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Patchy Blues

When I saw my daughter, Tammy, drawing her Cabbage Patch Kids doll it inspired me to set up a staged photograph that I eventually turned into a very popular poster which is still selling to this day. One of these posters is even in Magic Crystal Valley, the largest Cabbage Patch Kids Museum in the world with over 6,000 dolls on display.

This was a tense moment for Tammy because she was proud that I wanted her to model for me again and to make it believable, she concentrated on what I told her to do. “Look at the doll and envision how you will draw her; this will be a famous picture of you, your doll and the art work you have just begun,” I told her.

I love the feeling and purpose, its intensity. As some of us will remember, there was a time when Cabbage Patch Kids dolls caused a mania all over the free world, well the western world perhaps. People lined up for hours just to purchase a doll for their child or for a collection or just to say, “I have one!”

The set up took time but capturing this image went quickly because it would have been impossible to hold this moment for very long, especially with someone so young. I needed to be ready and coach her with the right verbal cues and tonality. Timing is everything in photography. Having studied Neuro-Linguistic Programming or NLP I discovered how our body language, voice, eye movement and just about everything that is by definition non-word communication does in fact communicate. The meaning of words is not always accurate to the listener and it is only when we interpret the words using both sound and body language that they suggest true communication.

Look at the Animal Kingdom. Until recently it was believed that animals, birds and fish couldn’t send messages to one another but we are learning that communication is not only by words. True communication is sent by our emotions, suggested through our body language and just the sounds we make have an influence, communicating without saying a word. My friend William McKay told me about Baba Hari Dass, a silent monk who has not spoken since 1952 and communicates by writing on a small chalkboard. He has taken his vow of silence to a higher level and communicates not only through the written word but also by his powerful presence. I’m sure every word is thought out before it is written. Wouldn’t this world be different if we all communicated in this manner?

Another friend of mine, Jasmine Kinnear, is a Feline Behaviour Consultant and has written several books about cats (www.confessionsofacatbreeder.com). When I read some of Jasmine’s books I was totally unaware how much cats communicate. Shortly thereafter I was given, or should I say persuaded, to look after my daughter’s cat when she moved to Victoria, British Columbia. This was to be a temporary arrangement until she settled into her new place with her cousin Heidi. The cat’s meow changes in the morning. Her meow is different as if to say, “Good morning, now feed me.” When she wants attention her tone changes once again. I need to learn her language as we all need to learn the language of our family, friends and spouses. If we could only learn to communicate with one another all over the world like Baba Hari Dass we would have peace of mind and peace on earth.

Getting back to the Cabbage Patch Kids doll image, let’s explore what it is trying to communicate. Tammy is looking at the doll as if it was alive. Her doll’s hands out stretched as if she is welcoming the world into her life through this image. Tammy holding the chalk in her left hand suggests the colour of the doll’s clothing and in her right hand a darker coloured chalk outlines the doll’s profile. The tonal value is indicated throughout the image, with Tammy’s clothing in a different hue but still in the blue family.