Homage to a Good Friend

This photo of me was taken in 1997 at a fire lookout station in South Dakota. I post it here today for 2 reasons, the first of which is in loving memory of my beautiful little dog Theo, who left me yesterday after a brief illness. He was 17 years old, which is VERY old for dog.

Not old enough for me, alas.

I also put it here to remind myself of what I CAN be when I take care of myself. I will NOT use my grief as an excuse to eat too much or to shirk my exercise. I WILL use it as an excuse to cry instead, because I must, and because his life was worth the tears his death costs me now. Wasn't he the cutest thing???

It took effort, but I made myself stay busy (and out of the kitchen!) yesterday afternoon by getting back to work on my dragon. I had been dreading this step for fear of ruining what I had already created. I wish I could get over that...

So I shaped the wing wires in a pose, then wired on some metal mesh to act as a support for the clay. Magic Sculpt epoxy clay makes up the bones and the "skin" of the wing web.


Here is a close up of the wing before I cover it completely. I am nearly out of the Magic Sculpt -- I hope I have enough to finish this step, or it will be days again before I can get back to it. I really REALLY want to get this dragon finished!

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I am so glad that I decided to paint around the pearls and crystals on his breastplate BEFORE adding the wings. Those wings are just *in the way* of everything and from every angle. They have also compromised his balance, though I posed them as carefully as I could to keep him stable. This guy is now very VERY top heavy. I am going to need to add something as a base to keep him from being so tippy.