Hello and welcome to my musings.
I have recently finished a new puppet doll. I call him a puppet, but he isn’t really as I haven’t made him completely into one. That is to say I haven’t added any strings to make him a marionette or other types of controllers. He only has a hook in his back for holding and a stick in his head to turn it. And this is enough for me. I don’t intend to do puppet shows or anything like that, I just want to play with him myself. So, in that respect he is a doll. And yes, I do admit to being an adult who plays with dolls. They bring me a lot of happiness.
Igor is a mad scientist, but I’m sure you could tell that already. As well as making pretty girl art dolls, I love to make the odd quirky one. There are plenty of them wondering around my brain, and life would be quite boring if everything was pretty, pretty; don’t you agree?
I originally made Igor modifying Susan Barmore’s dentist pattern. He was a cone doll made from cloth and I loved his quirkiness. I can’t do a photo of them together since this Igor was sold long since. And I apologise about the quality of this photo, my camera skills were not as good then.
I do hope he is still happy in his new home.
Whilst jogging the other day I was pondering as I do (it passes the time while jogging you really do have to do something to take your mind of the jog) what to make next. The weather was improving, and I wanted to get back to carving a task for in the garage and garden, hence the concern for the weather. So, I knew I would make a wooden doll, but what character I wondered, and Igor just popped in to my head. As soon as I thought it, he had to become a reality. And I am so happy with how he turned out. I had just watched Luděk Burian in his Domestika course, and wanted to try out his joints and methods.
There is something about being wooden that just suits Igor’s character. The clip-clop noise he makes when he is moving, the warmth of the wood completely suits his loopy expression. He is a mad scientist but has turned out to have a soft side despite the hard wood of his body. He only wants to experiment to try to find ways to help the planet, he just gets carried away sometimes…..
And his wispy comb-over, along with his stylish cravat, just reminds me of my grandfather, of whom I was very fond. (And I secretly believe may well have been a mad scientist or Peter Cushing)
Now I know I have some miniature test tubes around here somewhere. I just need to find them, and he will be complete.
No rest for the wicked though, I am taking what I learnt from Igor and working on a pretty, young girl now. She will need much smaller hands. Keep an eye on my social media to watch my progress.
Igor don’t drink that!
Take care and don’t forget to play sometimes, it’s good for your health.
Ally x
