The Bell Girl lV

The noise got so bad when the bell girl reached puberty that the old couple decided to consult a physician. He suggested adapting the apparatus he used to help children with ricketts and polio and made a kind of splint to stop the clanger from moving, But it was extremely uncomfortable and the bell girl could no longer go out and play with her friends. Although she endured it for the sake of her parents, the couple could see that it made their child very unhappy. So after a few months they had the splint removed.

The Bell Girl lll

The old man and his wife loved the little bell girl and nurtured and cared for her as if she was their own child. Her little bell would tinkle prettily as she laughed and played. It would also ring when she was upset or excited. At first the couple found this charming but, as the child grew older, the bell rang louder and less melodiously. As the years went by it seemed that any heightened emotions would set it off, clanging and clanking so violently that the girl's dress would often crack and have to be patched up.

The Bell Girl ll

 

The next day, when he went in to his workshop, the old man found a china bell on his bench which had been fashioned into the shape of a beautiful sleeping child. He called to his wife. Just as they were wondering who had made it, they were astonished to see the child open her eyes. As she cooed and chuckled, the little bell under her skirt tinkled delightfully. And her skin was indeed as smooth and delicate as porcelain.

The Bell Girl l

So much for blogging twice a week!
To make up for it a little I am going to post something every day for the next 10 days!

I started back at university this week and the first thing I'm working on is a little tale which I am going to illustrate with etchings. I hope to make it in to an Artists Book of some sort eventually, with text on one page and the etching opposite. I've started drawing out the images and refining my story and will speak to the print technicians next week to see if my ideas are do-able (so everything may change!)
Here is page ONE of

THE BELL GIRL

 

 

 

Once there was an elderly potter and his wife who had always hoped for children but had not been so blessed. One day the old woman picked up one of the little bells that her husband used to make and her eyes misted over. "How I wish we had a little girl whose skin was as smooth and translucent as this porcelain and whose laughter was as gay as the tinkling of this little bell."