Beast (2023)
Designer and Maker - Nancy Tait
Performers - Cassie and Michael Tait
This was a folk beast I designed and made for the final project of my Foundation course. I wrote my own folklore story about this ambiguous creature that roams the Scottish Hebrides protecting travellers and the environment. You can see the gifts it’s gotten from those it’s looked after, like the bells and ribbons tied to its plaits or the pearls stuck to its head.
It is a walkabout puppet made from sustainable materials like twigs, paper pulp and clothes I got from the charity shops.
Scroll to the bottom of this page to see the film I made and listen to it jingling!
Process
Mood board and initial designs
Soaked ripped up newspaper for paper pulp.
Blitzed up the soaked paper, wringed all the water out and added pva to make paper pulp
Moulded chicken wire around a head stand.
Attached twigs to the chicken wire.
Sculpted the head onto the chicken wire with the paper pulp.
Added texture to look like bark.
Painted the face and added pearls and cotton wool painted to look like moss.
Painted sheer fabric with coloured latex to make the eyes.
Made the body out of withy.
Plaited strips of fabric for the body. All the fabric was either scraps or clothes from the charity shop.
Tied all the plaits to the body.
Made some latex leaves to add to the head.
Tied trinkets and bells to the face so it jingles when it moves
Final photos
Texture close-ups