Caroline McFarlane-Watts: September 2015

Now that I've finished chasing white rabbits for the time being (Alice in Wonderland project here) I can resume work on 'Good Witches Bad Witches'. This project is in development as a book and a short film, so if you're interested in witches, miniatures and filmmaking you'll want to watch this space!

Today's witch is Italian. She's 'la strega Italiana.' She's about 5 3/4 inches tall. I drew a little inspiration from an '80s film called 'Moonstruck', in which the gorgeous Cher plays a big-haired Italian American. I loved making this witch's hair big like that, and even have a mouse nesting in it. Her familiar is a rat. I thought about classic Roman sculpture and design when I made her golden cauldron which has a gargoyle-esque face on it. The octopus climbing out and tangled in spaghetti is something I've had in my head for years and I'm glad I was finally able to put it to ~~paper~~ clay. See my sketch below and then photos of the 'making of' this witch and the final witch herself. You'll see fewer 'making of' photos this time as many more will make their way into a tutorial book instead.

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Just a little word to my Italian friends...

Cari amici Italiani, vi presento…la strega Italiana!

Lei fa parte del mio “ Streghe da tutto il mondo - Streghe buone, streghe cattive”, titolo del mio imminente libro per bambini e di un cortometraggio realizzato con miniature.

Proprio come le altre streghe, lei e’ uno stereotipo divertente e simpatico della cultura Italiana ( per carita’, non voglio offendere nessuno. Vi prego di prenderla nella maniera giusta).

E’ una mia creazione personale ed e’ alta circa 15cm.

Se siete interessati al progetto, potete trovare altre streghe sul mio blog e sito personale all’indirizzo seguente: www.tall-tales.com

In caso vogliate sostenere i miei progetti, siete pregati di farlo attraverso Facebook o Instagram usando il seguente link

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Find out more about 'Good Witches Bad Witches' here at the Tall Tales Productions website.

Or click over to past blog posts about witches...
English witch here,
Scottish witch here,
Welsh witch here,
Irish witch here,
French witch here,
German witch here

Follow the project on Instagram here and at Facebook here! Stay tuned for the next witch......!

In other news... since I last blogged I had a quick trip to Las Vegas and took some inspiration form the exciting and imaginative displays at The Bellagio. This is me with the new 'under the sea' lobby.

I also attended another fantastic screening at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, hosted by Cinespia. 3,500 of us sat under the stars and watched Hitchcock's Psycho. LA - this is why I love you!

And before I forget, it's been so insanely hot here in LA and I found a great way to beat the heat is to make your own Strawberry Margaritas. Recipe below from MyRecipes.

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups strawberries

2 1/2 cups crushed ice

1/2 cup tequila

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons Cointreau

Prep:

Combine strawberries, ice, tequila, lime juice, sugar, and liqueur in a blender, and process until the mixture is smooth. Pour the margaritas into 4 large glasses. Serve immediately

For me it's always 'tea o' clock'. How fitting that I should be commissioned to create a mad tea party, straight out of Alice in Wonderland! You may have seen my previous posts on this project here and here (if you want to see initial designs and sketches then click over and have a look).

As promised - see the 'making of' photos (more will make their way into my book, but here's a sprinkling for you), and photos of the finished scene are below as well.

See the piece at exhibition at CTN eXpo, Center Stage Gallery, Burbank, California from 6th Nov - 10th Jan.

See more photos of the piece at my website here.

Prints will be available for purchase next week here.

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THE DESIGN

I tried to create this scene based on how I pictured the characters in the book by Lewis Carroll when read to me as a child. I did the Mad-hatter in yellow striped britches because yellow is my favourite colour, and I chose a red coat because it's symbolically English. The March Hare wears a boater with blue ribbon, inspired by the school uniform at Harrow and his blazer is from Haileybury - the private school my dad attended. The high tea foods are typically English - bakewell tarts, jam tarts, fairy cakes, tiny sandwiches and cake. The only un-English thing is the Charlotte Russe cake which is a French dessert, but not unusual in an English teatime setting.

It's made in 1:12 (one inch) scale miniature using clay, wood, wire and other mixed media. It will be available for sale, but I'm already speaking to one or two people interested in buying it, so if you're really keen please send me an email here.

Enjoy the photos!