Wild Woman of the Woods

Finally got around to putting in some of my work and would love to have your comments.

The face-bead in this piece reminded me of the NW Coast Canadian First Nation tribes legend, “The Wild Woman of the Woods,” or Dzunuk’wa. According to the legend, she is a dark and hairy ogress with supernatural powers. Her almost blind eyes are large and sunken and she is usually portrayed making her wild call (“Uh, huu, uu, uu”) with her open mouth and thick red puckered lips.

Reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel, it is said that if children foolishly wander into the forest, the Wild Woman will capture them, take them to her remote house in the woods, and eat them. The Wild Woman has long, wild hair and wears a large basket on her back which contains the children that she caught. She is not considered very bright and usually the children are able to outsmart her in escaping.

The native masks that represent Wild Woman of the Woods are dark and ominous -- usually black with thick red lips and strings of black hair hanging down in her face. The face bead strongly resembles the traditional facial features of those masks. I wanted my Wild Woman to be less dark, so I concentrated on the wild hair and the leaves and the greens of the woods. I started with the antique frame and made the piece to fit it.