Hedgehogs and Oak Leaves

Art Bead Scene caught me with their challenge this month.  How could I resist an illustrated still life entitled "A Hedgehog in a Landscape"?  Painted by Giovanna Garzoni (1643-51), one of the first woman artists in her field, this piece is a collection of some of my very favorite things.  This time of year, every trip outside my door is a chance to collect (or photograph) brightly colored leaves, mahogany colored buckeyes, and the prickly outer hulls of chestnuts.  A hedgehog in the garden would be just perfect. 

Since I'm unlikely to find a hedgehog in my garden, I thought I'd create my own little critter, and treat myself to an artist play date in the process.  So I broke out the polymer clay supplies and set to. 

wood & aluminum forms, cooked poly clay, painted & waxed

I'm a poly clay dabbler at best, so wasn't trying for anything fancy here, though I did manage a couple of nice Skinner blends. Started with aluminum foil crunched into the approximate shapes I wanted (I used my cat's toy mice as a reference), then pulled out some wooden beads, too.  If I was going to the trouble of pulling out all the supplies, might as well make a few different things.

While they cooked, I played with some wire, creating oak leaf charms.  They got better as I worked - my first wraps were pretty 'rustic'.  (Kinder word than 'crude').

Once they were out of the oven, I had a little fun with acrylics and finished them with a wax varnish.  I'd carved oak leaves into one of my beads, which left little clay burrs around the edges.  400 and 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper took care of the burrs without disturbing my design,but left the surface looking rather dull.  The acrylics and varnish took care of that  beautifully, giving the bead a deep lustre. 


Then it was time to stitch my hedgehog his coat. 

A right angle weave 'coat' with a pink underbelly

Stitched the belly flat using right angle weave, then tied it onto the hedgehog with bead 'ropes'.  The bottom-left photo above shows my "bondage" hedgehog.  :)  Then I filled in between the rows, using increases and decreases as necessary to fit the curves.

 And here's my little guy with his new coat!  I'd originally thought of adding an extra layer of bead work on top to give him a really spiky look, even started in on it, but decided I liked this better.

I glued his eyes in last - they're size 6 seed beads.  With the addition of a pin back on his belly, he's ready to travel.  Though he'd make a great pocket pet as well. 



And what did I do with the rest of the beads, and the leaf charms?

Oak Leaf lariat with poly clay beads & freemotion leaf

I used a couple of my beads in this lariat, along with some machine wrapped cords and an oak leaf I'd made with free motion embroidery ages ago.   Fun to see how my different areas of work can come together. 

I also have plans to turn the rest of my wire leaf charms into earrings, next play day.