Mari Lwyd
My last project of 2025
Hello and welcome back! Looks like we’ve all made it to the end of the year relatively in one piece, despite some scrapes and bruises along the way. I hope you’re all enjoying a warm cozy holiday season with your favorite people, pets and festivities. Do you celebrate anything? Do you have a favorite tradition for this time of year?
Speaking of traditions, I have a weird one for you. Several years back I did one of those Ancestry.com DNA tests and the results were not surprising. I am very, VERY European. Which explains my pale complexion, intolerance for spicy foods (I love a good potato!) and ability to endure long harsh winters. General regions like England and Germany are my primary genetic makeup, sprinkled with a little Irish, Scottish and Norwegian as well. I am also 1% Welsh, which has led me down a rabbit hole. Now, forgive me, I know nothing about the Welsh culture other than their national animal is a dragon, the language seems difficult, and they have this one dark and strange Christmas tradition called Mari Lwyd. Please do not ask me how to pronounce that. Google’s AI Overview describes Mari Lwyd as:
"The Mari Lwyd (Grey Mare) is a unique Welsh midwinter tradition where a decorated horse skull on a pole, draped in a white sheet, is carried door-to-door by a group singing wassails between Christmas and Twelfth Night, engaging residents in witty rhyming battles (pwnco) to gain entry for good fortune, food, and drink. Rooted in pre-Christian folklore, this spooky yet festive custom involves the skull's jaw snapping, bringing laughter and luck if welcomed inside.”
Photos of the Gray Mare have been popping up in my feeds and gracing my Pinterest boards for the last several years or so and I fell in love! And for whatever reason right after Halloween this year I was suddenly struck with the desire to make my own. Could I do it? Would it be convincing as a horse skull? Could I get it done by Christmas? Ambitious? Yes! But this was a challenge I could not pass up. So, I did a lot of research on horses’ skulls, how to attach the jaw so that it “snaps”, and the traditional ways of decorating this giant puppet. I gathered all my references on a collage board and got to work right away.
I attempted to film the process but for the most part failed. I would love to be able to give you aesthetically pleasing ASMR style art videos, but I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around that level of multi-tasking. Typically, when I really get into my projects and hit that point of hyper-focus, that “zone”, the last thing I think about is if the camera is in focus, am I in the frame, is this the lighting okay, do I need to switch POVs, etc. When I’m in it, I’m in it, and everything else falls away. I’m not sure how the YouTube and social media content creators do it. Admittedly, a big part of it is also my own insecurities about how I look and sound. I still have a lot of work to do on myself to get over that mental hurdle and become comfortable in front of a camera knowing people are going to see me and judge me. Oh, and I do not have an actual camera. I’m just filming on my phone, and I know that makes a huge difference. I really am hoping in 2026 I will be able to bring you more videos, that seems to be what people want, and I think it could be a fun creative outlet.
Without further ado, I present to you, The Making of The Gray Mare.
*NOTE: This video is just all the videos I made during the making of my Gray Mare cobbled together. There is no consistency, lol! This was also not meant to be a tutorial.
I did have a more opaque white cloth for the shroud, but the fabric was so heavy and the skull is only papier-mâché after-all, that I was afraid the weight of the fabric would snap it right off the pole. So I oped for this lighter gauzy fabric that I just happen to have laying around. It actually used to be a dreamy bed canopy that I can’t use anymore because our bedroom is so so so tiny. I think it gives the mare a more ghostly-etherial feel. It does not hide the human underneath as well as the other fabric, but with the appropriate attire I think it will all work out. I can’t say I’m fully done with her. I still want to forage and gather some fresh greenery for her crown, and get some baubles for her eyes, add some gold adornments and ribbons and more bells, but I think the embellishments will be ongoing throughout the years.
Now all I have left to do is to sit back and enjoy the holidays with Mark, Edgar, Lenore and the Gray Mare. 2025 was a crazy year, but I’ve made some incredible memories this year, I’ve made some art, and I look forward to welcoming 2026 with an open mind and an open heart.
Oh hey, that rhymed!