My adventures as Grover's Corners milliner!

 

So on my last post I mentioned that I would update you on what I've been up to lately. Well I've been lucky enough to have been involved with a really great theatre production of Thornton Wilder's play  Our Town which was staged at  Chapter Arts Centre just down the road from my little home in Cardiff.

It was directed by Ray Thomas and produced by Everyman theatre , a Cardiff based theatre company that I have been working with in various roles nearly a year. This was the first production that have  I assisted with the costumes on and I learnt so much  from the experienced and thoroughly enjoyed working with such a great team and cast.

 

One of my main tasks as costume assistant was to turn  5 tired looking boaters into wedding hats  for the ladies of the play to wear during the two lead characters' wedding. As you can see from the state of my work space above, I got stuck in pretty quick and it didn't take too long for my whole home to be strewn with various bits of flowers and ribbon.

 

I was trying to make the hats look simple and in-keeping with the tone of the play. It's set in a small New Hampshire town and I imagined that the characters would have trimmed their hats with  the flowers they had growing in their gardens and maybe a simple ribbon  with this in mind I put together each hat.

 

Here are a few  photos of the final results. I am pretty pleased to say I don't think that they resemble their previous lives as boaters and it was such a thrill to see them being worn on stage.

 

My favourite creation has to be Mrs Soame's hat, she is quite a loud character and makes a big scene of crying a the wedding, when I made her hat I wanted to make sure it was much more loud and over the top than the others  and  think it came across and suited the character really well.

 

I'm hoping to get a few more pictures of them being worn on stage so I'll share them in a later post if I do.

It was such a great experience and I want to thank everyone involved for all their hard work and efforts.

Now that it's over their is certainly no rest for the wicked, I've just started working on the costumes for Everyman's next production of Equus in May, which I can safely say is going to be completely different challenge!

I hope you enjoyed a glimpse of what I have been up to lately I've certainly enjoyed taking part and can't wait to share a glimpse of my next project soon.  xxx

Inspiration Break- In flight



image source http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/learning/Kids-Zone/moorland/how-can-i-help-look-after-moorland

Good Morning Everyone, I've had a really busy couple of weeks and am taking this morning to do some quiet reflection on  everything that I've been doing recently and I found this lovely image of a barn owl and felt it really captured how I want my mood to be today, 

The colours and tones are so peaceful and muted but the owl looks focused and purposeful - that is what I am aiming for at the moment.
I'll be blogging about everything that I have been up to and what I have coming up really soon but  I think I need a few days to collect my thoughts and plan out my next steps - don't worry it's all exciting stuff !!

I also want to dedicate my little post today to my super and wonderfully supportive  Grandad- Papa - it's his 80th birthday today and he is probably my biggest  reader on this blog. He always lets me know what he thought of my latest post and also gives me a gentle nudge when I haven't posted for some time. He's a big owl fan too so I know he'll enjoy the picture I've shared today.

So Papa I just want to wish you a lovely birthday today, and I want you to know how much I appreciate all the love and support you and Nan give me in my creative endeavours and just in life generally too. Love you lots Squirrel xxx

So I better get back to my morning reflection and promise to catch up with a bit more of a Millinery / Sewing based post soon. Hope you all have a great day xxx