More shots from the Dinner party shoot. Everyone did a fantastic job. Hair by Earl Pindar of Natural Fusions Salon in Frederick, MD, Makeup by Ashlynn Freed. Photography, styling, and staging by Charles Pham of Darkroom Cinema. Thanks to everyone! There will be more photos of this shot, as well as the second day, of which there's a little sneak peak right below, here.

Photoshoot with Charles Pham of Darkroom Cinema

Oh joy! My friend Charles arranged this photoshoot on my recent trip to Maryland. (credit goes toEarl Pindar for hair and to Ashlynn Freed for makeup). There's  lot more shots, and I'll get them up as i get them. This one featured Steve Gallagher as the Crocotta, ErinRose Sincevich as the Basilisk, and Jack Sincevich as The Elephant who Foretold the birth of Buddha

apologies

It happens to the best of us, sometimes. Paying work comes along. As a self supporting artist with a mortgage, I find it almost impossible to turn down paying work- you just never know what next month will look like. The good news is that the last four months have had a whole lot of paying work. The bad news is that the past four months have been very very busy. I am still working on imaginary beings. Lilith is nearly complete, and the Chinese Dragon is progressing nicely. I've got one last big obligation next weekend, and then I hope to be able to devote myself fulltime, or nearly fulltime, to this series.

**Process** The Chinese Dragon

Now I just need to drill 50 gazillion holes in him and load them with firecrackers.

The Ass with Three Legs: Chapter 9

The Ass with three Legs: Copper, Shell Eyes

Some of these creatures could use an updated name. This guy is a pretty awe-inspiring beast- his name less so. For this chapter, Borges quotes the Bundahish, a rewritten version of the works of Zarathustra's works destroyed by Alexander the Great:
"Of the three-legged ass it is said that it stands in the middle of the ocean and that three is the number of its hooves and six the number of its eyes and nine the number of its mouths and two the number of its ears and one the number of its horn. Its coat is white, its food is spiritual, and its whole being is righteous. And two of its six eyes are in the place where eyes should be and two on the crown of its head and two in its forehead; through the keeness of its six eyes it triumphs and destroys... As to its ears, they overshadow Mazdanderan. Its horn is as of gold and hollow, and from it a thousand branchlets have grown. With its horn it will bring down and scatter all the machinations of the wicked."

Lobison: Chapter 102

Lobison: copper

The Lobison has got to be the thinnest metaphor in the book. Here's Borges:
"Since no wolves inhabit these regions, men are supposed to take on the shapes of swine or dogs. In certain towns of Entre Tios, girls shun young men who live in the vicinity of stockyards because on Saturday nights they are said to turn into the aforementioned animals."
I've known some folks, both men and women, who turn into pigs and/or dogs on Saturday nights.

El Tigre Capiango: Chapter 102

El Tigre Capiango: Copper with Patina

Chapter 102 has three creatures- The Sow Harnessed by Chains, the Lobison, and the Tigre Capiango. Borges describes the last this way: "This beast is not a jaguar but a man who, at will, can take on the jaguar's form. Usually his purpose is to frighten friends in the spirit of rustic jesting, but highwaymen have also availed themselves of this guise. During the civil wars of the last century, General Facundo Quiroga was popularly supposed to have under his command an entire regiment of Capiangos."

I looked up the word Capiango- it took some searching, but translated as "clever thief". Whether this meaning predates or postdates the monster, I do not know, but it seems to point more toward the highwaymen than towards either jesting or warriors.