By the book

This is a little project I have been wanting to try. I am going to do more outfits on other pages but I was so excited I had to share the start.

Dressing for Dinner

Like a lot of you, I have gotten hooked on the tv show Downton Abbey on Masterpiece Classics. Although it is a little out of my typical time period, it is a fantastic period drama. As you would expect, I have been watching the show as much for the costumes as for the plot lines. Here is a little information, in case you were interested, about fashion during the time of the show.

The first season of Downton Abbey is set from 1912, starting with the sinking of the Titanic, through 1914, while the second season takes place during WWI in 1916. Women's fashions were undergoing drastic changes during this time period. The silhouette went from the "s-curve" and enhanced bust of the Victorian era, to something softer and more natural. Corsets were still worn but they gave women a more natural hourglass shape, and towards the middle of the decade, were abandoned for less restrictive undergarments.

Rather than full skirts, women often wore "hobble" skirts, which were widest at the waist and grew narrower at the ankle. Oriental styles were very popular. During the war years, women's clothing became more tailored and military inspired. Hemlines became shorter, as fabric was rationed and as women entered the workforce. Large brimmed hats were most popular in the early part of the decade, but as women started to bob their hair, closer fitting hats became popular.


I leave you with a few images of the great costumes from the show, including one of my favorite moments when Lady Sybil shocks the family by showing up wearing pants.

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Playing through

Anyone up for a round of golf?

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Fun February is here!

Perhaps not everyone will agree with me, but February is a pretty dull month. Sure, there's Valentine's Day, but for much of the population, it is just another day to sit around and eat copious amounts of chocolate. And there is my mother's birthday (love you mom!), but I am guessing that most of you aren't nearly as excited about that as we are. It's just a cold, dreary month, a long way from summer.

So, a few years ago, my sister came up with the idea of "Fun February." If February isn't going to be good on its own, we will have to give it a hand.

In honor of Fun February 2012, here are the super fun goings on at Emily Clarke Studio!

This Friday, February 3, 6-9pm: Art Trade!
     I have a ton of art in the studio, including a lot of little pieces from my painting-a-day project from a couple of years ago. This Friday only, I am willing to make a trade for much of the art in the studio.

      What can you trade, you ask? Have a book, art supply, or collectable item you think I might like? Trade it for a piece of art you like.

     Provide a service like hair cutting, massages, website maintenance, advertising, etc? Bring it on.

     Are you interested in one of my newest paintings? I will be happy to trade any shiny new piece for your old wrinkly money. (Although I will be willing to deal.)

 (And, drop in to O-Cha tea bar next door between 8-9pm to hear my friend Alex Simpson play!)

Saturday, February 4, 12pm-4pm: Stick-people workshop
     I hear people tell me all the time that they "can't even draw a stick person." Well, it is time to remedy that.

     This Saturday, drop in anytime between noon and 4pm and I will be happy to teach you to draw the best stick people around. Amaze your friends! Dominate at Pictionary! You won't be sorry!
   
     $5 gets you a pen, paper, and the best stick person drawing instruction money can buy. What a deal!

Saturday, February 11, 12pm-4pm: Paper-doll workshop
     I am pretty sure that you all know that paper-dolls are my new obsession. (If not, just scroll through the last 6 months or so of blog posts.) I will be doing a mother daughter paper doll workshop with the art museum in the spring, but I am currently trying to figure out the best way to teach my technique.

     On the 11th, drop in anytime between noon and 4pm, and I will be providing supplies and instructions on making your own paper-dolls. Let me know what works and what doesn't, and any questions you have. $5 gets you everything you need.

Thursday, February 16, 6:30-8:30pm: Vino and Van Gogh!
     This month, I start teaching classes at Vino & Van Gogh on Augusta Rd. Bring your friends, your favorite bottle of wine, and in 2 hours I will teach you to paint a beautiful Japanese cherry blossom tree. And, the piece is done in acrylic, so you get to take it home with you that night!

     For more information and to register, click here.

Saturday, February 25, all day
     Ok, I don't know what I am doing this day yet, but I promise it will be awesome.
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All in a Row

I don't know why, but yesterday I got into my head to paint a row of little geisha girls. And, it turned out to be quite appropriate, because my sister and I were able to go out for some surprise sushi. I had fun researching kimono fabrics for my row of brightly colored girls.

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Being a Man in the 20's

The right clothes make all the difference to the right image, don't they?

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I'm going out

So, get my hat.

Nighty-night

Enough said

Lessons from a Flapper

With all the studying of 1920's fashion that I have been doing, it seems logical that I recently watched Ken Burns' documentary on Prohibition. That whole era in American history is fascinating, although I am sure that living it was a whole different thing that watching it on television. It just seems amazing to me that a freedom loving country like America would have decided to totally ban alcohol because it was seen as the root of all problems. And then, that the very people who voted for and passed the law, would completely ignore it!


One of my favorite things from the documentary was learning about Vanity Fair writer Lois Long, pen name "Lipstick." The daughter of a minister, in the 20's she became the quintessential flapper, recording her escapades in the nightclubs and speakeasys of New York in her weekly column. She was famous for her brash lifestyle and her brash writing style, stating that "Tomorrow we may die, so let's get drunk and make love." She was most definitely a new kind of woman.

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A New Life

The wedding day was here, and she guessed her wild, freewheeling days were over. She didn't think homelife would be too boring, though. Her new husband was, afterall, a bootlegger.

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To Heal the Sick

Being a nurse was so rewarding. She got to spend her days helping those in need. And, right now, handsome Mr. Johnson in room 203 needed his pillow fluffed. It was a hard life, but she had to do it...

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In Service

She worked in a lovely house, the family was nice, and the hours were good. But, why did she have to always wear this silly hat?

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Inspiration Monday: Wonder Woman

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People who are familiar with my art already know that I love Wonder Woman. I have painted her several times, and even turned my sister into her during one of my recent paper doll shoots.

If there is anyone I wanted to be when I was younger, it was Linda Carter from the 70's Wonder Woman tv series. (Why? I have two words for you: Invisible jet)

And, I find comic book art in itself pretty fascinating to look at, so I spent a little time recently studying the origins of Wonder Woman. She was initially created by William Moulton Marston in 1941. His reason, he said, for creating Wonder Woman was:

 Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype 

lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they

 don't want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good 

women are. Women's strong qualities have become despised 

because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a 

feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the

 allure of a good and beautiful woman.^[7]

The thing I found most interesting about Marston was that he was also the inventor of the polygraph (perhaps the source of his idea for Wonder Woman's lasso of truth?).

I will leave you, appropriately enough, as the Republican candidates for president are currently in my state, with one of my favorite Wonder Woman covers, and my candidate for our next president.

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Defining a type

"Flapper"— the notorious character type who bobbed her hair, smoked cigarettes, drank gin, sported short skirts, and passed her evenings in steamy jazz clubs, where she danced in a shockingly immodest fashion with a revolving cast of male suitors.”
― Joshua Zeitz, Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern


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