You know how your kids make holiday crafts from year to year, and then you kind of forget about them because they're packed away most of the time? Last night we finally brought up our boxes of ornaments from the basement, and from those boxes I exhumed many tissue-wrapped things, including this Santa head. Laura made it last year. I was like, "Yikes!" This precious, precious treasure always makes me think of Oedipus Rex, because he looks really surprised, and not in a good way, and it looks like his eyes have been stabbed out. They look that way because that's how she made them, by stabbing a pencil point into the clay.
Doesn't it resemble one of these Greek masks? Maybe a more dramatically lit picture would help make the point.
AAAAH! See? Yikes. Behold, Thebans, the terrifying, empty gaze of one whom thou must pity, though he be e'er so abhorred!
This cherished heirloom is resting on our mantle right now. I know you're envious, but I'm sure some of you must have some precious, um, artifacts like this one. She made this when she was taking private art lessons, so I paid money for this thing. Luckily I'm going with a sort of "junketeria" theme for the mantle so it fits in just fine. And good thing it's tiny. If it were life-sized, we'd have to cover it with a sheet.
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8 comments:
Nice Santa ! If that Santa were on a table at Pottery Barn, it would have a 10-12 dollar price sticker on it. And we'd think," How unusual, how quaint!" We're gonna need to see your junkateria mantle decor when it's finished, okay?
"Oh No Mr. Santa-Bill"!
Ever see Mr. Bill on Sat Night Live? Looks just like Mr. Bill. You could do a skit with it and put it on You Tube!
But I like it. The beard has lots of texture.
Definitely has some Greek tragic elements to it. That second pic especially! I like it too. And Michele is right--it's definitely Mr Bill-esque too.
Maybe there's a niche Laura could tap into: slightly disturbing holiday figures. She could do an elf and Rudolph too. :)
How do I get a job teaching private art lessons. I can TOTALLY show kids how to stab clay with pencils.
I like Amy's idea. It would market well to people like...well, like me.
We have the Christmas tree kin to that Santa, complete with Santa pencil gouges, but also with a tiny, sweet little red breasted robin on top.
Believe it or not, I do envy you that Santa. It's quite the conversation piece.
Our favorite kitschy Christmas decoration is the Gluppet. I might have to do a post about it. It's a glove AND a puppet. They must have hired a powerhouse PR firm to develop the name. We bought it years ago-- before we had kids-- and when you put it on, if you squeeze your hand it plays Jingle Bells. It used to scare the crap out of the cats, which of course we found hilarious. It doesn't really play any more. Did I mention it's a COW dressed as Santa?
You know, I believe this is the first blog I've ever read which quoted Sophocles. So kudos to you!
And "junketeria" isn't giving yourself enough credit. A friend once labeled my decorating style "Parisian flea market" which I accepted gladly.
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