A Special Gift In The Making

I lost my mother almost two years ago in July and her passing has left an indelible hole in the life of my dad and myself. Since then he and I have become closer than ever and we enjoy long talks on the phone and I try to drive the six or so hours to visit as often as I can.

My dad was a hunter and he enjoyed that bit of relaxation every season for years. Now he has entered a new time of his life... he's now an octogenarian spends his time repairing things around the house, or just reading his paper and vast quantity of novels. He still talks about hunting, about the social gatherings of his hunting buddies at their private hunting camp. He reminisces of his countless hours sitting high up in his tree stand waiting, and watching.

So with that in mind, I decided to make a doe and fawn wool sculpture as a surprise for him and will present it to him on my next visit. I have started with the fawn which I wanted to be sleeping next to his protective mother. So this is a WIP (work in progress) and I will update the blog to show how this special project is coming along. So first up is the progress of the precious fawn...

I started with a wire armature that I wrapped with some core wool, adding layers to get the thickness I desired. I used several reference photos like the one below for sculpting the general shape of the body and head as well as for the top coat and spots which would come much later.

Here I am working on the body after wrapping the wire with several layers of wool. (Photo courtesy of @TCKBM -The Creative Kitchen)

After the general shaping and sculpting with my needles, I started adding color to the core by adding dyed wool and stabbing it onto the core. I also started work on the leg by wrapping the wire with small amount of wool since deer's legs are fairly thin.

I attached the leg to the body by using my 36 needle that's great for this.

I used several reference photos during the process for coloring and sculpting.

Working on the eye details. I don't like working too flat on a sculptural piece when it comes to eyes, so I did give them some dimension.

Finally, after all of the top coat was applied and needle felted for several minutes to make the fawn nice and dense, I added the spots and lines down the back and onto the leg, then felted even more with a size 40 finishing needle to smooth it down some more.

I then took some black thread and sewed the nose down onto the hoof it's resting on to make sure it stays in place. I tried needle felting it down, but it just wasn't tight enough.

And now the finished fawn. I took some photos of him resting among the moss and my beloved succulents. Now to make the mama. Stay tuned to my blog to see her progress as well. Have a peaceful day!