Ah, so even though I absolutely LOVE the CA sunshine ... it does do damage. Just take a look at this display of our ketubah (Jewish wedding certificate) and dolls that I've made. On first glance it looks nice, no?
But if we look very closely then we begin to see what the sun has done. Look at the fairy's silk taffeta skirt.
And that doll that I made in Deanna Hogan's workshop all these past years? She looks pretty still, no?
But I don't think that I would have chosen such a harsh yellow hair color. It really was a pretty apricot, reddish color.
And finally take a closer look at our ketubah. The signatures have almost disappeared. And I'm especially sad about that because my signing witness was my mentor when I worked in fashion design. She passed away a couple years ago so this really hits me.
Well the quick solution is to put the dolls into better storage. Next I'm going to tape a piece of cardstock over the signatures. When I can look into it, perhaps I can have the frame glass replaced with a UV protection glass. I'm still enjoying the look of everything so they haven't been ruined, just changed a bit. Later on I may investigate dyeing the wig on the doll since it was made with Tibetan lambswool. It's not like that reddish color was natural to the sheep in the first place. The fairy doll's skirt looks nice this softer color so it's still beautiful to me. At any rate, take a lesson from this and be careful with your artwork that's exposed to the sunshine year round. Perhaps rotate them out every year to minimize the sun damage they sustain.
