H

Hamilton the hamster hero,

wears face paint when he fights.

He faced his fear,

to save what’s dear,

and tamed ten evil sprites.

I

Ichabod the inchworm idol,

has tattoos on his back.

He measures days,

in many ways,

along his floral track.

J

Jonathan the jackal jester,

wears argyle patterned knits.

He acts the clown,

so friends don’t frown

performing one act skits.

E

Ernestine the egret elder,

loves all that glows and shines.

She prances right,

to see the light,

from neon exit signs.

F

Fabienne the ferret fairy,

adds ruffles to her clothes.

She takes the bleak,

and makes them chic,

by polishing their toes.

G

Gwendolen the gecko geisha,

puts rings on all her toes.

She bathes in milk,

her skin is silk,

like petals on a rose.

B

Benjamin the baboon biker,

wears helmets made of steel.

He thinks in rhyme,

to pass the time,

until his favorite meal.

C

Caroline the condor countess,

grows feathers tipped in green.

She pads her nest,

to please her guest,

then shares a jelly bean.

D

Dominic the dragon druid,

blows fragrant healing spice.

He prays for sage,

to grace his age,

then tithes not once, but twice.

Every day I write a little ditty. It's time to share. For 26 days I plan on writing a ditty for each letter of the alphabet. Here is the one for "A".

Annabelle the aardvark angel,

has wings too large to fly.

She rides on dew,

and matches hue,

with all the passers-by.

I am so pleased to be working with Darleen Wodzenski on her projct: Wake the Sleeping Dragon - Nurturing the Divinity Within Each Child

Darleen explains the project:

"The popular children's song "Puff the Magic Dragon" told the haunting but
bittersweet tale of a child who befriends a wonderful and mystical creature,
only to discover that the magic fades as childhood is left behind. More
recently, the best selling Eragon book series by author Christopher Paolini
depicted a trilogy of epic and enchanting dragon tales. Throughout time
mankind has associated the dragon with an alluring power and mystique. The
Vietnamese believed the dragon represented universal forces of life, while
the Chinese believed that dragons possessed mystical powers of fertility and
immortality. Recent advances in science have revealed some of the hidden
powers within the DNA and neuroplastic potential of humans. Perhaps the
long, winding serpent image of the dragon is nothing more than a
representation of what can potentially emerge from the DNA template that
gave rise to each and every human child. Our job as a society is to nurture
and tame the magnificent creature within, so the greatness of each child can
fully emerge and integrate within the social constructs of relationship,
family, society, and humanity. Within each child lies a sleeping dragon that
embodies the full potential of greatness that is the human soul."

The art of the Broward County Humane Society's Walk for the Animals 2013 is finished. This year the art will be used not only for the advertisements but also on the T-shirts. With the added T-shirts the art had some specifics:

1. All dogs must wear collars and be smiling.

2. Fort Lauderdale city buildings and palm trees to be included.

3. A sun in the sky.

4. The official Walk for the Animals logo included.

5. Only the colors from the WFTA logo allowed.

6. No gradients or transparencies allowed. Halftones okay.

So this is what I created and the Humane Society approved:

I believe there is power and presence in a name. Diane, a derivative of Diana, was a Roman goddess of the moon, hunting, forests and childbirth, but also has a root meaning “heavenly, divine.” I’ve been told that Sammet means someone who sells velvet.  Other people, my parents and my husband gave these two names to me.  When I thought about putting my art and other projects on the Internet I wanted a name that reflected my heart and soul, a name that I picked out.

Creations, was the first word chosen and easiest to select. It represents what I do, like surnames from the past often represented one’s trade or profession. I draw and I also sculpt. I write and I construct. I make things, tangible and intangible. I build ideas. I create.

In my world, joy, is the fourth divine attribute of a fully realized person. The other three are hope, peace and love. In my innately sequential thinking I started looking at these four attributes, hope, peace, love and joy. It seemed logical to me that hope was needed before there could be the other three.  To paraphrase Proverbs 29:18, “Without hope the people perish.”   Hope and faith are first cousins, similar yet not exactly the same. A discussion I could have later.  I’m not clear if peace comes before love, or love before peace. I’m not even sure if it matters which attribute comes first. I do believe that in order to feel true deep joy that does not depend upon outside circumstances, that both love and peace must have taken over our thoughts. For me, it was love that came first; pure compassionate, forgiving, non-judgmental, patient, accepting love of myself, my close relationships and distant others (friends and foe alike).  That love led me right into peace and that is where I found joy.

