Into The Mystic

For Bob.

We were born before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won, as we sailed into the mystic.
Hark now hear the sailor's cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic.

And when that fog horn blows I will be coming home.
And when that fog horn blows I want to hear it,
I don't have to fear it.
I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old,
Then magnificently we will float into the mystic.
And when that fog horn blows you know I will be coming home.
And when that fog horn whistle blows, I gotta hear it,
I don't have to fear it.
I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old,
And together we will float  into the mystic
Come on girl..........

Van Morrison

"Demeter" - about 60 cms high. Made entirely from recycled/trash materials, except for a bit of paint and glue. The sculpted parts are made from a matrix of sawdust and glue with some shredded paper pulp added to prevent cracking. They were formed over a core of crushed newspaper, which was later removed. The column is made from some scrap timber pieces laminated together, with a patina created from used tea-bag papers embedded in gel medium. the pieces of limb wood were picked up in the garden and they are glued and then lashed onto the sides of the column  with recycled string.

About the "Redivivus Dolls"

These "Redivivus" dolls were made as an entry into the Tasmanian Government Environment Department's BRICOLAGE DESIGN PRIZE where the challenge was thrown out to artists and craft workers to design and make products from waste. These dolls are made from about 90% recycled materials, mostly free for the taking. The heads and lower limbs are made from reconstituted very fine sawdust; the bodies and upper limbs from recycled flour-bag calico, and the filling from wool waste from a blanket factory.

My challenge was to be able to make the dolls in editions, which I achieved through the use of silicone moulds, which would theoretically enable me to make hundreds of dolls that are similar.

I am very happy with the overall look of the dolls. They are designed to be play dolls, and I think they fit the brief pretty well. As well as making the prototypes, I had to make a written submission providing quite a bit of background information, which I worked on all last summer. I was able to do a thoroughly-researched job of it, as I had plenty of time.