“From Old make New”

Caroline is a beautiful Scottish lass with blue eyes and red hair. She is the mother of two children and the supporting wife of a Cancer Researcher.

When Caroline came to volunteer for her torso cast, she brought with her a beautiful bouquet of white roses and yellow lilies – it surely brightened my day! I feel very fortunate to be able to meet women like Caroline through the Chest of Hope project!

Caroline’s torso is done in a mosaic technique known as “pique assiette” (a French term: “stolen from plate”), that incorporates pieces of broken ceramics into the design. The china used on this torso is a “Surrey” pattern by Enoch Wedgwood Ltd. A friend of mine picked up several of the plates from a Goodwill store.

I like the idea of re-using someone’s old china. Looking at the plates, I wondered about their history. Who cooked the meals that were served on those dishes? Was it a woman like Caroline? We will never know the history of the plates, but we know that a functional dish holding nourishing meals, has now been transformed into a decorative object, adorning the torso of a very special woman: CAROLINE.