Emerging, like a butterfly from the cocoon and the flower from its seed, joy grows in degrees. Each day, each moment is new. Each breath must be consciously filled with hope, love and peace, the ingredients to joy.  Some days, when the symbolic sun shines and life runs smooth, it is easy to give joy a quick thank-you note. The awesomeness comes on those other days, when the symbolic thunderstorm dumps situations for choice. That is the emerging part. With each second of life I choose to see hope, give love, feel peace and experience the emergence of joy. The awesomeness (translate “miracle”) is that the more I choose hope, love and peace, the fewer thunderstorms ruin my day.

http://www.iamthedoc.com/

I just watched the the documentary called I AM. At first the title sort of sounds deeply spiritual, but in reality the film (by Tom Shadyac) asks two questions:

1. What is wrong with the world?

2. What can we do about it?

They look into science and observe the natural order of living things and discover that we humans may have gotten the idea of survival all wrong. Parts of Darwin's evolution theory were not made popular. The conclusion seems to be that in order to survive, democracy and cooperation trump competitiveness. I think everyone (especially those in Congress) need to see this movie.

http://www.iamthedoc.com/

Rockwell Kent Inspired Style

Every year I create a poster for our local Humane Society that promotes their most important fundraising event, The Walk For The Animals. This year they asked me if I would design an image that could be screen-printed onto T-Shirts. I jumped at the opportunity. Then I learned that I could only use the limited colors from the logo, no gradients, and no special effects. I love a challenge.

Also, I love the graphic black and white work of Rockwell Kent. With such a limited palette, he like many of his contemporaries, defined form via silhouette shadows and then gave the illusion of 3-D with fine lines and zigzag shapes along the transitional edges between white and black. 

I felt it was time to experiment in vector again. Using Rockwell Kent’s style as my inspiration, I developed a process in Adobe Illustrator that uses flat opaque color but along transitional edges I applied a zigzag pattern. From normal viewing distance, the zigzag “softens” the stark change from dark to light as our human eyes close in the gaps. Close up the zigzags add an almost woodcut feel.

How was this done?

1. The black lines were created with the Pen Tool and then I adjusted their weights using the Variable Width Tool.
2. The shadows and highlights were drawn on separate Layers (without zigzags).
3. A built about four different pattern brushes from triangles.
4. I applied a pattern brush to a portion of a shadow’s edge (only the portion transitioning from dark to light).
5. I adjusted the pattern brush with the Variable Width Tool.
6. I repeated steps 4 and 5 for all the shadow and highlight shapes. When all the shadows and highlights had zigzags and variable widths, I used Expand Appearance to make them permanent.
7. I used either Unite or Merge from Pathfinder, to finalize the shapes with zigzag edges.
8. Lastly I recolored the shapes. 

When done the final image has moved past Rockwell Kent’s style into a new derivative. I think that is how it should be. Digital art learns from the past and builds upon it, making imagery that exceeds boundaries.

Step six…Texture

Charley Harper used geometric pattern to imply texture. This inspired my illusion of fur on Chimp. Fur is different on different animals. Even within the same species there can be huge differences in the feel and appearance of fur. Just look at humans and note the extreme variety in head hair. So too, animals show much variety in fur. Chimp’s fur is scraggly not soft. It is raised off the skin and in some areas dense and in other areas sparse. The fur is one color and darker than the skin itself. It grows downward. It rarely reflects light. It does not interfere with the shadows that describe the form.

Returning to Charley Harper style, I asked what is the essential shape of Chimp’s fur?  Experimentation followed. After trying a multitude of shapes I decided that the basic shape for his/her fur was a single straight path. A single vertical black stroked path started the fur, then with the Transform Effects in Illustrator I copied the stroke but angled it slightly, then raised the copy, then lowered an additional copy. I made a row of these stroked paths and then a second row slightly off center. Basically I built a pattern of simple strokes. It took a lot of trial and error, but I loved every minute of it.

