Floral Jacket with Bells and Birds by Michaela Laurie

Artist Statement

The Shop Windows Collection

These three art works are miniatures.

I am drawn to beautifully dressed shop windows. Things of beauty – almost an art installation with layers of objects framed by a decorative facade. Come in. look at me. Touch me. Smell the perfume. Let the experience become part of who you are, they seem to whisper.

I like to recreate my own magical shop window displays. Little dresses, coats and kimonos hanging impossibly on living branches with birds resting and bells chiming in a mysterious little breeze. Little red tanzaku cards (carrying a poem or wish) hang from the bells, fluttering and swaying to catch the breeze and granting your wish.

The shop window clothes are often painted drawn in pigment pen and painted in layers of coloured pencil and watercolour. Swarovski crystals often make an appearance to make the clothes sparkle as you pass by.