Jaci Dawn

I picked this puppy up in 2014. I paid a couple of dollars for her. The woman who sold her to me told me that it was her own art project, but she just didn’t have room for it anymore. I bit my tongue, smiled, and promised that I’d give her a good home. Secretly, I thought I could save her from a bad paint job.

Originally, I thought I’d repaint her in craft paint, sell her, and be done with her.

Something happened in the interim. A light bulb came on in my head. I had a “better idea” about how to approach this project, after I repainted her with good primer. Unfortunately, I started her and then got distracted, so she’s been sitting, half-finished, in my studio for the past 2 years. This year, my goal is to clear my studio of all half-finished creations.

I’m *almost* finished with the collie. She needs a new base to stand on – something wide enough to hold her steady (unlike that horrid piece of green one-quarter-inch plywood and two strips of lath). That part, I haven’t fully conceptualized (yet). I have an idea in my brain.

Flash forward to my brilliant idea of saving the collie: tissue paper. I thought I could paste tissue paper onto her using liquid starch. I’d cut out dozens of “paisley” shapes in appropriate tissue paper colors and glue them onto the dog with liquid starch. I’ve possessed the liquid starch for at least 20 years. Don’t ask.

I actually finished side one sometime last year, but then I dropped the ball.

This week, I determined to finish the project. I had all the tissue paper cut, I still have the 20-year-old liquid starch, and I still have an idea.

She’s almost finished. I need to go around the plywood edges (1/2″ plywood and make certain every inch is covered in tissue paper. I have to figure out a worthy stand. She needs to be varnished. I can see design problems in the photos that I did not previously notice. But, tell me honestly: which dog looks better? The one I rescued or the tissue paper one in progress??

Yeah, I thought so, too. Pretty much “no contest”. I’ll post her pics on my art site when she is finished. I’m accepting constructive criticism (unless you are going to state on the state of my studio. Forget it. I’m a mess.)