Making altered art is such a thought provoking process. I hoard pieces for months, even years at a time. I rarely leave a charity shop without some gem under my arm. I had a doll's head languishing in my chest of drawers for some time. I really wanted to use her for something a wee bit special. I really couldn't think of a purpose for her until a few weeks ago. I often have these eureka moments at the strangest of times. I can awake in the middle of the night and think - "Ah, the dolls head, a use at last" That might be a strange thing to think in the darkness of the night, and thank goodness I don't shout these things out loud. I mean what would the neighbours say! My idea was to create a tentacled girl. She would live on a plinth surrounded by odds and ends which would be useful to her. A bottle of champagne, a glass to sip from, a china plate with a tiny iced cake for laters.Oh ,and a compass to help her navigate her way home. I set to work moulding tentacles from clay. It wasn't easy getting them to look of similar size, and in the end they didn't, but that doesn't really matter, perfection is not a necessity in assemblage (tho' sometimes it is in my mind!) I must admit the process is quite exciting. The thought of the finished piece is what drives me on. It took me a week to wait for the clay to dry, paint, adhere sequins and varnish her tentacles. Once that was complete I had to assemble all the pieces together on the plinth. Using strong adhesives I began juxtaposing and fixing all the components. The end result cab be seen here. She's a rather pretty young lady and though perhaps a bit unnerving with the tentacles, once you see past that she is rather beautiful.
