plush creature

No Holds Barred!

Creature Dolls, Uncategorized

Terry is a new plush creature.

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!

Terry is available in my Etsy shop.

Beach Boys and Snapping Turtles

Creature Dolls, Uncategorized

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.