Once the fur pattern was established it was time to apply it to a body shape. It didn’t matter which part of the body, so I picked a leg. The texture required two separate shapes stacked on top of each other. As seen in the photo, the basic leg is just filled with flat gray or simple gradients (the silhouette of the leg was established). On top of the silhouette, a copy of the exact same leg is placed, BUT the copy has two effects applied. One effect was a mezzotint appearance, which changed the look of the gradient into specks. The second effect was an offset path, which took the mezzotint effect and extended it out past the edge of the path.

Now it was time to add the fur pattern. First I used Expand Appearance on the fur pattern to make it permanent (not just a series of effect appearances).  Then I made of copy of the leg with all its mezzotint and offset path effects. I used Expand Appearance on the copy and then Pathfinder> Unite to build one single shape. My new shape became a clipping path/mask for the fur texture. Once the fur texture was clipped to shape, it was placed on top of the leg.

Each body part was completed in the same manner. There were lots of adjustments along the way. The final Chimp turned out pretty much like what you see here, but with color (not left gray). This character was so much fun to develop and build. It took a ton of explorations and experiments, and in the end I feel I made a Charley Harper inspired chimp ready for movement and adaptations.

Step five…the modular, moveable character

Chimp is a character within a children’s book therefore he/she is an actor. Chimp must express emotion, gesture and story. I want this character to stay true to the Charley Harper style that inspired him/her in the first place. The tiniest movement of a line (path), the smallest positioning of a shape, the slight alteration of a value or color will make all the difference in the audience’s reaction and engagement. 

With the front view of the chimp’s face designed, I make measurement guides (to keep proportions correct) and build a couple more point-of-views for the head.

The head is not finished yet, but it is far enough along that I can leave it and start working on the body. I’m not sure what all the poses will be for Chimp, so I read the manuscript and pick out a few poses that will most likely be used. I sculpt the character directly in Illustrator. This approach may not work for all styles, but for my Charley Harper style I think it works. And besides I am truly enjoying the 2-D sculpting process.  

In the photographs that follow you can see a variety of poses for Chimp. You also see the character’s inside structure. The character is modularly built from a series of shapes that mimic the skeletal/muscular system. He/she even has joints (usually circles). Anytime I want Chimp to raise an arm or point a finger, I select the body parts needed and rotate them into position. In many ways I am a puppet master. In fact the idea to work this way started by looking at jointed paper puppets, the ones that often use metal paper fasteners for joints.

I think that this method has stayed true to the Charley Harper aesthetic and it has also opened up the door for me to design actual paper puppets to match the characters in this book.

Step four…Sculpting in 2-D

So far my steps are pretty standard for a lot of artists. Now is the time I deviate from a normal process (or so I think). As most close friends know, I adore working with Adobe Illustrator. I love the precision, the ease of selection, the fluid ability to alter and change, and the Undo button. I love that Illustrator allows me to build, to take a shape and combine more shapes to it, or remove parts of shapes. I love that I can develop a unique style by combining and playing with the abundance of tools. I have worked with Illustrator for over ten years now, and have never grown tired of it. I feel like this software is an ever-expanding medium. The more I know, the more there is to know. Truly my creativity has grown faster and easier with the use of Illustrator (and my Wacom tablet).

Adobe Illustrator is a vector drawing and design program, which means that unlike Photoshop, in Illustrator we work with paths. Photoshop works with pixels.  The paths in Illustrator are constructed with anchor points that hold the path down, and direction handles that allow the artist to pull and adjust the curve, slope and direction of the path. For a typical circle there are 4 of these anchor points. To make this all a bit clearer I developed videos for the classes I teach. Here is the link to the series of videos that cover anchor points and direction handles.

Anchor Points and Direction Handles

Back to my chimpanzee… since I studied (by drawing and clay sculpting) the essential structure of the chimp, I am now ready to develop the character using paths in Illustrator. I started with the overall silhouette shape of the head. I asked myself what basic shape is the head? I decided upon a circle. Then I asked myself, what basic shape is the muzzle? Or I should say, what basic shapes could be used to build the muzzle since the muzzle is a detailed and complicated portion of the face? In the following photograph (look left to right, top to bottom) you can see the building progression from simple geometric paths to final structure.

