Pumpkin Head Witch (mixed Media)

Made by Teri Whitridge

This life sized sculpture is based on a favorite Halloween figurine. It was made by my husband (in the picture on the right) and myself. Only the head and hands are made from paper mache clay, the rest of the figure is a wood and wire armature with fabric padding and clothing.

The head was made with a hollow two piece foam ball for the base. Foil forms were sculpted and hot glued to the foam which was then covered with paper mache clay. Hubby did most of the detail of the face because he is so expert at characterization. I was responsible for the texture of the head.

I made the eye from a glass cabochon which had paper and painted detail glued to the back. I made the hands with instructions from Jonni’s chimp hands tutorial. They have an armature base covered with foil and paper mache clay. The hands are separate but made to fit together.

One hand holds the walking stick and the other rests on top. I still have a hard time believing it worked out as well as it did. We were both new to the paper mache clay technique. It was a lot of work so we probably will keep this Halloween theme for a while…but maybe Witchy needs a pumpkin child or an animal…hmm.