The Search for Shrek and Fiona

The Search for Shrek and Fiona

Karin Davel, a free lance artist, felt it might be interesting for people to know what exactly went into the making of a few of the well-known cartoon characters that will be used to create a festive and fantastical feeling at the FANTASIA-show in Alexander Park in Pietermaritzburg during December this year. Here is her story:

“When I got an urgent call for help from Laurie Raubenheimer middle Oct. 09, I jumped at the opportunity to dust off some rusty skills of mine and get started with the creation of Shrek and Fiona. They were ”trapped” inside two huge blocks of high density polystyrene and they needed a few tools and my ability to see in three dimensions, to come to life. These two well loved characters and many others had to see the light within a span of six short weeks, so quite a few artists got going in all earnest to “free” them in time for the lovely FANTASIA show in Alexander Park, Pietermaritzburg.

The knowledge that I was not the only person in this perpetual state of activity-frenzy, helped me to carry on day by day –come wind or rain or sunshine...don my work clothes, put on my face mask, bandana and goggles and take up my electric saw and grinder like a soldier preparing for battle. There was a sense of expectancy in the air: “Today I’ll find Shrek’s full rounded body and by the end of tomorrow I’ll be able to take him by the hand.” When his uneven toothed smile broke through, I knew that I had a good thing going!

At first I attacked the 2m x 1,2m x 0,65m sized block with brute force and a hacksaw – eating away at the unnecessary weight around Shrek bit by bit – shedding a lot of perspiration and gaining a few painful blisters in the process. By the third day of manual labour, my husband took pity on me. He surprised me with a whole box of exciting tool-toys – my favourite being a fancy little red number with a fast moving blade! This trusted companion of mine was luckily not too noisy, so together we could slice away at the unwanted bumps and ridges for hours until Shrek emerged, standing with a relaxed attitude…almost ready to entertain the children of Pietermaritzburg.

As I’m also a part-time Art teacher at St. Anne’s College in Hilton, and we are in our frantic end-of-year-rush of exams, invigilation, comment writing and marking, I had to put aside all thoughts of “I’m tired; I need a rest”, and just GO for it at all hours that it was acceptable to the neighbours to make a noise. Luckily most of the neighbours were quite understanding when I explained my dilemma.

I think our dog, Twakkies – a wire-haired Jack Russell – had high hopes of becoming this year’s Christmas Father at our house, because he often auditioned for the part, covered in a fine white, static coat of polystyrene dust. He could often be found right under my feet while I was dancing the two-step over uneven bits of polystyrene rubble. How annoying! I couldn’t figure out whether he was afraid of the noise or whether he wanted to protect me from these alien things.

Daily the number of black bags, full of worrying bits of non-biodegradable polystyrene, was growing on. The end-of-day-task of sweeping became a daily ritual…not so easy when the wind played a follow-my-leader-game around the corners. Fine white tell-tale bits followed me wherever I went – almost like Hansel and Grethel’s bread crumb trail. One of the negatives of this job was the necessity to carry on working – no matter what the weather forecast said or whether flu had me in its grip. Fortunately the positives of this task far out-weighed the negatives. The joy that came from finding just the right curve or smile of the characters, that would soon bring happy smiles to children’s faces, was far greater than any hardship endured during the making of these well-loved characters. Other positives of spending so much time in my own company was that I had time to think about all the blessings in my life like friends, having a loving supportive family (who took it in their stride when supper on the table wasn’t very interesting or even better – when At jumped in and spoiled us all with his flair for creative cooking) and having a variety of interesting jobs to do.

I was getting into the danger zone of feeling everything was under control when the two figures started to take shape. It was the same as watching a house being built. When the walls and roof were up, it didn’t mean one could move in. A lot had still to be done. The angles and planes left by the saw and grinder, had still to be smoothed away by hours of loving, but painstaking, sanding and then it had to be coated in a protective layer – ready for the final breath of life: careful, detailed painting….and time was running out. At least I knew I was on the right track when a guest to our B+B , immediately upon seeing these statues, said: “Oh, here’s Shrek and Fiona too!” I felt like bursting into song like Maria from Sound of Music – “I must have done something good!”

Thanks to the availability of a Dremel-tool (that reminded me by its look and sound of a dentist’s drill!), I could do their faces in fine detail. My little kitchen knife came in handy when I got to hard-to-reach-corners. The strangest feeling of this whole experience was that I constantly felt like I was finding the characters, instead of creating them. I felt like Michelangelo’s apprentice – not that Shrek’s physique was a patch on that of David’s! Luckily it was much easier to cut away the unwanted polystyrene bits (with the aid of power tools!) than it must have been for Michelangelo to find his David in a block of marble. Nevertheless – creating these two characters, giving them attitude and appeal, gave me immense pleasure and a sense of “I can!” I wish more people had the opportunity to experience this feeling.