As I crafted the chimp’s head in Illustrator, I noticed that I was adding shapes to the head, which reminded me of adding clumps of clay to the clay head version. I also removed pieces of shapes from the Illustrator version, which reminded me of removing pieces of clay from the clay head version.  Traditional sculpture normally falls into three processes, either additive, or subtractive or a combination of both. I realized that in essence I was using traditional additive and subtractive methods in Adobe Illustrator.  So I decided to call this process Sculpting in 2D.

To further the comparison between my Illustrator and my traditional clay sculpture processes I noticed that I would select an anchor point and nudge or push the point to a new position. I would pull a direction handle to adjust the curve of the path. This subtle pushing and pulling of anchor points and direction handles was exactly like taking clay and subtly pushing and pulling the clay into the desired form. I love this connection between a traditional sculpting process and working in Illustrator.

With Charley Harper as my inspiration, I developed the following approach to picture making. This process developed one step at a time. Like many other areas of life, I focused on the work immediately in front of me and discarded any thoughts about “what comes next?” I trust that if I care for the task at hand, that the next step, the next task will reveal itself when the time is right. So Step one…

I am working on a book that contains a chimpanzee character. I have never touched a chimpanzee. I have seen photos of chimps but my best characters come from really experiencing the basis person or animal. I believe there is nothing better than being in the presence of your model. That way you can study it, really study it. Luckily my family had planned a trip to the zoo, which of course, had many monkeys, apes and chimpanzees. I stayed glued to the windows of the Primate House. I tried to etch into my brain their gestures, expressions and behaviors. Seeing how the fur straggles from the skin, versus fur that lies down and massages the skin is the type of detail I look for when studying reference material. I am convinced that I would not notice that detail as easily in a photograph.

Step two… Sketching

My first attempts at drawing the chimpanzee are NOT about drawing the character yet. I am still studying chimps in their natural environment. I need to learn what makes a chimp a chimp and not a gorilla or a monkey. What are the shapes that uniquely define the silhouette of a chimp? What are the definitive proportions that are unique to this species? What contour line expresses the essence of chimp?  The sketches attempt to catch the illusion of real chimpanzees. Only by drawing am I able to think through what can be discarded and what must stay. Only by drawing am I able to understand what makes a chimp a chimp.

Step three…Sketching in clay

Time to study anatomy. All my sketches and reference material are two-dimensional and flat. My character must live in the illusion of a three-dimensional world. I never presume to know how every element within my picture might look. I need to see it and study it. For the chimp, since he/she is a new character I question what the ears would look like at various point-of-views. I question what the eyebrows look like under different lighting. I question how the jaw might adjust for different emotions and expressions. If it is impossible for me to answer my own questions, I sculpt. I use plain white Sculpey and push and pull, add and remove clay to develop my own version of a chimp. As I work in clay, I am really sketching in 3-D.  I am able to see the answers to my questions. My fingertips seem to gather information about the chimp in a way my eyes cannot. All the previous research into shapes and anatomy give my fingers the foundation for simplification. So while the clay chimp comes to life, he/she develops not as a realistic copy, but instead closer to a true essence of character.

Step four...coming soon.

As a graduate student studying for my MFA in Illustration I stumbled upon the work of the late Charley Harper (1922-2007).  How I wish I had seen his work sooner and had had the opportunity to meet the man. Seeing his highly simplified and structured illustrations, I felt “finally this is it.” The shapes, the textures, the compositions, the shapes, the shapes, the shapes! There is a peace within his organized picture making, no angst here. No tortured souls expressing their individual egos uprising. Thank you Mr. Harper. Instead he gave us a new world, one stripped of unnecessary baggage. Under it all, inside the living, is the truth of who we are. To see that truth takes practice at seeing beyond the surface special effects. Mr. Harper’s work does that for me.  The purity of his vision reminds me of poetry, where each word is carefully and consciously chosen. Mr. Harper must have done the same with his images. Each line, shape, value, color, and texture had to be carefully and consciously chosen to convey the emotion, the action, and the story.

