I’ve been making critters that, for me is quite a change. Frivolous, cheeky and cute! Not words previously associated with my work.
Made from air dry clays, I’ve added possum fur and marbles for eyes, these little guys fit beautifully into the palm of my hand and beg to be patted.
Most my critters have a kind of' ‘Just came up from the bowels of Hell and now shaking off the residue from an atomic blast’ sort of look. Sometimes I’ve tried to aim for odd yet elegent, I made a reindeer and someone commented “Oh I love it, you’ve made Satan’s reindeer”. (I laughed and laughed, and yes, it does look like Satan would be happy to hop on the back of it and travel around the world snatching souls.
Satan’s Reindeer
‘Alby” a little bit cute, still might give you a fright if you woke up to him staring down at you.
I do have a liking for long skinny limbs and sharp claws which adds to the ‘creepy’ element in a lot of my works.
Now, I was thinking of a little critter, simple, with no sharp claws or teeth and started making these “baby birds” that a friend called ‘Chickadees”. Now ‘Chickadees’ is about as frivolous and unscary name you could think of. I could hardly believe it! Here I am, making something that is wholesome and cute, with not a glimmer of darkness and despair!
Of course, once I’d made some of these chickadees I started to play with different ears and noses instead of beaks. I figure they can’t be Chickadees without beaks so had to think of another name as well.
“Floof”, according to the dictionary is an exceptionally furry or hairy animal, especially a cat or dog. Bat, cat, dog, possum, seems to be a good fit.
Well', until I think of attaching scary monster teeth!