To start the statue of Fiona, was much easier, because, by then my hand-eye-coordination was in and I knew I had to be quite ruthless when it came to sawing off the unwanted corners. At least I had the option to glue back some lost bits - more than what Michelangelo had! At first Fiona had a Big Mama-body, stance and attitude, but as centimeter by centimeter was shaved off, she turned into quite a flirt -”Watch out Shrek, here I come!” I tried to make as few mistakes as possible, because it was a terribly sticky job to work with the glue and there was no quick fix like eating chocolates or carbo-loading to gain back the lost centimeters.

Now, I’m in the final phase of painting and finishing off. I miss my roughly angled Shrek, but prescriptions demanded a smooth-skinned body. Soon the only thing left to do, will be the responsibility of the newspapers and other forms of media to spread the word that something lovely awaits them in Alexander Park.

Yes, Christmas is here once more. It’s time to celebrate the birth of Christ and to spend some quality time with loved ones and surround ourselves with lovely things.”

Attention! Shrek and Fiona have been found!!

"It is time to take a tea-break - to sit back and reflect on what the next step will be: time for stock take.

I’m glad to report that the search for Shrek and Fiona is over – they have been found by me and although Shrek is still a prickly fella (he is only wearing his fibre glass coat), Fiona is standing in my kitchen in full, coloured glory…ready for action. She is just not happy with the monotonous colour of her dress, so I’ll have to come up with some idea to change the material of her dress to stop a full-blown tantrum in its tracks! Maybe I can make a stamp to pattern her skirt with and hopefully that will pacify her.

The other night, or rather in the early hours of the morning, when my brain was in urgent need of sleep (Fiona’s make-up took much longer than expected!), I got quite a fright when I walked past the kitchen and saw out of the corner of my eye a large and looming figure, glowing in the moonlight through the window. Even though I’ve just washed my brushes, I’ve totally forgotten about Fiona’s presence. What a relief to realize that this body might be BIG, but the heart was made of gold. No harm would come from her. (I just hoped that any potential robbers would only see the size and not the heart!)

I must be sounding quite fanciful, but these two characters have become almost real to me through this creative process…and anyway, as they’ve been created for FANTASIA, I think my reaction is quite appropriate.

As I’ve said, Shrek is still a dull-white colour, so it is no wonder he is feeling a bit low and prickly at the moment. To be a colourful figure (especially in the entertainment business) is so much better…so, I’ll have to do something about it. I think he’ll feel more like himself once he has donned his brown animal-print bolero and sexy stockings.

I’ll miss these two once they have gone – it’s almost like an empty nest syndrome. It’s hard to let your children go into the real world where choices have consequences. Shrek and Fiona’s reality will be the hardship to cope with all kinds of weather conditions and to keep on smiling even though lots of little hands will want to touch you for days on end…and then, after all this attention, to be shoved into a cramped storage place until it’s time again to shine at Christmas. I feel like saying:”I’ll be their foster mommy for the interim!”

Donkey is already long in the tooth, since he has been created for some previous FANTASIA celebrations. He can hardly wait for Shrek and Fiona to turn up at the park and the organizers will be just as glad to see them arrive. They are sick and tired of his:”Are they here yet?”

Now, Far-Far-Away is almost here. The Christmas lights are up and I’m almost out of energy. I’ve had enough of our late-night dates, crawling around on my hands and knees or stretching onto the tips of my toes for hours, just so that every nook and cranny could be painted. It’s time to have a holiday. All my marking and report comments at school are done, so now I just have to wave these two off…and then I can sit back and relax. Who knows, maybe there’ll be another job to do in future so that other Disney-characters can also join the party.

Now, it is over and out from me, Karin Davel (and all the other creators of fun-characters) – the ball is in your hands, the people of Pietermaritzburg. Make our labour count for something by coming to Alexander Park from the 11^th of December, to enjoy these charming characters in their fairy light setting – be touched and uplifted by beauty and then go out there and spread the joy and Light that Christmas is all about!"

Karin Davel can be contacted for a number of art-needs: illustration work, the painting of murals, calligraphy, portraits and other fine art, Christian art, creative writing, logo-design, decorative fabric painting, the creation of special-occasion-cards, tips on how to decorate your house on a shoestring-budget and soon also the drawing up of house plans. It’s one of her New Year’s resolutions to do something about her dream to become a draughtsman by getting a proper qualification in architectural drawing. Karin can be contacted by e-mail oakhaven@telkomsa.net Her studio in Hilton, Oakhaven Art Studio, is worth a visit.