Am I inspired? Wholeheartedly. I have Charley Harper images surrounding me in my studio. As I work out my compositions and hit a devilish problem, I glance at Harper’s art and ask, “What would Charley Harper do?” In that moment, I am reminded to simplify, look for the essence, shape out the core.

What surprises me so much about this style of art, is that as simplified and stylized as it is, as devoid of fancy effects as possible, Harper’s art is full of peace, joy, love and hope. That is the world I live in, an honest truth of heaven on earth.

http://www.harperoriginals.com

Calm, but anxiously expecting the unknown, the neighborhood conducted normal routines while waiting for the animal control officer.  Of all days, this was the day Pretty Girl decided not to come out of her hole at all. She had not been sighted for over 24 hours. Was she still under the house? Had she sensed a foreboding energy in the air? Did she silently move over night? The animal control officer was late. She had said she would be there by 8 in the morning. It was 10 when she arrived with the humane trap. We set it up four feet from Pretty Girl’s hole and baited it with canned dog food. There was nothing else to do but wait. The officer left to attend to other situations but said to call immediately when Pretty Girl took the bait. Linda had to go to work, Bob had appointments to keep. I went back to my studio to work.

But to work was difficult. I kept worrying about Pretty Girl’s reaction to being trapped in a cage, especially since I was convinced she had puppies under the house. Would she get aggressive? Would she fill with dread? By separating a mother dog and her pups (even temporarily) her behavior could be unpredictable.  An hour passed, then two, still no Pretty Girl. It was lunchtime, and so I mixed up a new batch of kibble and canned food. I replaced the original food inside the trap, all the while talking to an absent Pretty Girl. I hoped dogs could not feel betrayal. Somehow, even though she did not show it, Pretty Girl had learned to trust and now we had to capture her (and her pups).

I left the food and walked to the street as Bob drove by. We talked and speculated and shared our common worry. Clunk. A clear sound of metal meeting metal. We ran back to the trap and there she was, our very Pretty Girl sitting calming inside the humane trap. Her soulful eyes looking at ours, a quiet puzzle on her face. The animal control officer was called. Linda too. I sat next to the trap contributing peace to the situation. The officer had to finish up her current task before she could get back to us and that could easily be an hour. Bob drove home. Just Pretty Girl and I, alone, two feet from each other. I wish I could say that at that point she licked my hand or showed some sort of dog/human bond, but she didn’t. If I placed my hand on the cage, Pretty Girl backed into its farthest corner. She stayed quiet, accepting fate, but wary. 

Was it 30 minutes or more? I don’t know how long I stayed next to Pretty Girl until Bob came back with supplies to crawl under the house. It was lucky for us that Bob fit easily into Pretty Girl’s crawl space.  He entered the low, dark space crawling on his stomach, just as Pretty Girl had done.  Most crawl spaces under old houses are a labyrinth of stone and cinder block holding up the house. Bones and bottles, dirt, webs and imagined slinky, slimy things love the dark undisturbed space. This house delivered all that. Bob slid a few feet at a time, rounding a supporting block wall, hitting a dead end, backing up and trying a new route. Fifteen minutes passed when Bob finally reached the farthest side of the house from the “entrance.” He called out, “I see puppies. Three, no four football sized puppies.” “Healthy and asking for mom.”

The animal control officer arrived and so did Linda. The puppies were as far from the entrance as possible. We pushed open a crawl space vent opening closer to the puppies and one-by-one Bob lifted each pup out of the hole and into waiting arms.  Tears, lots of tears ran down faces as the neighborhood witnessed each miraculous rescue. The pup’s eyes were still closed, making them approximately a week old. They were big, round, well fed and extremely clean. Pretty Girl could see none of the rescue. She was still trapped in her cage on the opposite side of the house.  The four puppies were placed into the cool (yes, air conditioned) animal control truck. They squirmed and squeaked, searching for momma.

Back to Pretty Girl with a leash and in minutes with no fuss or stress, she was tied and seemed more domesticated than we could imagine. Now sitting next to her, I could finally touch her pet her.  You could call me crazy but as I stroked her, I felt Pretty Girl send out a powerful feeling of overwhelming relief. It was as if she thought, “this is what I missed, this is what I hungered for.”

