Loraine Stillman
"Stinky Feet"
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| (Photos by Patrick Fraser) |
I decided this project needed humor. I thought of my son's shoes. As a teenager he wore black and white canvas shoes that smelled terrible despite all efforts to neutralize their odor. What could be more perfect than skunks to convey this image?
Next came "how." As a longtime weaver and weaving instructor, my logical inclination was to weave the skunks. Rya is a Scandinavian form of weaving that creates a shaggy nap, which made the most sense. The colors, of course, were already determined. Then I encountered the problem of how to differentiate male from female. Eyelashes and ribbon took care of the female. A baseball cap made out of felt suggested the male.
Foot forms to hold the skunks in shape were made from a pair of socks filled with flat glass beads and fiber fill. I fitted the skunks around them. This aspect of my son's teen years can now be remembered with a smile.