Residing in the birch woods near Loch a Druing, in the north-west Highland area of Gairloch, he was mainly seen in the latter part of the 18th century. The woods are in a dip alongside a hilly area around 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) from where Rua Reidh Lighthouse was later built. One summer evening a young local child named Jessie Macrae wandered into the woods and became lost. Jessie was found by the Ghillie Dhu who looked after her until the next morning when he took her home. Over a period of four decades the fairy was frequently seen by lots of different people but Jessie was the only person he conversed with. Generally of a dishevelled appearance, he used green moss and leaves taken from trees as clothing. He was of a small stature. His fondness of children is similar to that displayed by the little known Hyter sprite of English mythology." (Source: Wikipedia)
He is the by far the biggest sculpture that I have ever created, and stands a whopping 55cm Tall (1.8 feet)and I found that working to this scale is so much more 'flexible' than when I've created much smaller figures. It's easier to get the needle into all those nooks and crannies & also easier to make him free standing, due to the extra weight of all that wool.
He is needle felted over a wire armature, with a removable wet felted waistcoat. I have needle felted some toadstools onto the back of his waistcoat and used twine to blanket stitch around the edges. For his beard and hair I've used Alpaca fur. His staff is a quirky stick that I found which has a fabulous Lichen attached to it.
I just can't put into words how happy I am with this piece. He is everything I've ever wanted to create, and he is inspiring me to create many more pieces to this scale. I feel that I want to spend more time focusing on characters such as this, because he was such a JOY to create.
