As my mother will tell you, I was always a Daddy’s Girl.  He didn’t walk on water; he danced the tango on it.  After my dad witnessed my stepfather bringing me metal bobs and bits for my assemblage work a few weeks back, he decided that he wanted to play, too.  He went to a couple of auctions and brought back all manner of things, including this level:

Level

He also found several dolls, and to my great excitement, a thermostat.  I love interactive assemblage, so I decided to make the thermostat my centerpiece for an anatomical assemblage art doll.  Of course, I didn’t remember to take pictures until I’d created most of the body, but here goes.

Body in Progress

After painting the thermostat and the box separately, I bolted them together, covered the thermostat, in clear gesso, and then detailed the anatomy with colored pencil. I added epoxy clay to create the dimensional ribs and heart.

Body Flat Arms

Vintage composition doll arms.

At this point, panicked a bit.  I had planned to use the level as the basis for the head, but suddenly, it looked too small.  I altered this doll head, but it turned out too cartoonish.

Body with Head with Clay

After trying, altering, and rejecting a papier mache puppet head, I went back to the original level.

 

Level

First, I removed the lower plastic piece to create a circular opening, and then I painted it with a range of metallics and added clay.

Head and Hair in Progress

As I hoped, the hair helps with the size.

Fin - Other Side

With the addition of hardware and a lock.

Fin - Face

Fin - Heart Close Up

This piece is available in my Etsy.

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ann

Ann D'Angelo is a dedicated drinker of diet Coke who has never spotted a thrift store she didn't want to visit or an item she didn't want to alter. Check out Ann's shop.

3 Comments

Melissa · August 1, 2015 at 11:56 am

Oh wow! That is fantastic! I'm glad that you made the head the way that you did. It's much better that way. It's so crazy ah-mazing! 🙂

sarah · August 6, 2015 at 10:23 pm

I've already gushed all over this, but… GUSH. It is so ridiculously amazing.

Cindy Dauer · August 7, 2015 at 9:46 am

Super cool and terrifically creepy assemblage! You're painting so many great faces! I think this one was the totally right move compared to the larger sculptured head. This one fits just right. 😀

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