Welcome to the Doodah Estate

A world of scribbles and stories in Dame Doodah's stately surroundings

Lovingly illustrated by Katie Rudge

Dame Doodah first strolled into our lives in 2010. Inspired by a shared love of getting out and about - visiting historic properties and landscapes across the UK  - our wanderings, making music, and the magic of stately homes, parks, and gardens and the people that grace them. 

She’s an intriguing soul: Matriarch and co-ordinator of the Doodah Estate - an eccentric hostess, nature enthusiast, and wholly devoted to welcoming family, friends and visitors into her world - with a deep passion for all forms of life and creativity. 

The Dame and her friends truly came to life during a time when we couldn’t explore the world outside. My dad, George, was undergoing regular cancer treatments, and our days spent in hospital became a time we needed to tap into our imagination. We would spend hours scribbling together - he created characters and stories, and I sketched them. It was a way to pass the time - but more than that, creativity became our way to travel without moving. To laugh, to create, and to hope! 

The Dame has a little bit of all of us within her - our humour, our hopes, our love of nature and music, and our need to escape now and then into something joyful, or simply to appreciate the little things in life.

The Doodah Estate is built on those moments: a collection of gardens, walks, oddities, and quirky corners. Each illustration is a new doorway into her world and inspires my illustrations as the years go by - and it's a celebration of the stories and moments that connect us.

 

(Above: My Dad's writing - building a character sketch of Dame Doo dah - and the first illustration) 

Take your time. Wander. Discover...And enjoy the scribbles😊

With my Dad, George (bottom right) and Jimmy the cat (top left.)

 Katie is a singer and artist based in Liverpool.