Here There be Dragons!

One of the first experiments I did in my friend Marcia-the-Mentor’s studio was to bathe some silk in a shallow pool of shaving cream.  It sounds a little crazy, but pigment mixed with shaving cream is almost as good as creamy milk chocolate.  Though not to eat, of course.  It’s rich and deep and like wrapping yourself in a beautifully colored new cotton towel.  I do love color.  Down here in Carolina, you’d say, “I do love me some color.”

The patterns I made in that first experiment reminded me of scales, so I drew a dragon over the scaly pattern.  That first one was snapped up quite quickly, so I streamlined my design and made a second dragon with silver resist.  That was quickly snapped up by my friend Marion.  This honored me deeply, as she has exquisite taste.

Did you ever see the first drawings of a famous cartoon character?  They end up looking a little clumsy and dorky compared with the figure we’re used to seeing.  The same is true for me when I look at my first dragons. 

Here are three that haven’t sold yet.  They’re all a little different from each other, yet they’re all cousins nonetheless.

This bright one is a collaboration by Marcia and me.  I did the background, but wasn’t happy with the washed out colors of the dragon I’d drawn, so Marcia boldly filled him in.  He’s for sale at my Etsy shop.

These last two are both for sale at The Joyful Jewel in Pittsboro, NC.  Drop by and see them if you’re in the neighborhood, and say hello to my dear friend, Mariah!