100TH POST!

This wild old man lives in the deep woods. It is rare to catch a glimpse of his filthy old face, but those who do see him will have an unshakable feeling of uneasiness throughout the day. For those foolish enough to fall asleep in the woods, don’t be surprised to find his creepy fingers stroking your hair in the night, and waking to his crumpled features peering at you through rheumy, watery eyes. Is he a lonely old hermit – a wise sage of the woodlands, kindly, misunderstood, helping lost wanderers to find the path again, or is he a gnarled and spiteful tree spirit waiting to lure his victims into a damp grave among the roots and rotting leaves?

My favourite Wildman (and who doesn’t have a top ten Wild Men?!) is the Wild Man of Orford, who was hauled out of the grim brown North Sea by Suffolk fishermen back in the 12th century. Able to communicate only in grunts, the Wild Man was taken to Orford Castle and thrown in the dungeons, where he was strung up and tortured. Eventually his captors allowed him to have a swim in the sea, and he escaped, hopefully finding his way home.

This is the first finished Applehead Doll from a project started in the very first blog post I ever made, and which continued in this blogpost here. I thought, this being post number 100, it would be really apt to return to where it all began.

He isn’t really what I had envisioned, partly because I don’t have the skills to create a cool costume, and partly because there is so much creepy potential in the appleheads, and I feel like I lost this, particularly by painting his face. Perhaps the next one can form a part of a marionette, which has more inherent creepiness.

With Halloween approaching, I may strategically place the little Wildman somewhere in the garden ready to freak out visitors and the Tesco delivery man.