The Bell Girl X

 

 But what they heard surprised and delighted them both. It was a delicate, melodious  sound which was so beautiful that everyone in the park looked up and smiled. Then holding her friend’s  hand, and with her hips swaying gently from side to side, she walked out of the park to start her new life and hopefully live happily ever after.

 

                                                                                             THE END

The Bell Girl lX

 

This happened several times over the next few weeks. Eventually the bell girl realised that next time they met in the park she would have to explain herself even though it might mean losing her dearly beloved friend. However, much to her surprise, when she had finished her story, the lady leaned across and kissed her gently. Naturally the bell girl could hardly contain herself and she knew that any moment they would hear the loud, discordant clanging which she had tried so long to suppress.

The Bell Girl Vlll

 

 

After several uneventful years a beautiful lady started coming in to the shop on a Tuesday morning and she complimented the Bell Girl on her delicate porcelain skin. They became friends and had lunch together in the park every day and talked about books and fed the ducks and picked blackberries. Then one day the lady asked if the Bell Girl like to join her for supper? Much as she would like to have done so, her friend declined.

The Bell Girl Vll

By the time her elderly parents died the bell girl was a young woman. She tried very hard to live a very quiet life so as not to upset anyone and found a job in the library where there was very rarely any excitement. Through a combination of meditation and deportment lessons she managed to keep the clanging to a minimum. So much so that the townsfolk forgot that she was a bell girl at all

The Bell Girl Vl

"The answer is simple!" said the third doctor and instructed the  old man to make a very slim porcelain dress for their daughter which would not leave room for the clanger to swing so wildly. The Bell Girl too liked this idea as narrow skirts were more fashionable. But, after a week or so, her legs were black and blue with bruises and she was unable to walk properly any more. With regret she put on her bell shaped dress again.

The Bell Girl V

When a boy called to ask the Bell Girl to a dance the clanging noise reached such a crescendo that the couple decided it was time to consult someone else.

The second doctor thought about the problem for some time, then he suggested stuffing the Bell Girl's skirt with wool. to muffle the noise, This she did because she loved her parents. But, after a while it made her feel fuzzy and she became tired and listless. Eventually. when the Bell Girl had grown very thin, the stuffing was removed.

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."