| Category: Advanced |
| Title: Estella, Queen of the night |
| Doll Artist: jody kieffer Profile / Articles / Webpage |
Medium: She is all cloth, embellished with beads. |
| Description: She is an
original design. |
| Inspirations: I was inspired by a costume design for Mozart’s The Magic Flute , though my doll does not look like that design. I have been wanting to do a doll of this character for a long time. Listening to the very difficult “Queen of the Night” aria, I can just picture Estella singing those incredible notes “Der holle racht kocht….” The Queen of the Night is a very powerful figure in the opera and is, essentially, the villainess. But she is a mother who just wants her daughter back from her estranged husband, so I made Estella a more appealing and less threatening figure. |
| Herstory: ... |
| The Critics: Only when I took this photo into my
photo edit programme did I discover that she is wearing a sheer under dress
with three-quarter length sleeves, covered with a nicely draped and beaded
over-robe. The beaded fringe and headdress are the focal point of this design
and we have a chance to see them up close. Jody has done a wonderful job of the beading – I’d like to know how the “moon” headdress was constructed as it has an interesting, textured look to it I think the photo of the face might have benefited by being taken from slightly to one side, as the lighting has created odd shadows on the nose, otherwise she has a pretty, well painted face. Well made and posed hands add to the overall effect. She is definitely one of the new breed of opera singers, as every opera singer I have ever dressed was decidedly overblown! (I’m told the extra weight gives more resonance to the voice). All critics are by participant Sue Farmer if you want to learn what makes she write them please read her article: Where Angels Fear to Tread !! |
| Back |