The Lady is the House

I have this urge to paint large objects on the heads of ladies in traditional costumes. There must be some pseudo-feminist agenda there: women bearing the load, etc., etc. Maybe it's personal too: a quiet form of panic setting in. Either way, it's obvious and unoriginal, but I have this need to go with it. (My next two pieces are in the planning stage already). Last night I went to the City Library and borrowed Taschen's mammoth edition of the incredible 1886 costume treasure trove by Auguste Racinet. The thing is so huge that I barely got it home, then barely dragged it to the studio today. Doesn't taschen mean pockets in German? I know that people probably wear big coats in Germany, but surely their pockets can't be a metre deep?!

This picture, above, actually started it all. In the original illustration (from a 1970s Burda magazine advertisement) the lady's headdress is not even as high as Marg Simpson's hair. I am not sure why I had the urge to repaint it so tall. (Any psychoanalyses welcome.)