Scraphappy: February Telephone Pole Scrap
Juskatla Pole Yard
On Haida Gwaii there is a telephone pole mill, where cedar trees are peeled and made ready to be cut into 40, 45, 50 or 55 foot lengths. The offcuts are usually considered scrap, but if they are long enough they can be made into boards…
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SGang Gwaay Board Walk
…like these ones used for the top surface of the boardwalks constructed at Sgang Gwaay in 2018. This photo was taken in November 2018 – the big tree to the left of the boardwalk in this picture is a Sitka spruce. A Hurricane brought this and many other trees down and destroyed much of the brand new boardwalk in December that year…(the story of the doll Sitka which I made from a piece of this tree can be seen if you click here).
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Curve scraps
But this story is not about that doll…the boardwalk planks were all cut to a standard length, but occasionally bits were trimmed off – to go around a curve, or some such thing…several trimmed off scraps are visible to the right and left of the boardwalk in this photo.
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Doll scraps
Our favourite photographer (who was on hand while the boardwalk was being built) collected some promising-looking scraps and brought them home to the Hitty cupboard…they were eventually turned on a lathe and cut into doll-blank pieces…
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Whittle
…and chipped away at by the Quimper Hitty human.
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Face
Roughed-out, I can see this doll will be another one that has memories of her place of origin…
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Face refined
…but I think she’s glad that she didn’t end up as a telephone pole!!
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roughed but complete
All the pieces are pretty much the shape I want them to be in this photo, including all the fiddly tinkering with the shoulder and hip joints…
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Sanded
…just waiting to be sanded…
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Drying
…and coated with interior Varathane, and allowed to dry.
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Elastic
Then paint, and joints…
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ready for fun
Now she’s a real doll…
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Luna
…her name is Luna, and she loves Moon Snails.
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ScrapHappy is a group of bloggers using up scraps of anything – no new materials…Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible, and posts come out once a month on the 15th! If you like the idea and want to join the group, contact Kate or Gun who devised and run this group. Their blogs are the first two links below:
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Quimper Hittys 
She has a marvellously enigmatic smile and an interesting history! A worthy new member of the Hitty cupboard.
Luna is a happy doll, in a tentative sort of way. I sometimes think they might have memories of being a tree, telephone pole blank, boardwalk plank…and wonder if they compare histories?
I hope they do, in some mysterious tree-like way.
How utterly beautiful 😍
Thank you so much – it is a joy to make someone like Luna, and I am so glad you like her too!
I love all your dolls 😊
She is wonderful! The colour and grain of the wood add to your amazing carving to make Luna a warm, loveable little character. Another great addition to the Hitty cupboard family.
Yes, I don’t think it will be hard to love her! I enjoyed carving her partly because of the colour and grain of the beautiful cedar – it was really aromatic too, though very splitty! We are glad she joined us in the cupboard!
Thank you for walking through that process. She is amazing!
From almost telephone pole, to almost boardwalk plank to doll was quite the journey – we are so glad you enjoyed walking with us through the process!
Luna looks so pretty. She has a great heritage. Bringing her story to life with this narrative is purely an Earthly delight in my opinion. I’ll look forward to seeing her around more.
She is another doll from the misty islands…I think she and Sitka will have interesting conversations!
She is beautiful, and I look forward to reading about her adventures! 🙂
Thanks so much. I do love the red cedar wood grain and the colour – and I really enjoy knowing the story of where her tree grew,
Luna is exquisite!!!! I am so glad that she gets to be herself and although telephone poles are so useful, I love that she will tell the world her stories rather than having to stand silently holding up wires……
We are glad she has joined us in the cupboard, and she is glad that her bit of wood didn’t end up as a telephone pole (though it might have been interesting to listen to conversations as they flowed through the wires!)
what a creation story she has! And what a winsome expression. She is lovely and will have so many good times with her sisters in the Quimper cupboard….I love her!!
Thank you so much! She is a sweetie and we love her already. Her sisters are looking forward to getting to know her, and having some gentle fun!
welcome Luna, to the Hitty cupboard. A beautiful reminder of a wild and wonderful place. Can’t wait to see the adventures she has while the girls introduce her to her new home.
Luna thanks you very much in her whispery Cedar voice. She does remember Haida Gwaii – it is in her very xylems and phloems, but she is so happy to be here “down the hill” with some companions who know what it was to be a tree, and yet are happy to be dolls.
I do so love the sharing of the process. Thank you. She looks full of calm and patience
I know that I like seeing the way things come together – fabric into quilts, yarn into socks, and wire into raindrop earrings! So I am glad to share my “in progress” pictures…I think she will turn out to be calm and patient…two attitudes I try to cultivate in myself…another “in progress” project!
What a beautiful story… Your art work is amazing, I love your dolls, they all have a very special expression on their faces… You made them alive… So beautiful. Thank you dear Hitty Lady, Love, nia
Thank you so much Nia, I love to find a sweet little person inside a block of wood! And I am very glad to share my work. It can be so hard out in the “real world” it makes me happy to create a little beauty as a very small antidote.
Such beautiful work. The doll looks so alive, I love her!
Thank you very much – her little face makes me smile too! The work is very enjoyable for me. It makes me so happy that you love her too!
how utterly beautiful! and what talent to be able to sculpt such a darling doll
Thank you so very much. I feel I have learned so much from some excellently kind teachers! And made mistakes and practised, really, I am so lucky!