DEBORAH MILLS WOODCARVING
Changeling Blocks: "Not-quite-right toys for trolls and changelings"
Copyright © 2013 Deborah A. Mills, all rights reserved.
Changeling Blocks are the fruit of a fun collaboration with my husband Daniel Rabuzzi. We imagined alphabet blocks made for trolls and changelings - using symbols rather than letters, everything a bit off kilter, with a certain sinister humor.
I hand-carve, paint, and embellish the blocks with found objects. I cut them from a stave of perota wood into groups of three; they fit together into a tower or can be arranged separately. Each block is one-of-a-kind, signed and numbered.
This set of blocks (#4-6) incorporates Baba Yaga (with an acorn cap eye), an owl (with a reflective button eye), the Other Mother's hand from Neil Gaiman's novel Coraline (with her button eye), Neil Gaimon's dogs Lola and Cabal as small dieties, and a series of imps drawn by Daniel Rabuzzi.
Changeling Blocks #4-6
© 2013 Deborah A. Mills & Daniel A. Rabuzzi, all rights reserved.
Owl - Neil Gaimon's rescue dogs - Daniel's imps
The reflective owl's eye came from a tin of old buttons given to me decades ago by Daniel's Nonni.
The wood is seamed with cracks - see how they line up (and prompt the imagination).
Baba Yaga - The Other Mother - Daniel's Imps
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I love the story of how the author Neil Gaiman rescued two white dogs, one of them from a life spent chained to a tree. So I imagined the wolfish pair, Cabal and Lola, as minor dieties, and made sure they were in control of their chains (not to mention the moon, and storms).
Designing and carving the blocks.
Changeling Blocks # 4-6; 4 x 3.5 inches each; Perota wood, hand-carved and embellished with acrylic ink, paint, embedded buttons, brass nails, chains, silver charm and acorn cap.
Fitting the Owl's eye.
