Bush Lily : Felt Art Doll

I often use interesting plants as my inspiration and Bush Lily is no exception. This is a wet felted art doll with a polymer clay face. The face has been moulded from one of my own original sculptures and yes, it does have a  rather sad  and glum look.  No wonder, Nature currently has been taking a battering from  extreme climate events. 

It is no secret that one of my favourite plants is the Gymea Lily . Botanically known as Doryanthes excelsa, the gymea lily  is a flowering plant  found in the  coastal areas of New South Wales . They grow very well around Sydney and surrounding areas like the Newcastle region where I live.  It has sword-like leaves more than 1 metre long and it grows a flower spike up to 6 metres high. 

The body of the doll was wet felted first as a hollow tube, with a plastic resist so there are no seams in the shape. Different coloured slivers of wool were introduced into the last layer of wool to blend colours for the doll body. 

A separate "flower" was felted , also using a small wax resist to create multiple layers of petals . The flower was then needle felted to the fibre filled body shape. 

The body was then stitched - the base stitched together and decorative hand embroidery with a wooden leaf charm.  After the  polymer face was cured and coloured with a basic wash, it was  attached /stitched to the body .... Bush Lily! 

Bush Lily is available now in my Etsy shop