Jaci Dawn

I have some old friends back. Don makes fun of them and calls them some not-so-nice names, but to me they are old friends.

They are two of my first creations from the summer before last.

He was a masterpiece (in my own mind). The first and the best (so far: he is free-standing and he has so much character in his funny little face. I use him for my profile photo on Google and sometimes on Facebook. He just has a face you have to love.

He reminds me of the first sculpture I ever made, back in 5th Grade. It was of a parrot and ended up being so very strange and different from everyone else’s nicely crafted birds that I felt ashamed of him. I think I threw him away after the project was over. I know I wondered how I could have created such a hideous object when I was supposed to be the one with talent.

In recent years, I have come to terms with the “ugly” creations. It isn’t that they are ugly, really, but different. It’s a matter of perception, I guess.

Don calls my creations little demons or something like that. He’s just being funny, but I can see a bit of truth in what he says. Not that the creations are demonic, but that some people might see them as being demonic because they are, well, different. Not your usual pretty faerie or elf, but something that might blend in with the dark. But the perception isn’t mine: it is the viewer’s perception.

I have to go back to the drawing board on this one. She isn’t free-standing and one arm keeps breaking. I just hope I can salvage the material I used for her clothes. Bummer if I have to scrap that. She’s a Harlequin elf (note the painted face). I’ve had just over a year to think about how to fix her. She’s at the top of my list when things settle down a bit here.

It just feels good to have both of these elves back out, staring at me while I type. They make me think about new creations and better ways to approach problems.

I just love his thoughtful expression. “So. When are you going to start working on art again?”

Soon, I promise.