A scan of images on the internet led me to this one. It was quirky and looked like a lot of fun to create.

A challenge with building the image above was the angle at which the dancing elephant was standing. First was that I had to be able to mount her in a position that was stable so she had to be balanced over a central focal pont. My sample is obviously leaning and would fall over. Second, I needed to be able to place a PVC pipe up through the toe for a long length of the body and that wasn't possible with that image. I ended up tilting the body in Paint Shop Pro, so it had a more balance look. I also had to turn her right foot a bit to her right so it was straighter going up the leg and into the body. I ended up with this, also showing the grid over it to scale her.

The following images just show various stages of construction. I started again with styrofoam sheets. I would always cut one sheet shown in the two-dimensional image shown above. Then I would use that as a template to make the others to the desired thickness. This image shows the glued layers. The legs, arms and head were created separate from the body and glued together later. There is also rebar running through the body conecting the arms, and PVC pipe running up the right leg well into the body for later mounting purposes.

The body is mostly shaped here. You can see the holes drilled into the body so when I add the thin layer of hypertufa later, it will hold better.

The trunk has been added by carving out a small hole in the head, filling it with concrete, and sticking a heavy gauge wire into it. After the concrete had hardened, I bent the wire into the shape I wanted for the trunk. Then I cut circular disks of styrofoam and threaded them onto the wire, gluing them together in the process. Finally, I shaved the trunk to the final shape.

This view shows holes I bored in the head, filled concrete and wires added for the ears.

It also shows I like to collect wine (and consume as well) and that I am building Ellie in my basement. Most of my "creations" are built during the winter after VB season when it is still cold out.

Next I added a pleated cloth skirt and hot-glued the cloth ears on the wire. There is gray colored cloth on the backside of the ears. I also added pink cloth in the tip of the trunk and in the mouth.

My final steps were to add the hypertufa, paint, and finish with the belt. She stands just a little over four-feet tall.

This final view shows the sexy back straps.