This is another dog in progress. This one sits stoically, but wincing in pain as his house is pulled from him by silly little pups (not yet pictured). I like to use dogs as characters who represent loyalty and power, much like the fierce and skinny dog who protects his house. But this dog recognizes it is time to surrender, although it is painful for him. He's still a muscular and formidable figure, but the things we create must pass on to a new generation. I want him to show he has faith in a principal, and that is his loyalty.

The Price of Safety

And the professional shot, so you can see a different angle. This was the first sculpture I made standing up on thin little legs, and I had to fire it with a large clay support on his stomach to hold him up while he dried. Getting this into the kiln was really dicey, but successful in the end!

Here's the finished version on display at the Callanwolde Holiday Sale '08! Red and Orange and dirty and angry! The sinews in his neck are my favorite part.

Here's a shot of an emaciated dog, scared and angry, protecting the house on his back. I wanted his body to look taxed from holding this house up, and the house to look like a tiny mansion, something many of us would strive for and maybe lose sight of the cost of getting there or holding on to it.

Left To Burn

One vain rabbit with a once nice two story little house, now all burnt out. This one's got a provocative little pose going and a contented grin on its face, unaware of the problems it holding on its back. By the way, if you want a closer look at any of these, just click the picture.
Side view
and a close up of the house

Foolish Bird (the cynic)

and here is the second one. I wanted him to look older and grumpier. He resigned himself long ago and has really crumbled under the weight of his tower. You can't see the back view, but his ribs and spine slowly become the beams and siding of the tower. I wanted the line of distinction between animal and structure on this figure to be especially obscured, to convey the length of their symbiosis.

Foolish Bird (defeated)

This is the finished first bird: Foolish Bird (defeated). He has a dopey kind of look on his face and some nice big fat rolls from his lack of movement. He's a lazy and sad character, content to sit and dumbly ponder his fate.