The animal control officer walked Pretty Girl to the truck. Before reuniting with her puppies, the officer opened the cab door to get the necessary paperwork. Pretty Girl jumped into the cab and took position next to the driver’s seat.  She was ready to ride, ready to go home now. “This is not the place for you, Pretty Girl. Come on down.” She was led around to the back of the truck. Puppies in view now, she made her way into the cubby where her babies waited, but right before she left Pretty Girl turned and gave me a lick on my ear.

Pretty Girl and her puppies left for Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida. The four puppies have grown to adoptable age and are already enjoying new forever families.

Pretty Girl is in foster care with the loving caretakers of Lab Rescue. She is waiting for her forever family.

http://www.labradorrescue.net

Look for Dazzle, her new name.

Weeks ago the Broward County Animal Control division had been called to capture Pretty Girl, but she would outsmart and out maneuver the animal control specialists. Along with her new given name ”Pretty Girl”,  “phantom dog” or “ghost dog” described her silent passes through the yards and landscaping on our street. “Did you see Pretty Girl, the phantom dog?” “Maybe, not sure. I saw a large tan something disappear into the bushes.” That was before, now she no longer played phantom. She took matters into her own “hands” and made a home for herself under the foreclosed, for sale and empty house next door.  Too bad we can’t give squatter’s rights to dogs.

Pretty Girl rarely left the crawl space under the house. When she did she would come out, stretch her long legs and look around for food. She no longer roamed more than 20 feet from the hole under the house. The neighborhood Pretty Girl watch patrol developed a feeding schedule. I took early morning and late evening. Linda took mid-morning and afternoon. Bob took lunch. The rest of the time, Pretty Girl lived under the house, even when unsuspecting realtors showed the property to their clients. I watched protectively from across the property line as daily human traffic increased next door. They must have dropped the price, because now that Pretty Girl claimed the house as hers, more and more buyers were interested too.

I wanted to tell the interested buyers that this house was a 3 bed, 2 bath and came furnished with a dog. No need to go get a family pet, the house already had one, or two or ten. Pretty Girl was a mother now, Linda and I were certain. Not everyone was as convinced. There could be ten puppies or there could be one, or there could be none. Doubt surfaced because there were no little sounds of puppy squeaks coming from under the house. Pretty Girl gave low, gentle warning growls when we got too close to the hole, so no one could enter to check it out. Clearly she protected something and told us as best she could. All we really knew was that Pretty Girl was skinny now, had big breasts, lived under the house, no longer roamed the streets, and refused to allow anyone near her entrance.

When Animal Control had tried to capture Pretty Girl, an Officer showed immense compassion and left a direct phone number. Time to try once more to get Pretty Girl off the streets and into a possible better life. We called the Officer, who suggested the humane trap. Would Pretty Girl go for it, she was very smart? Would she bolt? First the realtor needed to give permission for the trap. Days passed, more house showings, more potential buyers. Finally the Officer called us and said that the realtor would allow the trap and hold off house showings. The Officer would be there the following morning with the humane trap.

Give her time (that was the advice) and if we left her food and water and talked sweetly and gently she would grow to trust us. How long does it take to develop trust with a dog on the streets? One week, two? A month, two months, three months? Time passed with no change in behavior, but the rainy season was starting. The heat, humidity and constant threat of hurricane weather, not to mention the daily dodging of traffic across city streets, all seemed to point to a tragic ending for Pretty Girl.

We claimed she must have an angel with her, protecting her. She received three full meals a day from the neighborhood animal lovers. She dug a cool hole in the yard next to ours in order to stretch out her length (a yard belonging to an empty, foreclosed house). She rested under the shade of huge bushes. She learned to disguise herself as a shadow in the corner of an open laundry room when it rained. And then she got pregnant.

If ever there was a time to pray for Pretty Girl, this was it. She did not deserve this life. Her belly grew larger with each passing day. Her breasts swelled ready to produce milk. We watched, fed and prayed. But suddenly without warning Pretty Girl vanished. The neighborhood patrolled every day, even through four days of aggressive rain downpours. We were a city block in mourning.

