This is the Cheshire Cat from American McGee's Alice. I was so enthralled by the game that I was compelled to create an homage to it in my art class. For four months I slaved over kitty's paper mache form, he was my master and I had only one reason for being, to complete him. I started his creation with what could have been considered his lungs, moving down I created the bases for his legs. His neck is connected to his torso by a thin wooden dowel. He has sixteen individually shaped claws. His tail is a wrapped wire with yarn for the tip. His twenty teeth are fashioned out of a 'Sweet Tomatoes' coolwhip bucket. His ears are cardboard based, with molded paper mache with tinfoil for tips. His eyes are the halfs of a broken pingpong ball from my school's lounge. He may look it but he's not a solid color of paint, and they're all colors I mixed. I started with a darkish blue base and then HAND RUBBED on a thin layer of silver blue grey all over to give him his almost Russian blue cat look. His earring was a hard find, I almost had to go with cutting a bracelet of mine but a timely trip to New York yeilded his jewelry, which is hot glued on since his ear wouldn't hold it still. For shadow rubbed on a darker version of his paint to give some depth. The day after I finished him he was packed up and sent to the Blue Bird Cafe, in downtown KC, MO., where he was shown off for a month. He then was featured in a small neighborhood newspaper from Waldo MO., where my school is located. He is my greatest work to date in the field of paper mache sculpture and is always doted upon when seen or mentioned. He stands 2' 9 1/2", weighs roughly 7 1/2 lbs. He was started in October of 2001, and finished in January of '02.