'Devastated to lose Jeannie': Artist finds peace in crafting special 3-D likeness of late friend
Janani Whitfield | CBC News | Posted: May 13, 2018 8:07 PM | Last Updated: May 13, 2018
Jeannie Straub was a much-loved Regina resident, and a founding member of Saskatchewan Fashion Week
Jessie Dishaw has been seeing a lot of her friend lately, but the visits alternate between grief and smiles.
Every day, when Dishaw goes down to her art studio, she sees Jeannie Straub's face looking back at her from a photo, as she creates a replica doll of her friend.
The artist creates dolls by commission, but this one is a labour of love.
"There's been some days where it's been a bit difficult," Dishaw says. "She was so wonderful and lovely and it's wonderful to see her lovely, smiling face."
Other times, she feels anger and grief that Straub was taken too soon, a victim of a vehicle crash in B.C. last December.
"I think a lot of us we were devastated to lose Jeannie," she said. "It was such a hit for all of us. We expected to be dancing with her through old age."
Dishaw wanted to give Straub's husband, Sean Flotre, who was also badly injured in the crash, something special to remember his "partner in crime."
So Dishaw has turned to her art, to create a one-of-a-kind portrait of her friend, just at the time of Saskatchewan Fashion Week, for which Straub was a founding member, and following a massive memorial took place in Regina to remember the beloved former resident.
Dishaw has also trained as a teacher, but art and sculpture has always been her primary passion, and with the support of her husband, she's dedicated herself to it.
Last year, she began a new project, to sew a family of dolls to represent her own family, with the dolls made of felt and covered in fabric.
"I've always enjoyed the puzzle of figuring out how to make artwork," she said.
"It's really satisfying when everything starts coming together."
Her friends loved the concept, and she began getting commissions, featuring her ongoing work on her Facebook page, Derby and Dolls.
She estimates individual dolls take six to eight hours to make, but each one involves some care to ensure the face shape and body match the person, that the clothes are hand-crafted to match the person's own clothes, and that the dolls reflect their owners' personality and passions. For instance, one of a friend features a hula hoop around her waist, tattoos on her arm, and a kitten, made from fun fur, curled up around her legs.
Straub's doll set includes Straub, her husband, and their dog Opie, who also died as a result of the accident, with the little family depicted on the couple's wedding day.
"It's definitely the most complicated one I've done," she said, laughing as she described mock cursing Straub for the elaborate nature of her wedding dress.
She believes Straub — an "incredibly creative" and artistic soul herself — would have loved the piece, and she hopes that her husband feels the same way.
For herself, Dishaw says she's happy to have created the tribute to her friend, gone but never forgotten.
"I found at least a little bit of peace, I think, in doing it."