The Dragon is a carving I undertook, so that I could be thinking about it while I carved. The tradition is that the knight in shining armor saves the damsel from the dragon. Since then, I have learned that the dragon and the damsel are one and the same. The knight thinks he is gtting her, but he does not know that he is getting the dragon, too. The other reason I carved the Dragon ws to carve scales. I got my fill.
The dragon went to my great aunt Betty. She was an artist, a very good oil painter. She held classes in her garage. The garage door was nailed shut in the down position. Her husband long passed on, Betty was responsible for upkeep of the house. The garage springs were in the permanent stretched-out position. This made her nervous. So I cut them loose for her. Each one made a tremendous crash as it smashed into the far end of the garage --fun! This gives you an idea of aunt Betty.
After aunt Betty's funeral -- I don't know why the word 'fun' is in funeral -- we all went to her daughter Bettina's house. When I walked in I saw something which living artists seldom see: two people arguing over the possession of one of my works of art. Cousin Bettina claimed that she should have the Dragon. My mother wanted it because, as my mother, the Dragon should go to her. Each claimed that aunt Betty would have wanted it her way. They both turned toward me and said 'you decide.'
I said,"I don't know what Aunt Betty wanted, but I can't go against my mother." I got a very approving look. "But Betty might have wanted the Dragon to go back to me." That's how it was decided. I wanted to take a photo of the Dragon and put it into Photoshop, try various effects on it. So I got the Dragon back. Here is one effect I came up with: Hammered gold --
I hung the Dragon on my wall. My mother saw it and said, "the Dragon is so dusty, you should let me take it home and clean it for you." No thanks, I said. But later on, she did two of oil paintings from photos of a place where friends and I camp out. I decided that they would look better on my wall. I swapped the Dragon for the paintings, gave one to a friend, and kept one for myself.
Red Cedars
Red Cedars