“Oh, about 10. My mother dried my tears when she suggested we go into the orchard to find an apple and thought I might be able to reproduce another.”
“How do you begin?”
“By peeling the apple and setting it aside to dry, but pinching the features in during this drying process.”
“What do you use for teeth?” a bystander asked.
Mrs. Provinzano smiled as she said, “Lima beans, and see what I make of the skins of the lima beans, small artificial rose buds.”
The conversation became more animated as others questioned her. She explained that apples shrink to one half or one third their original size during the drying period and this gives the appearance of wrinkled skin. She devised a scheme to overcome the wrinkles and gently massaged cold cream into the apple doll. “It takes three weeks for it to dry into wrinkled features and it takes three weeks to massage those wrinkles out, for all time.” The apple heads retain the soft texture indefinitely, for they pick up enough moisture from the air to retain the texture, but not enough to rot. These heads are mounted on sticks, i.e., clothespins, and inserted into bottles. These are draped with a dress or tunic suitable for the subject, thus eliminating the need for making a body or wire base.
A mask fashioned from half a grapefruit and one of an orange were pointed out. She cautioned would-be hobbyists against using a knife to define the features, as the acid in the fruit rots the knife (metal) incisions. Toothpicks should be used for this procedure. Wall paper cleaner is used for the clay to fill the scooped out citrus fruit, pinching in the nose, punching out the eyes and mouth with toothpicks.
Mrs. Provinzano and her exhibit at the International Hobby Show in California.
“What about this Nun doll’s head? It’s very pale compared to the apple doll’s head.”