Thread: My Stele

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I know it's not looking like much right now, so let me get the idea out.

Last year, we said good bye to one of my favored pieces in the yard.

The totems.


Originally constructed as a new entrance for 2006, it was always fun to watch the younger kids stand and decide whether they dared pass between them or not.

However, they had become wet in 2008, as it rained most of Halloween night. And, they did not stand up to storage while wet very well. So, they were removed in order to make room for Charr.



And, I think those who came through the yard last year will agree. Charr is definitely one of the more impressive pieces we have these days. What's more, it was made with a mind towards our new overall theme of switching towards Spider Woman.

Well, in researching on Spider Woman, I come across Mayan Stele from one of her temples.



Now, Jaguar is all fine and good for Mayan religion. However, we are creating our own here, and CHARR shall be taking their place in symbology. So, I decided to make some Charr stele to stand at the entrance to my temple, as the totems once stood as our entrance...

Now, in keeping with Charr, we needed FIRE for our Stella. And thus, when these things went on super duper no one wants such a silly thing clearance last year for $20 (down from $75), I procured 2.



Now then, to begin their transformation into my Stele.





More to come once this part dries....

Wow! Now that's a cool idea to transform a fire pit. Thread to watch here!

Fire and Halloween prop always = a great prop. Looking forward to watching this one!

Got the sidewalls and a little more done tonight.



So, very soon, a decision must be made. How to make the face?

Traditional stele, to appear simply carved from stone?

Or, a Halloween twist, hollowed, carved, and lit inside, ala a jack o lantern?

Would that even show up well with the firebowl behind it?

.....

Oh, yes, yes...lit from within. The fire itself would be spoooky but then to make it look like the entire thing was made of fire...off the chart!

Can't wait to see!
I did love the totems and char also.

Much more work accomplished today. 3 separate build sessions! Normally I only get one in a day.

Going to go shopping for some stands for these things tomorrow. I want at least another 2-4' height to these to keep any accidents and/or grabby hands from the fire.

Anyhow.


Early morning work:

Just enough to add on the new form for the rest of the top, and the eyes.

Afternoon, after that had a chance to dry, we finished off the top.

It was at this point I had a momentary flash of an OLD design I had drawn up for a giant snake, coupled with a number of ghost stories about a hidden tribe of natives that worship a giant snake in the area, and how I always wanted to do that when I read it back around the age of 14 or so....

They sure did look snakey.



Anyhow, pressing forward with the Charr plan, we followed the same basic build process I used on Charr to add some teeth.



And, a little placeholder for the lower jaw, since I had a little extra mache left over tonight.

These are going to look so awesome! I love the snakey faces!

Looking really good and sinister. Plus, I see you also buy Model Magic by the bucketful. heh.

Yeah, with one of those 50% coupons, it's $10 for the whole bucket. The stuff is super easy to mold into a base for your paper mache to go on. Or sometimes as a complete model with just finishing touches, like my shrunken heads.

So, I always have a bucket on hand. Plus the empties make great craft buckets.