Isabella Ducrot: The powerful reinvention of an artist

I’ve always loved stories about women who do something new later on in life. Not because it’s rare-though it still feels that way- but because it helps remind me that time isn’t running out. Ducrot isn’t alone in this.

Grandma Moses, who picked up a paintbrush in her seventies and kept painting util 100. Mary Delany began creating intricate paper collages of flowers at 72. Baddiewinkle became an Instagram sensation in her eighties. Iris Appel started collecting fabrics nd dressing in her own style long before she became a fashion icon in her nineties.

These women are inspiring

These stories are not just charming, they are fuel. If you’re in your fifties, sixties  (or +), and feeling like you missed your shot, I suggest you spend a little time with these amazing women.

Not to copy them.

To remember that reinvention is always possible. And that starting something now can take you places you never imagined.

Isabella Ducrot’s art

Ducrot works with fabric, paper, paint and thread. Some of her materials com from her travel, such as found textiles and woven fabrics.

Her pieces are often large and filled with textures. They may be portraits, landscapes, or abstract works, and there’s always a sense that you’re looking at something layered. Not just in materials but in life experience.

If you are curious, there’s a short video of Ducrot in there studio talking about how she works. She walks you through her process and shares how objects and materials influence wha the creates. Ducrot at her studio

Isabella Ducrot’s robes

One of y favourite things Ducrot makes are her robes. These aren’t garments to wear but large-scale artworks. They’re made with stitched fabrics, painted sections, and layers of details and textures.  

Some look like Kimonos, but they are actually based on  the ceremonial robes worn by sultans during the Ottoman Empire.

After reading that I fell into a quick kaftan rabbit hole. So much fun!

Whey the robes are laid flat, they have.a sort of “A-line” shape. They were traditionally made from silks, sometimes embroidered, often lined with fur. Ducrot’s versions are playful takes on this shape. Some are brightly coloured, others more quiet and intense. many seem to have movement, like they might shift slightly in their frames.

Ducrot and Dior

In 2024, Ducrot created an installation of the robes for Dior at the Musée Rodin in Paris. The colourful robes were painted over black and white lines that made the whole project playful and beautiful.

Check out this installation at the Captain Petzel.

You can also read about her in the World of Interiors, in an article called Thread and Thrum. It offers a peek inside her apartment.

The New Yorker published an excellent profile about her called An Artist Flowering in Her Nineties.

And then there is always Isabella Ducrot’s Instagram account so that you can look at her art.

You don’t have to become an artist. But if something is tugging you, a new interest, a creative itch, a “maybe someday” idea: Start now!

Ducrot and her peers prove that you can begin at any age.