10 foot leather dragon goes to ACC Baltimore

And so the journey of the Dragon and I began. In the end it
measured10'5" from snout to tip of the tail. As you can see
from these photos,it was a good thing it wasn't any bigger.
It just fit in our van. Its head rested between the two front
seats, nice company as I drove to Baltimore with a stop in New
Jersey for a visit with friends. Altho I did see a few strange
looks,when people glanced inside the van!


Fortunately, storms were past, so the dragon and I made it safely
to Baltimore for the American Craft Council Show. I had the
photographer, Bob Barrett, take some photos. Bob also took a
photo of me carrying the dragon down the escalator! Have to get
him to email that to me. I'll share it when he does. These are
Bob's photos of "Zeleckaa and Agupo" - Dragon and rider (new
owners get to choose which name goes with which..I try to be
non biased on that front!)



Getting a full shot of a piece over 10 feet long is a real trick,
especially in an impromptu studio setting. It took quite a bit
of time and playing with background paper. For jury slides, I'll
probably use the 3/4 shot, but enjoy having the full one as well
for my records.



Figuring out how to display a 10 foot + dragon in a 10x10 corner
booth was a challenge. Here is what I finally settled on - booth
photo by photographer, Paul Jeremias. I let the neck extend a bit
over my boundary. The dragon made quite a stir at the show. Kids
and adults alike were intrigued and spread the word to look for it!



But,of course,the folks I really wanted to see it were the
customers who commissioned it. They came on Friday morn to
see it for the first time. I appreciated their coming early.
It would have been nerve wracking to wait all day! Although
at first a bit startled by its size and wondering about the
installation,they fell in love with it (thank goodness!).
And when finally installed, agreed it was the perfect size
for the space. Next post will be installation photos.

Journey on! Wendy

Dragon ready to journey on...

Well - I did it! Finished the dragon commission in order to take
it to the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore this coming week.
Of course exactly how I'm going to pack it in our van, or display
in my 10x10 corner booth remains to be seen..more creative challenge.

Here are a series of photos of the final work on the dragon and a
few of the completed dragon and rider at the end. I have an
appointment with a professional photographer at the show, so
hopefully I will be able to post some good photos on my website
and blog plus a photo of the installation.
Remember this is to be suspended on the outside of a metal
spiral staircase inside a condo.



Stitching on the textiles (most from the customers' journeys).


Patina on the leather skin.



Stitching on the spokes, and finishing with beaded leather braid.


Finished hind legs with decorative cuffs.


The dragon rider. The dragon accommodated by folding down two
spokes to create a saddle.


Finished dragon head with eyes.



Finally - view of the whole dragon and rider.

Enjoy!...If you can, come to ACC Baltimore to see this. Always better in person!

Journey on! Wendy

A dragon creeps into life!

This week instead of a lot of writing, I thought I’d share some process photos.

These are images of the large commissioned dragon I’ve been working on. As I explained in an earlier post, I’m working in our dining room since things are a bit too cramped for this size beast in my studio. Looks like it is going to end up around 9 feet long.

- A photo of the underlying allow wire armature


Here I am “wrestling with the beast” trying to get the arch of the neck I wanted. You can see some of polyester wrapping and muslin covering beginning to be stitched on. Leather and textiles to follow. (Aside comment to any of my children reading this - yes, I am standing on the table,but I was being careful! Dad brought in the ladder you gave me!)


A couple photos of the process of designing the spokes - First cut out in brown paper and pinned on. In this photo you can see that I'm playing with the idea of a rider. I'm not sure the customer is expecting one, but I like the story element by putting on a rider so will offer it.
Tray shows some of the wet-formed spokes. The spokes are one of the final things to get stitched on.

This last photo shows initial working on the head. And yes, for those who know my work, I am using one of the last large pieces of the "Legendary Stump" - check out the Legend of the Stump Critter on my website, if you don't know the story. I'm actually using two pieces of stump which involves using some taxidermy materials. More on delving in that world of suppliers...on the next post!

Enjoy! - Wendy