The Highs and Lows of Scarecrow Building

Yesterday morning, four Entry Forms (yes, an amazing four – representing different year groups) from brilliant Loughton School landed on my front door mat. Woohoo! This really gave me a lift! I’m not going to give you any hints or clues as to what the school will be building, as this will spoil the surprise you are certain to experience when you visit Loughton’s Scarecrow Trail between 29^th June and 6^th July. Visitors to the trail are sure to be wowed by the stunning display of scarecrows that the school’s enthusiastic and talented staff and pupils are planning to construct. Good luck with the build, Loughton School!

Yesterday afternoon, I embarked on making a life sized scarecrow with a rigid, cross-shaped armature. He’s about seven feet tall, including the stake that will be driven into the ground, and he has a larger than life character to match his size and bulk. Rather like a mediaeval jousting quintain, his five foot wide arms keep swinging round to tap me sharply on the back of my head, every time I turn him around to stuff and dress him. He’s still a ‘work in progress’ as he’s not revealed his true personality to me yet. Meanwhile, he’s a looming presence in my studio! Building him is proving a sharp learning curve. I’ll be passing on everything I’ve found out about ‘scarecrow wrestling’ in a future blog.