We have some catching up to do!
It’s been too long and I am sorry! I always have the best of intentions to blog regularly, but life, and work often get in the way. It’s been a few months and I will do my best to get everyone caught up. Let me tell you it was a crazy few months! The weather has wreaked havoc on every show I have done so far this year and I am really leaning towards all indoor shows for next year. Though I do so love the Renfest and might make an exception there, even though both I did this year rained every weekend!
The first life sized dragon project is almost finished! Don’t forget you can always go to our project page and check out what’s new! Mike got the skeleton done right around the beginning of August and then once the head position was tweaked to perfection he made the necessary changes to said skeleton for me. I worked on stocking other things for shows while he worked on skeletons because I knew time was going to run out fast. Originally I had a deadline of Sept 1st to have her finished, but that didn’t happen! however barring delivery of my resin and scale making she is REALLY close to being done now! David Husser finished the mural last week and it’s ready to go to print! Super excited to see it in person! Also, I chose JUSt the right artist for the mural, it became apparent when I saw his vision and mine lined up on the shop wall! It’s amazing when working on a project in different studios and bring them together seeing them mesh perfectly! I would not have thought to have her climbing out of the wall and I LOVE
Our girl Aug 10 2018
August
August started out super productive! The skeleton was finished, and within a week I had muscle structure on my girl all finished up and started layering the strength of paper and cloth over the wads of paper that made up her cheek bones and muscles. I had already finished her gums and teeth and on Aug 1st I was drooling them up! (they still need more drool but it was a start!) We got all the materials for making molds, which was a fun learning experience for us since we had not done it before. Mike and I stayed up til 3am finishing molds up so we could use them and finish up on time. (The molds are being used for her fin which still isn’t finished Grrr see Sept for more details). By Aug 11th It looked like I would easily finish up on schedule! Molds were done, muscle structure was all there, horns were finished, she was well on her way. As is the case with everyone life throws out a few curve balls and we swing and miss.
On Aug 12th we were in the studio and it started to rain. The back door was wide open in the house and when we heard thunder Mike ran out to go shut it. (it’s about 100ft from the studio) When he approached he saw flames coming out of the wall of the house and the house was on fire. Mike (my hero btw) ran into the house and ripped the extinguisher out of the wall to put the fire out. The house and our dogs were saved. The kitchen not so much. We decided carrying on was the only option and started insurance claims (which are a time sink nightmare btw) I am thankful we have decent house insurance but it’s going to be still a long road to get things back in working order. I went out later that evening to work on the concept art and scaling of the NEXT dragon project. I had a meeting with the wonderful group of women involved in the 2020 Olin gallery exhibit the next day and the show must go on! Well that and sitting in the house with a big hole in the wall wasn’t getting things done. Before the week was up the car had broken down as well, so there’s that. lol I mean my trusty old Prius has stopped counting milage 150k or so miles ago so it roughly has 450k miles on it. It wasn’t as much unexpected just really bad timing. Mike was able to fix some of the battery cells and get it back on the road, though it’s definitely time to save for another car.
The rest of August involved a small renaissance faire and a ton of dragon detail work. I was also able to start on the flying dragon I am making to hang in the rafters at the museum. (Which to anyone interested will be for sale!) At the end of the month it was clear I would need more cast resin to finish my fin! I ordered it from the the same company as I had ordered the first batch from but it still has yet to arrive. It’s lost in post office land apparently. The tracking just stops.
September
I can’t believe we are midway through September! The Virginia Faery Festival is upcoming (hopefully the property can shed off the water from Hurricane Florence in time for the weekend) I really look forward to the Virginia Faery Festival, it’s not over crowded, has a great vibe, has day tickets and over night tickets to allow for watching little kids in costumes run around getting ballet lessons during the day and some adult fun over night for the camping inclined. Plus I get to wear MY fae costume! I look forward to the show because the people who run it are awesome and it’s somewhere I can bring the adult kids and their friends, and their friends babies to come out and play together!
On the dragon front, We had to do some adjustments on the dragon to account for metal implants! First for the stand extra support and all that, then to make screw in attachments for the side ‘fin’ which we actually got done yesterday! Holes had to be cut, reinforced and held in by various means. I had hoped to finish the ridge spine fin before I started scales but the post office lost my package not once but TWICE from the same location in Michigan. I do believe they have a crafty thief in their midst. Knowing the first was lost and they could do nothing to get it to me fast I risked it and ordered a second batch (over $100. Each) It was due to arrive a few days ago and it shows on tracking EXACTLY as it did last batch they lost. Tomorrow, or tonight if I am up to it I shall start the scales. I decided I would just work around where I will need to hide the fin attachments in order to make progress. (this rain is kicking my arse! I am a spoonie and often a big storm steals all my spoons) I am using a diff technique using cloth and have done what seems like a million test pieces to get it right! I have it settled now and hope it looks like I think it will! We are simulating dogwood bark for the scales. David’s mural it looks fantastic now I just have to make the scales on the sculpture look close to the same! Roughly a month now before we get to show her to the world! Don’t forget to mark your calendars and come see her and me! at the Dragon Festival Located at The Virginia Natural History Museum in MArtinsville VA on October 20th
Oh and last but not least we released the first few videos in the build series we are working on. Mike is steadily editing the videos and I think he plans to get one uploaded tonight. Which of course means you can see it tomorrow because our upload speeds are horrible! Once we finish the build we will be taking the build videos and making a time lapse of her being done start to finish. I have done pretty good about turning the cameras on, though I have missed a few days of filming. At least we are preparing for the bigger project upcoming for next year. Or in a few months as the case will likely be! Here is a link to our Youtube channel ! Please subscribe to us. You know you wanna see more videos of this coming together! As always I appreciate your interest, your shares and all that jazz! Til next time!
