Hip Hop Rose …

Here in UK, we are enjoying the first days of spring, the weather is conveniently playing nicely too.  My daily walks have been most pleasant, seeing and hearing the birds and the signs of new growth at the roadside, woods, and fields.   I can venture out in my tiny garden for longer sessions where the light and warmth are so welcome. 

Nonetheless work must continue, more so now I have dedicated filming day, it is necessary for me to ensure that a story and the dolls are prepared beforehand. 

Unfortunately, as I packed the dolls away after my recent exhibition, they have become muddled. I am having to catalogue and label each doll and give it unique number and space in a box. I was a cataloguer before I retired so old habits die hard.

So, to celebrate that and the coming of spring I wish to write about ‘Box 1 doll 1’ who is one of my first dolls in my new career as Concept Costume Design Animator.  This is Hip Hop Rose, she and her dress is dyed with the liquid from the boiled avocado pips. This is not a waste product I was familiar with until the late 70s.  Even then it took time to acquire a taste but now I eat them daily and have a constant supply of pink dye of various shades. 

I don’t remember ‘pink’ in my home as a child despite having two little sisters there was no pretty or shocking pink! No matter, I have grown to love it as it is a flattering and kind colour.  I do remember the dog rose fondly, a beautiful rose on prickly stems that climbed furiously through the other hedge plants. It is the county flower of Hampshire where I was born. 

Sometimes the plant develops a harmless growth called bedeguar gall or Robin’s pin cushion that when worn around the neck on a cord it cures colic!

The rose is a common symbol in medieval heraldry. In Germany it was linked to the devil and the fairies used the hips to make themselves invisible.  The seeds inside the hip are a nasty irritant and naughty boys in my day would use them as itchy powder. While this information is neither scintillating nor entirely factual, I hope my next film starring Hip Hop Rose will be fun.