I go through animal obsession phases where I get really interested in a particular type of animal and have to draw it and/or make a stuffed animal of it. This winter I got particularly obsessed with peccaries. These look a lot like pigs or wild boars but are actually not in the same family!
Peccaries have wiry and coarse fur unlike pigs, which just have sparse strands. There are different types of peccaries with different colors. I modeled my baby peccary, also called a peclet!, after a hybrid of a Chacoan peccary and a collared peccary.
I studied a lot of photos of peccaries and made many sketches before developing my pattern. I made the doll with short pile faux fur but used needle felting to create the snout and eyelids. The doll is weighted and intentionally under-stuffed in the body. It’s so fun to hold and cuddle. I named this peccary Griselda and she is still available to adopt in my shop.
I never fancied myself much of an alien/UFO kind of gal. Looking back, I wonder why, since I sometimes felt a little bit like an alien (having a hearing impairment can do that).
I think part of it had to do with many depictions of aliens/fantasy/horror I saw not being cute or endearing enough for me. Many aliens and creatures seemed like humans but colder and more sinister–too one-dimensional. That’s no fun!
When I did come upon fantasy plots or characters that appealed to me I often couldn’t get into the plot because either I lost interest (The Hobbit) or couldn’t hear the movie (Never-Ending Story, Dark Crystal) enough to keep up.
Whatever the reason, I just never really ventured into the fantasy world. Looking back, I think my interests and sensibilities remained steadfastly in the concrete world of observable reality for a long time. In many ways I felt reassured by knowing what was “actually possible” even if it felt constricting or limiting at times.
At this point in my life I’m shifting toward embracing the other-worldly, and opening up space for the unknown. I’ve actually always been captivated by the supernatural, and now I’m giving it the acknowledgement it deserves in my life (learning about human design, making spell jars, ancestral work, etc.) This has trickled into my soft sculpture practice as well. Making creatures (versus realistic animals) has given me more discovery and possibility in my work. In my life I have tended to get caught up in what I think the “rules” are, and making creatures that are not based on or meant to replicate real-life animals has helped me break free from that.
These silly alien/creature guys are some of the latest products of my creature experiments. They are made of soft fleece, have rotund bellies, floppy arms and short, jointed legs. They fit in real baby clothes which is very *chef’s kiss* for me because I love merging baby-like qualities with mildly creepy and silly faces. I drew and carved a UFO block print and added it to the grey alien’s onesie. It was fun to do some block printing again. I love adding a hand-carved or hand-drawn element to my plush work.
Both of these babies have already been adopted and are on their way home as we speak, but I plan to make more.
I have been riffing on various versions of what I call my “paunchy creature” pattern that I came up with last summer. Recently I began trying different versions of the head and muzzle to produce different creature faces. They are usually a bit of a surprise to me (I don’t sketch an idea, just slash and spread to make a new flat pattern–I know (because of my process) that it will fit together, but I don’t know quite how it will look once sewn and stuffed). With Terry, I knew I wanted a wide but flat/short mouth. After putting it all together, I decided that it needed “lips” and this was the result.
For some reason, out of the blue, it occurred to me that these creatures would look great with wrestling singlets. This started me down the road of wrestling research.
My brother and father loved wrestling when I was younger. In my ongoing effort to like all the things they liked, I tried to enjoy it too, but never did.
My husband also loved wrestling as a kid. As we clicked through different You Tube clips as part of my wrestling garb research, he helped me to appreciate how silly pro wrestling is, and the thrill that viewers got not knowing exactly what would happen (and the slight sense of fear and titillation, since some of those characters were legitimately scary!) My creatures aren’t that scary, but definitely silly AND there is a thrill in not knowing exactly how they will turn out. Terry looks like a gentle soul who isn’t interested in theatrics or body slams–which, as I understand, may have been the case for Andre the Giant as well.
No Holds Barred is an old wrestling phrase (and also the title of a wrestling movie that my brother owned as a kid) and I think it fits my new process with these creatures–try anything, set no limits!
As a child growing up in VT, I was always outside during the summer playing in the river by my house. I never saw many turtles, but now I see them all the time! Last summer I was lucky enough to see a very tiny baby snapping turtle and this summer we’ve seen behemoth adult snappers that have to be at least decades old. All of 2022 I’ve been integrating snapping turtles into my drawings and some of my doll designs. I love the surly smirk that one gets from a turtle/dinosaur-like jaw.
I named this creature Barbara Ann, after the Beach Boys song, because I felt like it, and because this creature looks like a Barb. I guess I’m just thinking about the Beach Boys a lot, what with the summer weather and driving around with the windows down. I got particularly attached to the Beach Boys around age 7. I had most of their albums and even a sheet music booklet with Carl’s face (Carl was my favorite) prominently on the front.
While reading David Sedaris’ Calypso on vacation a couple of weeks ago, I came across a delightful sub-plot in which David becomes attached to a menacing snapping turtle on Emerald Isle, and plots to feed the turtle pieces of the fatty non-cancerous tumor that he was keeping in the freezer after having it removed. I had worked out this turtle/dinosaur-inspired head pattern just before vacation, so snappers were on my mind, and reading Sedaris’ story felt like synchronicity (to take it a step further, my favorite character, Jerri Blank (played by Sedaris’ sister Amy) has a hilarious line in one episode of Strangers with Candy where she says, “watch out for those snapping turtles” while clapping one hand, then chatters her teeth; she hopes to convince Tammy to go skinny dipping in the rock quarry).
After playing around with my materials, I felt Barbara Ann looked best with a shorter wig and a lovely wool felt cape that has appliqued, block-printed linen patches featuring my own hand-carved vulture designs. It lends a witchy vibe that’s perfect for the next season.
Barbara Ann is available in my Etsy shop with her friend Terry.
I’ve been working on this sweet baby mountain gorilla. He’s made in the same basic style as my other needle felted and plush apes, but with fabric hands and feet. I also put a new kind of armature in him that I’ve not used before. It makes him totally pose-able which is ever so fun! He’s not quite finished, but I couldn’t wait to share.
He is about 18-20″ tall from head to foot. When he is finished and available to purchase, I will send updated photos and purchase information to the mailing list. I am not taking reserves or pre-orders for him, but subscribers will be the first ones given an opportunity to buy!
Next on my list after this gorilla baby is another ape in the same style–either an albino gorilla, albino chimp or albino orangutan–I can’t decide!
An earlier progress shot next to a photo of the inspirational photo of a real gorilla baby
I have two main styles of ape dolls that I’ve been focusing on: those made with faux fur and needle felted faces, and those made in the natural fiber art doll style like the picture. This style is adapted from the classic Waldorf-style dolls and I have used it to make ape babies. Typically, I add “fur” by way of brushable mohair (visit my gallery for examples).
The gorilla head being formed from wool before getting covered
I wanted to try a natural fiber ape baby that was tiny rather than life-sized. Because of the small size, I was able to give this baby string-jointed legs which makes him so fun and pose-able. His arms are flappy/floppy which just adds to the fun.
I haven’t added any fur to this gorilla baby yet because I haven’t found something that looks just right. Stay tuned!
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