Don't mention the War

First of all, I am sorry this post is a week late...  busy week. Secondly, I'd like to point out as I issue my German witch that I love Germans. I adore so much of German culture - heck I wouldn't be who I am or do what I do if I didn't grow up on Brothers Grimm and all kinds of German folklore and fairytales. And German food, German desserts... not to mention Wagner, Beethoven and Kraftwerk! So, now that I have got that off my chest, may I introduce you to my latest witch and hope that it causes no offense. Last witch was French, and now this is die deutsche Hexe.

PS The title of this post is a line from one of my favourite episodes of Fawlty Towers called 'The Germans' in which John Cleese's character - Basil Fawlty (an innkeeper, for those not familiar with the show) hosts German guests and to their distress he keeps mentioning the war. One of the Germans asks him to stop talking about the war,. The following exchange is:
Fawlty: Me? You started it!
German: We did not start it.
Fawlty: Yes you did, you invaded Poland.

See this clip here on Youtube.

Years after this episode aired (and was very well received), John Cleese was approached by a German fan who simply said "Don't mention the war!"

My German witch is the largest (at least the tallest) character I have made because I was inspired by large Wagnerian opera singers. I was frustrated with her design because I really don't want my witches to seem like they come from another era, so I had vetoed traditional dress but then I didn't know what the heck to dress her in! The red hood is a homage to Grimm fairytale 'Little Red Riding Hood'. I had fun plaiting (braiding) her hair and making the Bentheim black pied (German breed) pig. Take a look at the 'making of' photos and let me know what you think.

Sadly it will be a few weeks before I can create another witch for 'Good Witches Bad Witches' as I have some magazine features and other deadlines.... but stay tuned as I will post other work here and at the Facebook page!

And here's a note for my German friends....

Liebe Freunde in Deutschland,
hier habe ich eine Nachricht für Euch…..

Durch meine anglo-sächsischen Wurzeln verbinden uns viele Gemeinsamkeiten.
Ich liebe deutsches Essen, die deutschen Märchen und Sagen zum Beispiel der Gebrüder Grimm beeindrucken mich und nicht zu vergessen die Musik von Wagner, Beethoven und auch Kraftwerk.

Als Künstlerin arbeite ich an einem projekt "Good Witches Bad Witches“ und modellierte dafür Hexen aus der ganzen Welt. So sind bereits englische, schottische, französische, italienische Hexen und solche aus weiteren Ländern entstanden.
Und diese ist nun die deutsche Hexe.
Ich stellte sie aus Fimo Material und Draht her. Sie sollte ein bisschen gruselig aussehen, doch hoffe ich, Sie akzeptieren sie mit Humor und Witz.

Für Ihr Interesse an meinen Arbeiten möchte ich mich sehr bedanken. Wenn Sie mehr darüber erfahren möchten, so können Sie hier auf meine Facebook Seite, mein Instagram oder auf Twitter gehen.

Vielen Dank!

the German witch, Good Witches Bad Witches, miniature witch, Laika, Caroline McFarlane-Watts