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With the eyes painted in, the Mari dries out on the top of the Aga. When gessoed, primed, painted and assembled, the brown tubes will become the legs.
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Above and below: if cunningly placed, the gaze of a fixed eye can give the impression of following you.
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Seen like this the little puppet looks quite cute. But when shrouded and carefully lit, its performance will become truly sinister.
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The Mari’s shroud, dyed and aged and drying in the sun.
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The ‘cowl’ needs support from underneath in order to create the effect I want. A plastic food-carton, snipped apart and re-configured, makes the perfect frame.
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The puppet has control points at the back of the head, the hips and both feet. It’s to be operated ‘Bunraku’-style. with the two puppeteers in full view, though dressed in black to recede. One puppeteer manipulates the head and upper body, and the other the legs and feet.
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Still quite a bit to be done, but we’re getting there.
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I suggested to Peter that you lock it in the laundry overnight! The final version is quite spooky. Came back to look at the steps again…
In this picture I think it looks rather sweet and sad. I want to pat it on the head and say “There there, it’ll be allright.”.
Yeah, I know what you mean.
I love the way the Mari Lwyd’s malevolent eye stare’s out at you ( and at us!) during its creation. I’ll bet the puppet has already self assembled, then self dismembered during the small hours of the night, do you ever hear any mysterious sounds coming from your studio?
I might try really building a Mari Lwyd one of these days, when I finish moving and have more space! I might even have some actual animal skulls to use, just not horses. Hunters dump the skinned remains of deer and boar down the road from us, which I’ve tried to salvage every so often, clean up and incorporate into gardens, terraria and art.
I especially like this puppets little circular ribs.
If you build that Mari Lwyd then I want to see it. I’ll keep my eye open on your website.
I built a far more anatomically correct ribcage to begin with, But with puppets, simplicity is better, and I ditched it for the hoops! With a puppet it’s all in the detail of the performance, rather than in the detail of the object.
Fantastic! It’s so exciting seeing how this creation is emerging, the puppet is coming alive before our eyes, it’s going to be just amazing in action when the puppeteers get going with it
It has surprising versatility and subtlety, given that there are relatively few joints. Just two in the upper half… the head to neck and waist to hips,… and knees and ankles in the lower. Six rotating joints in total. But there is always better potential for movement in a puppet directly in the hands, as opposed to at the end of strings or rods. Of course I can’t operate it to its full potential by myself. It needs a second puppeteer for the legs and feet, to make it walk.
Hi – what a superb creation – how I wish I had had those ideas when I was younger – the MARI LYWD puppet really is an inspiration to go forward and create…… Geoff x
Hi Geoff. It’s a fact you don’t have to be young to be creative. I’m sixty-one, and before this Mari Lwyd I hadn’t made a puppet in over three decades. But once you’re in the zone with an idea, anything is possible.
Thanks for calling by. Come again.
It’s looking fabulous Clive, cannot wait to see the finished puppet! N
Ha ha! Neither can I Nick, neither can I. Hoped to get this finished today, but I have yet to make the feet and ‘tweak’ things to my satisfaction. Everything always takes longer than expected.
Loved Paul’s Saint David’s Day Welsh Ladies!
Clive – It’s been awhile since I came by to comment, but I read every one of your posts via email subscription. The mari lwyd posts have all be quite exciting, but this one in particular. So cool to see how you have made this puppet!
Bev, how lovely to hear from you. It’s sweet of you to report that you still keep up with events at the Artlog. I too call by at the Magick Canoe to see how things are with you. This wonderful world of the blog is a grand way of keeping an eye on how friends are faring.
Yes, who would’ve thought I’d be back in the world of the Mari Lwyd again. This is an exciting and challenging project, and puppets seemed the way forward with realising the visuals for it. I hadn’t built a puppet in decades, but it’s amazing how comfortable it feels!