I was thinking about the idea of taking this toy and making some alterations, as I'd said, earlier.
Instead of bears, Moose, and I thought how about a Christmas tree in the middle, between them?
The figures could be holding Christmas baubles; when the figure leans towards the tree it's as though it's decorating the tree.
It's an idea, it's something to fiddle around with.
Or, rather than baubles they could be holding the ends of a piece of tinsel, though that could be rather hard to do, at that scale.
It's all ideas, at this stage.
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Some toys never move on to the painted and varnished stage.
This is the Whale on the Ocean / Rough Seas prototype, made in 2009.
As the handle turns, the whale and the waves move up and down...
The whale starts to disappear from view...
Until only a tail and a giant wave can be seen...
Before the wave disappears and the whale resurfaces...
Oh I do love that one ecar, whales and dolphins are special animals (to me).
Picture this - a thin, probably not much more than 2 to 3 centimetres, box, about, at a rough guess, 10 to 12 cm long box.
There's a disc mounted in it, on an axle. You use your fingertip to turn the disc - this is a really simple toy...
Let's say 10 cm across, for the disc, for good measure, that gives a decent amount of space for artwork.
You could probably fit three medium/large figures on it, that appear above the line of the box as the disc is turned.
And there's the front panel of the box, room enough for another figure go there.
As it goes, it's a decorator's playground.
I made one with hills and clouds and sky on the front panel, and sheep, on the disc.
I really don't know if it works, as a design, because every time I turn the disc I end up falling asleep, ha ha.
As whales go, I like this, and not only because it's not a blob with a Y shaped tail (which is how I draw whales - they might look good on the advertising hoarding for a swimming pool, or a fish and chip shop flyer, but they look about as much like a whale as a can of baked beans does).
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That's close to being a First Nations art and totem whale ecar, very very beautiful and meaningful xx
It's a beautiful picture, Tas, and if I were to use it in my own work then I'd fill it with black and pretty much start again from there.
I don't know what it says, but that's someone else's story that's written in it, not mine.
If I'm going to paint in that style then I want to tell my story.
I wonder about the stuff that comes up in image searches, sometimes.
I wouldn't want to think that just because it's not white European "culture", it isn't respected for it's cultural value.
Speaking of cultural... This is an anteater, a spirit form, from the highlands of New Guinea.
One of these days the gallery where it lives is going to let me take lots and lots and lots of photos of it, so I can rush home and get the modelling clay out, and make one for myself.
I know it might not be seen as being as good as "the real thing", but if I make it, then it comes from me, and in many ways that would make it better.
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