The Government Inspector

Ohio University – 2018

Director: Dennis Delaney

Scenic Designer: Rebecca McDowell

Props Master: Ariel Lacey

One of the central projects for The Government Inspector, the polar bear rug measures 8′-9″ in wingspan and 7’2″ from nose to tail. I started by taping out a silhouette and then transferring it to brown paper to make a pattern. At the same time, I drew out a top, side and front view of the bear’s head. This translated to a series of blue foam cutouts that I laid up with green glue and then carved using a hot knife and rasps. Once I had most of his head carved we discovered that his nose was a bit too short, at which point I cut it off, glued on a new piece and re-carved it. I carved out the entire interior as well as his mouth to make it possible not only to reach inside the head and pull out a wad of cash but also so that an actor could wear the skin. We paper-machéd the resulting head, and I installed two glass taxidermy eyes with microcell foam lids. I laid up upholstery foam to imitate the bear’s thick ruff, and then cut the greater body section out of white faux fur and sewed the pieces together. I then cut a middle layer of batting and a bottom layer of felt and used spray adhesive to attach them together. I patterned and cut fur to match the contours of the bear’s face, and used Barge to attach each piece. The edges of the ‘pelt’ were then whip-stiched together. For detail, I used Sculpy to sculpt each tooth and then attached each with epoxy and a 3″ spike embedded in each tooth which I then covered in glue and embedded in the blue foam of the bear’s mouth. The tongue I carved and then heat-formed out of EVA foam and installed using Barge. Finally, I trimmed the fur around his mouth and eyes and attached two white fur ears.

Labor Hours: 57