The blue sky returned on Saturday and a thin Pretty Girl came with it. We gazed across our yard into the yard next door like we had for months watching and feeding her. She was noticeably skinny. Her breasts sagged, full of milk, her nose to the ground, searching for food and water.  I grabbed food and water and quickly made my way over to feed her. As I entered the yard, Pretty Girl ran to the north side of the house, an area quieter but enclosed on three sides. For once, she wouldn’t be able to escape while I put down the bowl. I entered the north side area and a full grown, approximately 160-pound Lab dropped to the ground and shimmied into a 24 by 18 inch crawl-space opening under the house.  I left the food, walked away, turned and saw an orange nose peeking out of the hole. I walked further away and watched as Pretty Girl pulled herself out of the hole. She devoured the food.

Something like this happens rarely and reminded me of the precious bond of life we all share. Here is the story of Pretty Girl, a story that simply had to get written out of my heart and onto some sort of "page." I can't write it all in one sitting, so I'll post this one in parts.

Miracle on 16^th Street

In life there are moments that shine clearly, up and above the normal routines. The birth of a child, and winning a highly competitive trophy are two such moments. I guess there is an element of miracle in each. Pretty Girl gave our neighborhood a miracle too.

Pretty Girl, or so we called her, was a wandering purebred yellow Labrador retriever. I heard over and over that she was just a stray. “Just” and “stray” relieved people from responsibility, benign and harmless. Being “stray” implied that Pretty Girl decided one day to up and leave her normal existence.  That she somehow wanted to live on the streets. That deep down in her consciousness her wolf ancestors called out to break the ties of human bondage and live closer to her DNA.

But Pretty Girl feared. Her eyes belied our human justifications. She was not free, neither domestic nor wild, caught in a limbo she did not create. Pretty Girl had no choice but to survive on pure canine common sense. She was not a stray. Pretty Girl was homeless.

Homeless infers that at one time there was a home. That at one time Pretty Girl belonged. She wore a floral print collar that was obviously given to her by a caring human.  Now the collar remained but she had lost the belonging.

General Yeygraf Zhivago asks in the movie Doctor Zhivago, “How did you come to be lost?” I wanted to ask Pretty Girl the same thing, to reveal her story, to share, so that I would know how to help.  The wall of silence between us tore that hope into pieces. Inter-species communication relied upon my best interpretation of a lifted furry eyebrow or a start, stop, stare pattern of retreat. Pretty Girl held on to memories that prevented trust, but she could not explain. All she could do was run away. Spooked. Displaying dualistically a desire for closeness and a fearful knowledge of what closeness can do in the wrong hands.

She was tall and beautiful with an endearing orange nose and soulful eyes. Hunger and thirst would draw her to within 50 feet of a delicious bowl heaped high with a canned dog food kibble mix. As long as a human stayed near the bowl, Pretty Girl watched from her safe distance and did not move. Try to get any closer and she darted away, not angry, not aggressive, but afraid. Leave the bowl, go away. Only then would she come and feast.

I took a deep, deep breath and started felting on top of the armature. Why the deep, deep breath? Because I want this to work so much. I love the story and I want Small Dog to stay with me for a good long time. Since writing the story, I have come up with an entire series of Small Dog episodes. I also hope that once I learn Flash Catalyst that I can animate Small Dog (and of course his best friend Chimp).

Anyway, back to the felting. It is amazing how fast the felting process is (theraputic too). This part of the felting is the underlying "skin". Just like Triscuit, I plan on adding fiber as fur once the basic shapes and forms are set.  Don't be too alarmed that Small Dog has no ears, eyes or nose yet. He will.

I'm falling in love again! Don' you just love the subtle shadows and texture.

Once the metal armature was completed, I experimented with Epoxy Sculpt and Epoxy Clay, both come from Aves Studio, LLC. I ended up liking Epoxy Clay better than the Epoxy Sculpt because it really feels like polymer clay (good ole Sculpey), BUT you do not have to bake it!!!! The Epoxy Clay has a work up time of about 2 hours, which is plenty long enough for making "bones." What I really wanted to do with the Epoxy Clay was to bulk up some areas like the hips and skull; and also to protect the ball-bearing joints from the wool fibers to come. Small Dog looks a little freaky at the moment, but once the needle-felting is applied I think that he starts to take on a personality.

