PM'd you back Na. Thanks heaps 

Thought I'd share some of my newer additions to the Lair hoard with my fellow P&Sians.

I am most stoked with the dragon. Every single one of those damned scales were hand cut from faux leather. I thought the construction of him would kill me! My back is seriously aching after sitting for such long periods to get him finished buy voila! well worth the effort! I think I'm most excited about the fact I've finally combined my two loves - the dragons that kicked off the Lair with my recent and all consuming love of puppetry. Full circle! Woot!







I hope the new year is fabulously creative for everyone here 

That has to be the coolest dragon I've ever seen. The scales are definitely worth the hard work. The feet are AMAZING though. Feet are always so hard to do, so I can understand how tricky it must have been to make them like that.

Is there a shot of its wings?

Blow my mind! I am a dragon fan myself and this is so great! You could be called Danaerys (and the dragon got the Targaryen colours, too!), the Mother of Dragons!
http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ln2yervecA1qc2ep0o1_500.gif

I too love your dragon! Very unique. Looks like you are getting the hang of people puppets also.

Thanks guys! It means a lot to get feedback from such gifted puppet builders!

Shawn, I am slowly getting the hang of it. I think with practice making people based puppets grows simpler but there is still so much to learn. The people puppets I've made thus far are very basic. I look forward to a time when I can start molding and building features more like professional puppets. I've checked out some of yours previously and they were so awe inspiring. One day with a lot of attempts I might get close to something like the puppets I see here! I think that's the appeal of monsters and dragons though... you really can't go wrong when there's no prerequisite!

Rikka, thanks! Always awesome to meet a fellow dragon lover! I'm kind of known here in my home town as the dragon lady. The last couple of years I've been involved in Expos and the Lair got media coverage (very fortunate), so the dragons have become minor (very minor  ) celebrities! I've never heard of Danaerys before... is she a mythical character? Any mythology you can point me towards would be greatly appreciated.

Na, for some reason I've always been okay with feet. I designed a pattern that worked a few years ago and basically just rework that basic design to each character. Total fluke initially but now feet are my thing - it's everything else I struggle with! No shots of the wings as yet. I made them so they were detachable (in the event they got in the way of the puppeteer) but to be honest, the attachments are pretty crude and not as stable as I'd hoped. I'm reluctant though to fix the wings to the torso permanently so might do away with them altogether.

I apologise for not responding to your previous email sooner. Any updates on the Super Secret design? When is the grand reveal? Oh and kudos on the sale of your books. Does that mean business is picking up? I certainly hope so. I am dead set keen to head to the Summit in July but will probably be attending on my own. Let me know if/when your submission gets up. It would be awesome to 'kinda' know someone among the throng! 

Shawn, I am slowly getting the hang of it. I think with practice making people based puppets grows simpler but there is still so much to learn.

I think that's part of what a lot of people like about puppetry. You can just change the design a little bit and be challenged further; or exchange a different methodology and get the same result. Experimentation is fun!

Na, for some reason I've always been okay with feet. I designed a pattern that worked a few years ago and basically just rework that basic design to each character. Total fluke initially but now feet are my thing - it's everything else I struggle with!

I hope you could share some secrets with us - I know a lot of questions are often asked about hands and feet. Even without that, making dragons feet out of faux leather is pretty darn impressive in my book.

No shots of the wings as yet. I made them so they were detachable (in the event they got in the way of the puppeteer) but to be honest, the attachments are pretty crude and not as stable as I'd hoped. I'm reluctant though to fix the wings to the torso permanently so might do away with them altogether.

Darn! I was mighty curious to see a close up. How did you attach them? Now I'm more intrigued...

I apologise for not responding to your previous email sooner. Any updates on the Super Secret design? When is the grand reveal?

Not for quite some time yet. I'd hoped to get started on some preliminary work in order to find out if I can afford to make them - it requires some custom materials - but have been caught up with getting some admin stuff done. I had upgraded the program that runs my website and have been busy fixing some things; only to have it break on an important design issue. It's wasted my whole week.

