2024 01 She Didn't Know What To Do

 

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.

She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do;

She gave them some broth without any bread;

Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

Way back in 2021 I took a workshop with Michael deMeng at Shake Rag Alley in Mineral Point, WI, called Fabulous Fantastical Shoe Shrines. One of the most complex of the structures I thought about never go finished.

It started with something I rarely do: a preliminary sketch of the idea. (Please note: sketch talents are not Da Vinci like, are they?).

As things turned out, the sketch was really close to the finished project.

Although this was a shoe shrine class, I thought it would be fun to use a shoe shine box as the substrate. I added the casters to the box to begin the process of making it wagon-like. 

While I did not find myself confined by the sketch, it was an interesting process to work steo-by-step in a pre-planned way. Next step was to papier mache the box. 

This Hummel-like figure of an old woman carving apples got converted into the merry murderer by changing the apples to skulls. 

The shoe got modified into her brick shoe house with some paint. 

I think these are coat hangers (maybe towel holders) that once attached to the wagon gave it a Victorian hearse like feel.

Thus we have, She Didn't Know What To Do. It is 22"H X 15"W X 5"D. It consists of a Shoe Shine Box, Boot, Old Lady Carving Apples Statute, Horse Pull Toy, Baby Dolls (25), Skulls (Multiple). Casters (4) and Towel Hangers (2).