Okay...here's a weird little experiment. Recently, we went to a local farmer's market and bought lots of fresh veggies. We got a little box of purple BEETS...but didn't get around to cooking them. After they were past their "fresh date", I was instructed to throw them in the compost. But I had a flash of inspiration.
I decided to try a variation on making some "apple head dolls" that I have often seen at tourist shops in the South (mostly in Arkansas). Since I didn't try this when the beets were fresh, they were a little spongey, and didn't carve easily. After using an exacto blade to make crude faces, I put the "Beet Heads" under a couple of lamps and let them dehydrate for several days. They got a little twisted up in the process...more than I expected. They might dry more uniformly, if the tough outer skin is removed completely.
After adding some details with acrylic paint, the "weird little experiment" worked out after all. (But now I have no idea what to do with them...I suppose I could hang 'em on the tree at Christmas.) My wife said the thin one looks more like "St. Nick", whereas the fatter one is definitely a "Santa". Personally, I was thinking more along the lines of wood-gnomes, or Rip Van Winkle. Hey, next time, maybe I'll try dehydrating a "Watermelon Head"! (Maybe not.)
5 comments:
All I can do is shake my head and smile:) Sooo much creativity for one person.
Those are really cool, Warren!
Thanks for the endorsement, Kerry...you've just given my wife one more reason to shake her head and smile ('cause she knows that I"ll just be encouraged to do more goofy stuff).
oh wow dad those are pretty awesome!
I'll hang one on my Christmas tree any day....they look like Christmas characters...elves even if not Santa's. Love them. mom
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