I watched as the box got emptied at the tip. Into "general household waste".
I imagined the back story...child grew up and is no longer at home, parents trying to sort out the house to make room. Having 'a bit of a clear out' of old things.
Then out of the car boot came the second box of plastic toys and games. All broken in some way so no charity shop value. His little face caught my eye. Grinning back at me and I felt compelled...I walked over...
"This may sound weird" I said (knowing that many of my most magical events in my life start off sounding weird, "but could I save that doll from landfill as I want to make something with him."
I do not have any of my childhood toys. None at all. They all got thrown out when my parents divorced and my father decided that his daughters did not need to be ask if there was anything from the family home they would like.
The mother looked at me delighted..."absolutely you can have him, but his legs and arms fall off?"
It did not matter. I can fix these things.
So. I took him home and he became my first pagan inspired woodland green man creation.
He sold for £110 to a lady in Seattle Washington!!
I became totally hooked on my own new process of saving broken toys from landfill and collecting things from nature walks to use in my sculptures.
Two years on and I am improving my process all the time and now I include clay moulding onto the upcycled toy frame. This chap didnt have any legs, so he became a wall sculpture and acquired a bottle of beer (ex-party candle painted and hardened with resin)
I LOVE making more adventurous sculptures that test my skills.
As a pagan, member of the wildlife trust and woodland trust and trying to be a better citizen for Mother Earth, I feel my art reflects this as I do just a little bit more by saving more plastic from going too landfill. By transforming it into something magical and mysterious.
