Progress in my work

The first two images here is the work I showed during the critique a couple weeks ago. I originally planned to use the felt I made as the body of "Jared." However, as I started to put the arms together, filling them with pillow stuffing, I decided it was beginning to look too much like a stuffed animal or puppet. Not that puppets are bad, but Jared as the central figure is supposed to be strong, supportive, reliable, king-like. Stuffed animal reads as comforting, soft, infantile almost. So, scratched that idea... The babies I showed in class were adorned with beads, wax, and pellets. I knew that this would not be the final headdress, I just wanted to show the class the babies with something, since they look so different naked. I put them on this cast glass log, felt, and rock so that they had more of a prescence than just sitting on a table. Ultimately, I don't plan to place the babies on any of those things. These second images are where my work is going now. I decided to literally go back to my roots and use them as Jared's body. This works perfectly because the Mesoamerica symbol for the gateway from earth to sky to underworld is the Life Tree. They use the ceba tree inparticular. My roots come from a shrub I dug up, and I plan to extend the arms with branches from the tree Jared crashed into. I think it is a much more fitting representation of the spirit.
I asked each sibling and my parents what animal they relate to (or love) and what their favorite colors are. It was so fun to see what they all had to say. Interestingly enough, almost everyone prefers natural colors like brown, green, teracotta...This made it easier to incorporate into each individual animal headdress. I have been needle felting each one which is a technique I have never used in my work before. It takes forever, but I am getting better with every piece I do. I have actually had to go back into the first couple since they were starting to look like they were on a lesser level of craftsmanship.
I have three more babies to do: mine, my moms and my dads. I still haven't decided how my parent's will be different, but a friend in the glass department mentioned that she has a mold of a larger baby I could use. I got a lot of feedback from the class about making an "8th" baby for Jared. It's funny because that was a strong opinion during the critique but after class I got several remarks suggesting I stick with the original plan and omit the 8th baby. Jared is no longer in human form, so I don't see why his representation in my work should be as well. He is an overwhelming prescense in all of our lives and his size and intricacy depicts that. I have considered putting a naked baby nested in the roots, but I'm still not positive that it's necessary. I don't want to be too literal.
The next stage in the process is display. I have decided to make each baby his/her own shelf with a space to put an offering. I hope my family will contribute an offering for the piece. I'm not sure what Jared will sit on yet, some kind of throne....