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Information On The Creation Of The Squashed Fairy Stones
The magical Preseli Stones... The Preseli Hills have long been known to be crisscrossed with leylines, and the hills themselves magically sparkle with white crystal quarts. Even during early Christian times, the place was considered almost as holy as Jerusalem and Rome.
The stones used for Gem Artwork's 'Squashed Fairy Stones' are legally sourced from private land surrounding the Preseli hills. Each Squashed fairy stone is carefully chosen for it's shape, colour, texture, weight and magic!
Preparing the stones... The stones are washed using ecological washing liquid, then gently dried with constant low heat for several days, to give a clean, dry canvas.
I then study each stone - its contours, shape and weight, to determine how the poor fairy would have fallen! The impact of a Bluestone on a fragile fairy body could result in many imprints, so as I get to know the stone, I learn how it's properties would effect the final impression.
Now the fun part! I sketch, using a chalk-pencil, the outline of the fairy's body onto the stone. At this point, the stone looks like something out of a fairytale crime-scene!
Making the Fairies 3-D... I then make up a special textured goop! This is a mixture of self-hardening filler, water and paint. When I get the correct consistency, I slowly start to build up the body, head and limbs, until the fairy outline begins to transform into a 3-D shape. With flicks of the wrist and twists of my brush, I can bring out certain features, like belly-buttons, eye-balls, noses and nipples!
The stone is then left to dry again, on a low heat for a day, until the body is set as hard as the stone itself.
Painting the Fairies... This is when the colour is added, to bring my fairy to life (ok, so not 'to life' exactly - to look animated in her death!). I use my favourite Deco-Art Acrylic paint - I find others far too watery - this one is fabulously opaque. Her wings are painted on in several layers, and then her base-body colour. Shading is painted into the contours of the fairy's face and body, to add depth and highlight special features. Then, waiting hours between coats, her clothes are painted on, and then details like eyelashes and jewellery. And of course - not to forget the almighty 'Splat'! The squashed part of the fairy is vivid enough to allude to the pretty fairy's misfortune - but never so frightful as to cause alarm!
More drying for a day or so, then when she is totally dry, the stone can be flipped over so an ornate "G" can be painted onto the bottom as a maker's mark. The stone is then given several coats of Artist's Matt Varnish to seal.
The stone you order will be totally unique - no two stones are ever the same! Each stone is suppled in a beautiful organza bag, labelled 'Squashed Fairies' one one side, with the tale of the fairies tragic end on the other. Each stone bears the maker's mark so you can be assured it's a Gem Artwork original! A wonderful gift for any fairy fans you know, or a humerous indulgence for yourself!
