Search Results for: Zelda doily woman

I picked up my “Zelda” Doily Woman postcards on the way home from Bishop Maginn School where Jon and I brought Zinnia today (you can read all about that here).

As usual, they were waiting for me on the front counter at A&M Printers.  I picked up the postcards, waved to Brad who was in the backroom, thanked him and left.  Sometime before the end of the month, I’ll get a bill in the mail for them.

I am very happy to have a paper image of Zelda.  Like I wrote yesterday, I miss her.  But now I can send her out to people and everyone in between the process will get to see Zelda too.

And, of course, I’m selling packs of Zelda postcards in my Etsy Shop.  So even more people will see her that I don’t even know.  Mailart like this is so democratic because the image can be inexpensively owned by so many people.

I’m selling six 4″x6″  “Zelda” postcards for $12 including shipping.  You can buy them here. 

I’m always happy when any of my work finds it’s home and is appreciated.  I missed Zelda when she first left my studio.  She is such a presence.  But it’s good to see this picture that Mary Elaine sent to me of her hanging in her home.

I never would have thought to hang her in a corner, in a way, she almost has more dimension.  It’s good to see her again and I know from Mary Elaine’s email how much Zelda means to her.

The picture of the baby was in the house when Mary Elaine bought it.  She said at first she took it down, but she got a strong feeling that it really wanted to be there.  So she put it back.

It’s interesting the way the two interact with each other.  They seem to be telling a story, but I’m not sure what it is.

When I walked into my studio on Monday it felt strangely empty.  I quickly realized it was because Zelda, my Doily Woman wasn’t there.  She was in the mail on the way to her new home.

I knew she had a presence, but I didn’t realize just how much of one.  I actually missed her.

So this morning I sent this photo of her to Brad at A&M Printers in town to have her made into a postcard.

I do have the feeling she wants to be seen. And sending her through the mail is a good way of doing that.  A good way to share her message in a little, but not small, and very democratic way.

When I get them back, I’ll be selling them in my Etsy Shop with my other cards and postcards 6 for $12 including shipping.

Made from an old quilt and doilies, Zelda, my Doily Woman is a symbol of the inherent strength of women throughout time.

That strength is visible in her posture and the timelessness of it in my choice of materials, the old quilt, and the doilies, both creative avenues traditionally available to women.

I named my Doily Woman after my sheep Zelda.  And Zelda got her name for being a strong-willed ewe who, since the moment we got her caused us trouble.  But what was trouble for us, breaking out of fences to go where she wanted to and often taking the rest of the flock with her, was just Zelda getting what she wanted.

Zelda, my Doily Woman came together quickly in my studio the day after Zelda, my sheep died.  I had the old quilt backing (which always reminded me of a pie crust) laid out on my floor.  I was unsure what I’d do with it when I emptied out my box of doilies and started arranging them on the quilt.

As if by magic, the Doily Woman appeared before my eyes.  I felt at the time that it was the creation herself that was guiding me.  As if all the materials wanted to come together, that she wanted to be made.

When I first stepped back and took a look at her, it was the strength of her posture that struck me.  Much the same way I was moved the first time I saw the Bennington Beledi Bellydancers dance.  It’s a certain attitude visible in the language of the body.

After the doilies were laid out on the old quilt, I found the butterfly doily and placed it where her vulva would be.  Then I found the ring of roses for her head and the spiral, an ancient symbol of eternity, for her face.

I could see she would be more visible if she had an outline around her.  So, I removed some of the red squares, sewn down by another woman long before me, from the quilt.   It felt to me like I was rearranging history as I pulled the treads holding the squares down, stitch by stitch, then re-sewed them around the doily woman.

Once the outline was in place it looked like a red aura.  Red symbolic for our primal urges, being connected to the earth, and enthusiasm for life.

I only found out after I named her, the meaning of the name Zelda.  Short for Griselda, it’s German for Gray Battle-Maid.  An unusually accurate description of Zelda, my Doily Woman.

When I first began making Zelda, someone emailed me and said she wanted to buy her.  But her financial situation has changed.  This happens from time to time and I completely understand it.  I also trust that all my creation eventually find the right home for them.

