Yesterday, having gotten both wings pretty much together, I had to decide whether to keep adding details to them or to go on to figuring out the body. I knew that going on to the overall structure was the right next step but I just didn’t feel like it. I went ahead and started on it by making shapes for the body and the head but got frustrated. It was hard. And it was a beautiful day outside. And I didn’t want to be inside. And I was cranky.

So I gave myself permission to take a day off. I spent a lovely afternoon in my garden reading and smelling the heliotrope. Aaah, just what Dr. Cameron ordered.

This morning I was able to come back and start over with a fresh mind and new perspective. And instead of being frustrating it was a fun and challenging puzzle to figure out.

I started with the basic shapes I had made the day before and joined them together to make the head, neck and body. It took some time because it was all about getting the proportions right. I didn’t want to make a mistake at this point and have to spend a lot of time later going back and fixing it.

Once I got those shapes together I made the base. I made a tripod out of bamboo poles and fixed them into a heavy, round, wooden platter I found at Value Village (along with some fabulous red platform boots!). I drilled out divots for the poles to sit in and tacked them with hot glue. So far, so good. The time spent doing the drawings and the macquette really paid off. It all went together pretty much the way I had planned and the proportions are all working.

At this point I realized I needed to reorganize the space in my studio–this thing was getting big! My big table space is made up of two tables side by side and covered with laminate. So I moved everything to the side and now have a big(ish) space in the middle of the room.

The biggest challenge continues to be making it in a way that it can be taken apart for transport and reassembled once I get to Burning Man. After today, I think the body with tail won’t be fixed onto the base until we get there. Otherwise it will be too hard to get the wings attached. Any way I do it it’s going to be a little tricky but should be much easier with a second (or third) set of hands than it was bracing and tieing it myself today.

I got as far as framing out the legs and adding some form on the legs, chest and bill. Next is working on the tail. It’s looking a little lopsided at the moment. But basically I’m really happy with the way it’s turning out.