Vintage Circus Costumes and Clowns

The best thing about my life is that no two days are the same, despite my best efforts to just hibernate in the warm and take photos in my home studio, the unusual offer seems to haunt me like a shadow... and here's just one such instance.

I met the wonderful Ruth from Admiral Costumes on a photo shoot which I helped to style, Ruth had just taken over an established costume hire company not far from me up the country roads.

Ruth had come across a fabulous selection of genuine vintage circus costumes, and thought I might like to have fun with them. When finally we found a young lady small enough to fit into them, I set about building a little set and rummaging around for props. The final part of the jigsaw was finding that our student model Charlotte was best friends with another young lady who is training to be a makeup artist, the girls were fabulous, they really entered into the spirit of it. 

Ruth has been looking into the different types of clowns and we took some ideas from these.

There are four types of clown, there's Auguste who is the fool or joker, he falls over with his big shoes on and has makeup with white round the mouth and eyes which is outlined in black.

Hobo clown is a happy go lucky fellow who is always looking for work, typically he wears a bowler hat and tramp clothing, he has a dirty face due to his constant travelling.

Harlequin clown originated in France and wears an outfit made from triangles of coloured fabric with a ruff at the neck. Harlequin is nimble and performs stunts and acrobatics.

The Pierrot clown wears distinctive black and white and is known for mime.  He is a melancholy dreamer and hides his pain from his audience but reveals only a single tear drop on his cheek, under his eye.

We combined some of these clown ideas to style the showgirl outfits, the sort a bear-back rider would wear and another like a Jeanie.

With the addition of a few feminine touches like ballet shoes and veils, we twisted the idea from a male image to a female performer, albeit a rather sinister one, but I can't help but feel that clowns are a bit scary anyway. 

You can hire any of these items or some just like it from Admiral Costumes. Kerri Victoria Pocknell our MUA can be found through facebook or myself.  Big thanks to Charlotte our model too. 

Send in the clowns, don't worry, they're here...

Painters In Residence Moroccan Boho Bedroom

The last of my projects for Painters In Residence has now been posted up by Annie Sloan and it's my Moroccan Bedroom.

Actually this bedroom is an illusion, it's my conservatory that I use as a studio and I built this set to show what could be achieved with paint and colour. 

The back wall is the colour Provence with a Mandala in Napoleonic Blue.  Mandalas are traditionally used in meditation and so I did my own twist on this by designing and cutting my own stencil.

You only have to cut one quarter of the design as you can repeat it to form the circle.  The designs were a collage of various patterns I had seen with some alterations done on the template before cutting. 

The table was dark brown wood.  I first painted inside the carved areas so they would show through underneath the top coat.

The floor was a quarry tiled dark rust colour which I have never really liked so I was more than happy to see what happened when I put paint onto it. I first painted each tile alternate colours and let those dry.  I cut my own stencils again, a variety of different designs and then painted these onto the tiles. Once dry all the tiles were covered with the clear lacquer from Annie Sloan which seals and protects them.  On a few of the tiles I picked up some tiny details with gold leaf and varnished over it. 

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The bed came from good old e-bay, it was painted in Barcelona orange and varnished with the same lacquer as I used on the floor. I again cut a stencil, Im a big fan of peacock feathers I even have some tattooed on my leg, it was also a play on 'feather bed'.

The bed coverings are called Kantha Quilts and are made from old saris held together with a Kantha stitch, made and hand sewn in India. A great way to up cycle old saris.

The little screen was mainly in Old Violet but I created an Ombre effect using yellows, orange and red, mixing them as I went along. This again was dark wood and it just goes to show how well the chalk paint covers.

The three Painters In Residence were given three months to come up with their completed projects and very soon the next batch of recruits will be handed the baton.  I hope my approach has been an inspiration to some of you to be brave with colour. I don't consider myself a great painter but I do get carried away with a vision. I find that if it doesn't work then what's the worse that can happen? Well you just paint over it and put it down to experience.  I rarely do any work now without the Chalk Paint coming out at some point, for photographic backdrops and props to changing the walls in my house to match the new furniture makeovers. I seem to be on a mission to eliminate beige, boring and dull so if this triggers even the slightest idea with you to go bold with colour and add some details then I hope it makes you as happy as it makes me. Love Jx