Ho, Ho, Ho - don't worry, I'm not getting into the festive spirit - I just got the punchline to a joke I heard recently (last week). Seriously though, I do like Christmas. Sitting in front of a big open fire, feet up, roasting me chestnuts. Glass of malt in one hand, big fat cuban in the other...a cigar that is. Anyway that's next week, this week I'm still working on my project. I've been doing a few things with paper as you can see in the photos.

I know it resembles a skeleton at first glance but that's just because I began  with a representation of an upper torso and the first thing that springs to mind is the rib cage. I'm not intending to replicate a skeleton as you will see in later images.

 The image on the left is a development of the same idea, a paper frame representing a body's space. Not a full body this time but more of a composition of limbs, maybe, gonna see where it goes before finishing.

I just felt I had to show this image of a skull because it sort of goes with what I'm doing, and I think it's really cool. It was made by a guy called Chris Dunseath and called 'Veneer skull'. Constructed from laminated ash veneer. Strips of veneer were laid over a plaster skull, coated with wood glue and then covered with more strips, which were held in place with pins. I like the combination of semi-transparency verses the solidity of the wood. What's also appealing is the texture and colour of the ash strips. This would definitely be a material to consider using for a more permenant piece. Image and construction details taken from 'The encyclopedia of sculpting techniques' by John Plowman.

So that's it for this post - I hope to get another one on before the holidays and who knows, I might just wish ye all a merry christmas.