So now, finally complete, Zelda is for sale.

She’s  35″x51″ and is Sold $400 + $15 shipping.  You can buy her in my Etsy Shop, just click here.  Or you can email me here at [email protected].

You can follow my process of making Zelda here. 

I just hung up Zelda, my Doily Woman and am seeing her on the wall for the first time.

There’s always the risk that when you take something that was made on the floor, from the point of view of looking down at it, that it won’t translate well when seen flat on a wall at eye level.

But I found Zelda just as powerful hanging on my wall and she appears even bigger than I thought she was.

I still have some adjustments and sewing to do, but I’m glad to see that she can stand up to gravity.

I was actually so pleased with how she looks, I wanted to take a picture with her.

I just finished sewing the red outline/aura around Zelda, my Doily Woman.   That means next I can begin sewing down the doilies.

It’s just about 10:30 pm and I’m suddenly too tired to do anything else except close up the chicken coop and go to bed.

The changes are slow in coming, but I think they make a big difference with each step.  I’m closer to being done with her red outline, then I’ll start sewing the doilies down.

Today, as I was sewing the red squares around Zelda, I thought of the outline as her aura.  I don’t know what a red aura means, but I’ll be looking into that next.

I worked all day on my Doily Woman.  Removing the red squares from one part of the old quilt and replacing them on the background behind my Doily Woman.

I think the red outline makes her seem like she’s more integrated in the background, more a part of it. As if she’s emerging out of it instead of just sewn on top of it.  I hadn’t expected that, but the idea of emerging suits her.

I also looked up the meaning of the name Zelda, which is what I’m going to call her, or I should say, who she is.  I did begin to create her on the day Zelda died.  And I think, in her posture, Doily Woman has the kind of strength, independence, and determination that our sheep Zelda embodied.

As usual, when looking online, I found different interpretations of the meaning of the name.  But in the Online Etymology Dictionary, I found that Zelda is short for Griselda which in German means “gray battle-maid”.

Wikipedia suggests that “the name originated from Old English “gris hild”, meaning “dark battle”…. *grīsaz, meaning both “grey” and “fearsome, terrible”, and *haliþaz, meaning “warrior, hero”, or alternately *hildiz, meaning “battle” “

Zelda is a warrior.

I was stunned at the meaning of the name Zelda and at that moment my Doily Woman became even more of who she is.  I feel like gray, battle, maid is an almost perfect physical description of her.

I researched some more and found that “Gray Battle Maiden” is an  Anime character whose name is Zelda.

So I texted the artist, Blue, from Bishop Maginn School whose paintings Jon and I helped sell this past summer to ask if she was familiar with the character.  I haven’t heard back from her yet, but I know she’d be the person to ask about this contemporary Zelda.

I can see now that Zelda is coming to life and I seem to have less to do with it than she does.

On Friday I got 50 Twin Healing Tree magnets in the mail from Sticker Mule.  And today I spent a few hours filling 50 orders of Twin Healing Tree magnets.

I already had the colorful envelopes to put them in.  Each envelope has one of my Zelda, Doily Woman postcards, one or more magnet depending on the order and my business card slipped into a small plastic sleeve.

I was delighted and surprised that so many people wanted my magnets.

So I ordered more, this time a little bigger.  About 2 1/2″ x 4″ instead of 2″x3″.   They’ll be $5 instead of $3 ( I got a good deal on the first order, it was a promotion from Sticker Mule).

I should have them in some time this week and hope to have my Twin Healing Trees posters and postcards soon too.

So thanks to everyone for buying my Twin Healing Tree magnets.  I’ll let you know when the new batch arrives.

I think I finished designing my quilt today.  I’ll look at it again on Monday to be sure.

I had to move Zelda, my Doily woman out of the way to work on the quilt.  I took a break from working on her to make the quilt, and she’s not pinned down, so I can only move her by sliding her around the floor.

I made a space for her next to the dog crate and surrounded her with a couple of boxes so the dogs and I didn’t accidentally step on her.  My studio is normally big enough for me my fabric and my work, but today I could have used a little more space.

I was thinking that working a piece like Zelda is like reading a really good, but long non-fiction book and making a quilt is like reading a novel.