PAGAZ doesn't like to sit still; he's constantly flying someplace with that basket of his. Last time, he brought over a whole bunch of toothpicks and a few rubber bands. I don't know what those were for, or who they belong to, but I do know that he likes Turkish coffee.......
You might wonder where PAGAZ got his unusual name. It's actually a Hebrew word, a sort of exclamation you would make if you saw something really out of the ordinary or especially wonderful. My doll's name had eluded me until my daughter walked into the studio, took one look at him, and exclaimed, "PAGAZ!" I knew right then that we had found a name for this extraordinary doll.
And he is truly extraordinary ... he suprises me every time I look at him, and I feel that I could just keep adding more and more embellishments, with no end in sight. I literally had to force myself to box him up and ship him off to the US, which was the only thing that stopped me from decorating him even more.
PAGAZ is a goblin, atually, a 23"-tall cloth figrue made on a wire armature with an anatomically correct torso and detailed needle sculpting. Hiss skin is hight-quality 100% cotton fabri, hand-dyed and re-dyed again to create an uneven splash of color. The splash effect was achieved by sprinkling RIT taupe-colored dye on the wet fabric and then scrunching it up and shaking off the excess granules.
Once I made the body and posed him, I sponged on metallic and black acrylic paints, adding a bit of Tsukineiko all-purpose ink. I cul colored napkins into random shapes and adhered them with decoupage glue. Gold outlines and dots were added around the napkin areas for a pleasing effect. The body was then embellished with white peacock feathers, beads, and a found object. I also dyed feathers by hand with diluted Talens Liquid Watercolors and Tsukineiko ink.
For PAGAZ's face, I used my favorite Israeli textile, whih has a two-tone metallic finish. I daubed flesh and copper-colored acrylic paint onto bubble wrap and stamped this onto the fabric.
His eyes are made of polymer clay, baked and painted with acrylics, and then sealed with Krylon Workable Fixatif. The ears and eyelids were needle-sculpted with the "facial" fabric described above. For his upper eyelids, I used peacock feathers that I knotted individually and sewed in place with a basting needle. They made the goblin's exquisite long eyelashes! His lips were painted with acrylics and sealed with 3D Crystal Lacquer, which was also used to create his finger and toenails.
I mentioned before PAGAZ's restless nature. So of course I made him a pair of wings using aqua-melt (water soluble) stabilizer, which I hooped and then free-motion embroidered with two different threads: metallic and cotton-polyester. I then applied copper wire as a border with swirl patterns in the interior of the wings. The copper wire is held in place with hand-basted thin copper beading wire (colored in red). This wire was also randomly beaded while stitching.
Upon completion, the wings were submerged in water to remove the stabilizer. Gold organza was shirred by hand and then based onto the back of each wing. For even more embellishment, I added more peacock feathers! Pagaz has a tail, too; it's made of soy fiber, buttons, beads, and wool yarn.
Finally, his hair is needle-felted mohair, strips of fabric and attractive threads: all gifts and swap items from other artists in the US. From my own stash, i applied a manipulated peacock feather and a willow leaf that I decorated with tissue-thin gold foil flakes. In Hebrew they are called 'alei zahav' or "golden leaves." They look like tiny flakes of precious metal, and are applied to the surfac using special glue made just for them. The glue is colorless and doesn't seem to have any affect on the texture of the willow leaf, which is transparent and very delicate. I also applied alei zahav to the goblin's hands and the bottoms of his feet.
PAGAZ, my little goblin, was a joy to create and an open palette for embellishment. I hope he sparks inspiration in you as he had me literally "carried away!" ^*^
