Scenes from an Imaginary Folk Festival #2

I had a lot of fun sculpting the first two characters for my imaginary event (see here). So now I've created a third - The Teaser.

Many British folk festivals have a jester or fool-type character whose job it is to goad or lampoon the other characters (especially if they are persons of importance) and to whip up enthusiasm among onlookers. Some are called teasers so this was an obvious choice of name. 

The traditional fool or teaser usually wears a hood of sorts, which often has comic attachments, such as asses ears or a chicken’s comb. Multi-coloured clothes represent the idea that the fool has one foot in this life and one foot in another - he can poke fun and comment on our world, because he is not quite a part of it. They often have a special stick which might feature a carved animal head or have an inflated pig's bladder attached. These days it's usually a balloon and it serves to mock the sceptres and staffs of the nobility. 

I decided to give my Teaser a ridiculously tall hood, like those worn by some tribes in Papua New Guinea or the tall capirote hoods worn by Catholic penitents during parades and festivals. Another reason for making it comically tall was to avoid associations with racist organisations like the Ku Klux Klan.

So, first I made an armature from wire and tin foil. I decided on a dynamic dancing pose.

I then used a clay extruder to create lots of shaggy hair and covered the torso and legs.

Finally, I sculpted a kind of Punch and Judy puppet to mount on a stick that The Teaser could use to torment the crowds.

A quick spray paint with black primer, a dusting of gold and attachment to a wooden base and The Teaser was complete ... almost. Unfortunately I made the mistake of using a balsa wood stick and it was too fragile. The weight of the glove puppet snapped it. So it was replaced with a bamboo satay stick and painted. It's stronger now and a bit shorter. But it's better.

I then added him to the existing set.

And so, onto character number four ... 

But first ... a video.