Woodland Imp

Wire armature of my Woodland Imp

I was trying to put a couple of mediums together to create a female form.   I made a wire armature, covered it and then made a head and face with air dry clay and some beads for eyes.   I think its a fact that some people are gifted and/or skilled in working small to miniature.  I'm not one of them!  Note to self - work bigger! The face came out decidedly masculine.

I put it aside for a while and picked it up the other day and decided to just play a bit.  I used what was close to hand and wrapped  the arms and legs with overdyed thread, used a little paverpol and acrylic lace and created a vest.

The loin cloth is a scrap of silk gauze I purchased ages ago from a very small boutique dress shop that had a hand written sign saying "Quilters will be surprised".  I went in to discover offcuts of delicious bits of silk - this is the last remaining scrap.

The hair is more like a turban and made from flower thread.  The best use I can find for it as it is very fine and not what I like to stitch with as a rule.  The bit of wood I picked up at the beach at Cabarita Park. (He is nailed to it if you were wondering).  I often find lovely bits of worn wood that has been tossed around the Parramatta River for quite a while and of course I always come home with some shells.

This little guy is definitely not my best work  and I see heaps of faults in it but, despite all of that, it has a charm that comes from being created by hand.  And I have had the satisfaction of using those bits and pieces that I had been hanging onto for way too long.  A sort of destash in reverse - I have used my materials but now I need a place for the end result!   Cheers