I added some ears to the little guy and it is amazing how that one small addition can do so much. I need to add the fur, but can't decide whether to go purchase a special fiber or to untwist the one I have. Untwisting the yarn I have looks great, it's just time consuming. Of course with my budget being what it is at the moment, purchasing more fiber is not an option. Answered my own question didn't I.

So, as I watch The Amazing Race tonight I'll untwist fibers. There is no rush anyway. Each step of Small Dog's creation is a moment of bliss, so lingering over the feel of fiber is glorious.

I think his ankles are too thick though. I'll try to carve away some of the Apoxy Clay to help Small Dog get rid of his cankles.

My real small dog, Kennedy, gave us a scare. A couple weeks ago he lost the use of his hind legs. He was in extreme pain. The vet diagnosed a herniated disc and assigned total bed rest. After two weeks, Kennedy is almost back to normal. He wags and plays again, but climbing even one step is an effort.

I hope to never go through a night like the one we did before he was diagnosed. Kennedy is so much a part of my heart. He is the inspiration for Small Dog (sort of). My felted dog and Kennedy don't look that much alike, especially since Kennedy is a spaniel and Small Dog is a schnauzer type. But when we adopted Kennedy, Andy kept calling him Small Dog and asking him why he was so small? Not that Kennedy is that small at 35 pounds, but if you are used to labs and retrievers then I guess a spaniel is small.

Small Dog, why are you so small?

Now that the holidays are over and the exhibit I curated, The Storymaker's Art, is also over, I have time! I have delicious, scrumptious time to draw and work on the felted Small Dog. Putting on an exhibit with 60 artworks is a lot of work. I promise to not do that again. I promise to give my all to Small Dog.

As you can see in the photo, Small Dog is "growing" fur. Each strand is hand stitched. I love the way it looks and he will be an awesome model for my story.

Small Dog's fur is taking a lot longer than I thought it would. I suppose I could run over to the yarn shop and get a different yarn, one a lot thicker and therefore faster to complete. But, I am about half way done now and so I will finish with this yarn.

Good things happened with my illustration career, and I sort of neglected my little dog character. Luckily he does not harbor any sad feelings. I got accepted into 2 illustration annuals and created a winter scene for a DVD Christmas Music package. That was so much fun, working on snow in South Florida in April. I also continue to prepare detailed lessons on the tools and tricks of Adobe Illustrator for all my students at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Are these excuses for leaving my small dog alone for so long?

He still needs a nose. I know I can sculpt one out of the Apoxie Clay (LOVE this stuff, so much better than polymer clay). I am just a little unsure how to attach the nose once I sculpt it.

Okay, okay, okay, I know I have been extremely negligent in posting to Dianeville. But just because I didn't post for these last several months, don't assume that Small Dog has been idile. He has grown a lot of fur and a nose! I sculpted the nose around a baby hook button. Then I painted and varnished it so that it would look wet. Small Dog also has a mouth (which of course moves). His little black eyes are getting covered up with fur just like he wants. He enjoys browsing the pages of the AKC breed identification book to show me the look he hopes I can create. He seems to have a fondness for the Dandie Dinmont and the Norfolk Terrier.

Personally, I feel the fur treatment is taking far too long. I am anxious to get drawing. And yet, Small Dog keeps reassuring me that my diligence and patience will pay off in the long run. Somewhere in my past I read this quote, "Do not tarry, do not rush." I don't know who said it, but I often live my creative life with this philosophy. I feel that if an artist rushes, then details get missed and the glorious contemplation from studying an image gets lost as well. So I slow down and work steadily. My relationship with Small Dog deepens.

I am sincerely embarrassed. Months have elapsed with no word on the felted model of Small Dog. Maybe the gorgeous winter weather in Florida kept me outside in the garden rather than adding to this blog. But really the reason is that I abandoned using the felted model as an actual model. I think he turned out cute and of course he moves and holds his poses for an unlimited amount of time. But I found a different approach to character development (which I will share soon) that does not use felted models. So for now, this Small Dog toy sits nexts to my Mac and nudges gently.