Well, it only took me four months (when it comes to producing artwork, I'm awfully lazy these days), but I finally got ambitious enough to make a new figurine!
The Rocking-Horse-Fly is one of the many strange creatures that Alice encounters during her adventures in Wonderland. The buzzing filly's design amounts to a simple, but highly-effective, pun on the names and physiology of a child's rocking-horse toy and a horsefly insect. The diminutive beast first appeared in the pages of Lewis Carroll's (the well-known pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) 1871 Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, but my figure is based on the cartoon version seen in Disney's 1951 Alice in Wonderland animated film, which, while not strictly accurate to the printed source material, is still my favorite rendition of the story and characters. For example, in the case of the Rocking-Horse-Fly, it easily flits through the air on its wings in said movie, but, in the book, its method of getting about is described as swinging from branch-to-branch, which would seem to imply that the creature wasn't capable of achieving flight at all (although, when it comes to Wonderland, it's probably best not to make assumptions about that or anything else). Interestingly, Carroll's tome also informs us that the animal's diet consists of nothing but sawdust and sap and that the Rocking-Horse-Fly itself is made entirely out of wood (as my figure is mostly paper and cardboard, which both come from trees, at least I'm in the ballpark as far as that little tidbit of the fiction is concerned).
Materials:
Newsprint, cardboard from a box of cereal, tissue paper, white paper, white glue, wire twist ties,
transparent plastic sheeting from a toy package, embroidery floss, ink, and acrylic paint.
Dimensions:
4.2 cm (1.7") wide x 5.7 cm (2.2") long x 7.5 cm (3.0") high.
Excluding the wings and mane, the figure is 4.7 cm (1.9") tall and 2.0 cm (0.8") wide.
Time:
Three days; January 2nd, 8th, and 9th (2016).
This was my first art project of the New Year!
More photos/info: http://www.angelfire.com/ult/ace/rocking_horsefly.html
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2 comments
Janneke Neele
January 13, 2016 at 4:10PM
It is really good work, Mark.
I love it.
Annie Bostwick
January 13, 2016 at 6:18PM
A lovely lovely rocking horse fly
great retro feel to it
Annie ;-)