HI, I'M POOM, one of the first to speak to Judi, many years ago. Few grownups are still willing to hear us, but Judi was one of those, so we chose her to help us materialize in your world.
Judi wanted you to see how we take form in her sculptures, so I'll be your guide to show you how one of us grows into life. You've probably heard artists say, "The work took on a life of its own." We do that. Sometimes Judi has a particular idea of the way we're supposed to be which isn't what we want. Or she gets stuck on figuring out how something is to be done. So we pop in and give her some helpful hints about how to accomplish what we desire. In the end, we're both satisfied. We hope you are, too.
Now I'll be your majickal guide through 8 pages of sculptural creation.
She begins a sculpt by creating a ball of smooth clay at the top of the wire armature. (At this point, she usually doesn't yet have a clear idea of what we intend.) She then cures the head in the oven immediately. She uses the "create and cure" technique a lot since it makes it much easier to work on a new section if the old one isn't flexing if she happens to touch it. These clays can be heat cured many times and only become harder.
Next she begins to add the body, legs and arms. Even this early, a form will begin to take shape, the setting of the arms, legs and feet begin to show through. We give her a glimpse of the coming character, so she has some sense of direction. (I will use "he" mostly since only one of our women, so far, has wanted to appear!)
Most of us tend to have big feet and our boots or shoes quickly come into creation. She really likes doing them because we often give hints about our characters and what we've been doing. Again, she pretty much just follows what she's told! Our stories will unfold as she continues the sculpt.
One of the most difficult parts of the anatomy for most sculptors are the hands. In Judi's case, they are even moreso since all of us Wee Folk tend to be very small. (This one, for instance, is only six and a half inches tall, so his hands are tiny by comparison.) The forming of the fingers takes a great deal of time and she is constantly learning more about the relationship of the thumb to the other fingers and how they work. She's fortunate in that her husband was once a professional hand model and knows how hands work ... and how they don't! She does all she can to smooth them before curing simply because the sanding process is so difficult with such tiny fingers. (We've had to teach her great patience with us!)
