is completely hidden when she is the stepmother. The witch's boots fold up as well, which can be a display option (or it makes the figure of the stepmother a bit more "different" than the witch...)

A happy accident with this piece: this doll's "form" is styled after the famed "Letitia Penn" wooden doll (whose year of creation and travel to America is somewhat debatable...). But, she is indeed a 1600-1700s dollie, which times out exactly with the Salem Witch Trials.

And another note~~these paper poppets of late are mixed media & then some...gouache, pen, ink, colored pencil, watercolor pencil, opaque pen...I am appalled at how much a set of watercolors costs these days, and so, have been foraging ahead without...and making many fun discoveries with the mediums I have on hand! (Although, I must procure some tubes of gamboge and payne's grey~~my favorite watercolor hues...)

Happy New Year blessings,

meg

a wee goblin....

...has been lurking in my tiny atelier....can you see her?? Known to pilfer and pillage through my supplies...to sneakily spirit rare spun-cotton mushrooms away to the dollies' house and hide them in the attic! Sequins, beads, charms~~beware! Fabric, paper, pencils....and MARKERS!~~hide yourselves and hope to spare the tiny goblin!!!


Some days I lonnnng for a space to work (the above photo is our small kitchen table...)~~but other days, I enjoy small hands to "help"...I know the girls are learning, all the time, and best of all watching Mama make stuff. We've all lost that simple privilege, somewhere along the way. I want my girls to know, too, that you can have a "job" that makes you happy! Really. I mean seriously...is this a job!?

Sitting at the kitchen table, cozy with the snow and cold outside our nest...Christmas music, a pine scented candle burning, and coloring...painting, cutting, glittering...making.

Once more, Chloe (7), has inspired a whole new collection of work...(she is entirely responsible for the Christmas Gnomes, and all of the gnomes to follow...)


She's just enchanted with The Nutcracker, and did a wonderful job of painting her very own!!

By the by...the first song on my blog is "Red Clay Halo" by Gillian Welch!

Her CD, Time (The Revelator), is tippity-top on my Christmas Wish List....okay...to be dead honest, it's "tied" with Alicia Paulson's book~~Stitched in Time. I didn't know about this sweet posy!! Can't wait to open it on Christmas morn'...(Joe's excellent about sticking to the wish list...!)



I heard Gillian Welch on the Audrey Eclectic blog....is that some fancy folk art or what?! :)



Just one last thing to share with you....a lovely "gift" was waiting outside the door of our nest this morning, just waiting for me to capture it in a picture...just look at these beautiful winter roses!






Now, I really must fly from the nest~~to the post office! EVERYTHING is going out today...I can breathe and stitch on dollies to play with~~how fun! And I must say, the final trip to the post before Christmas is becoming one of my favorite traditions....good-bye little boxes!!

We'll chat again soon~~we had a rather hilarious Saint Lucia celebration...more on that tomorrow?

Blessings,
Meg