Monday, 29 July 2024

Craft: I Made a Green Man Plaque from Clay

This month I made the Green Man plaque you can see above. The photo shows it in two stages. On the left is undried clay, while on the right it's dry and painted. I didn't design the Green Man myself, I used a Hobbycraft kit and signed up for a workshop to learn how to craft it. It was good value for money. The photo at the bottom is of all the raw materials I received, including clay, tools, a template, brushes and paint.

The workshop was taught live online by Hobbycraft artisan Irene DeSa, followed up with a video link sent by email. I enjoyed the entire process and learnt new techniques for using air-drying clay. I'm also delighted with the finished result. My Green Man will sit on my altar this coming Lammas. 

What attracted me to making my own Green Man is that I'm currently writing a novel with folk-horror elements, involving forest spirits tied in with tales of the Green Man. No one knows exactly what early Green Men effigies - or foliate heads - represent. There are plenty of different theories and I blogged about some when I went in search of Green Men in Rosslyn Chapel

The book I'm writing is a follow up to my first novel, Erosion, published this spring by Moon Books.

Previous related crafting posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2024/03/poppet-craft-doll-to-do-three-things-at.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/12/resolving-resolutions-year-of-witchy.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2024/05/craft-how-to-do-sliding-knots-to-fasten.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2024/05/witchy-craft-making-polymer-clay-charm.html

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