Depending though... if, and only if, I can afford to do it, I hope to have them on show very soon. It's not too complicated to make, which means it shouldn't be too time consuming. Of course, it might just be that they won't be ready til July, for the summit.

Oh and kudos on the sale of your books. Does that mean business is picking up? I certainly hope so.

I was really surprised at that. I'd watched my sales of patterns drop consistently towards end of November and barely anything through December. It should pick up again in Feb/March, all of which is normal for this time of year. But the books picked things up.   I think part of it is that I tweeted and Facebook'ed it as well, and it's likely some of the website's subscribers (readers) were interested since I'm in Aus. I've sold a few to people who had bought patterns and some to people I know from Twitter. So it's probably just a location/timing thing.

I am dead set keen to head to the Summit in July but will probably be attending on my own. Let me know if/when your submission gets up. It would be awesome to 'kinda' know someone among the throng! 

Me too! I'll probably be going 'on my own' too, but it's likely I'll end up bumping into a couple of people that I know. If we both end up going, hang with me and I'll introduce you (to the very small group of people I actually know well enough to speak to ). I doubt my submission will be accepted. There's a lot of puppeteers who'd just be darn awesome in comparison to me. But we'll see...

Mythology? Well, there is Fafnir, you know, the Dragon Siegfried of the Nibelungs killed to bath in his blood. The Chinese seem to have more Mythology on Dragons, they are not as evil as their European conterparts, eighter: they bring rain and therefore make the lands fertile, even though they can flood rivers.
Danaerys (the animation is from the TV- Series) is one of the main characters in "the Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin, brought onto the screen by HBO. It's a bit darker than your average fantasy- and I love it.

I think overall there are more Dragons in Fantasy than in Mythology, starting of course with Smaug and Ancalagon the black in the Hobbit and the Silmarillion unto Eragon's Saphira. Dragons in Fantasy also tend to be nicer (okay, not with Tolkiens Dragons). And there is always D&D- they have the most terrific artwork, wish I could show you the draconomicon. But here is a link to the artwork: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ag/20031108a

Experimentation is fun!

Definitely! Discovering puppets has been an awesome ride!

I hope you could share some secrets with us - I know a lot of questions are often asked about hands and feet.

I will happily share! What's the best way to do that? Just show the 2D designs or step it out with photos?

Darn! I was mighty curious to see a close up. How did you attach them? Now I'm more intrigued...

I'll take some photos tonight and post them. Be warned though... while the wings may be cool, the attachments are far from ingenious. Think glorified paper clip made from florist wire and you've got the general idea. Super crappy. :'( Would love some ideas on an alternative if you've got some.

Depending though... if, and only if, I can afford to do it, I hope to have them on show very soon.

I can't wait to see them! I have such a poor imagination when it comes to shadow puppetry. I can see the shadows but not envision the source!

I'm so stoked to hear things are picking up for you. How awesome are we Aussies?! Fingers crossed the year just gets better and bigger!

Me too! I'll probably be going 'on my own' too, but it's likely I'll end up bumping into a couple of people that I know. If we both end up going, hang with me and I'll introduce you (to the very small group of people I actually know well enough to speak to ). I doubt my submission will be accepted.

That would be awesome Na! Thank you. It feels kind of weird signing up for something totally new but I'm just enjoying this so much, it would be weird not to take the opportunity to attend. I hope it's as inspiring as I imagine and I can come away with ideas and energy and new techniques and greater knowledge and everything else! I am confident your submission will be accepted. They would be stupid not to encourage a local puppet builder/business/internet source. How are you at presenting?

Rikka! Tolkien started my love affair with dragons! I'm a massive fan. I have to say I struggle every time with the Silmarillion... just so incredibly complex for my little mind but well worth the effort. You have given me so much to look in to. Thank you! With the exception really of Tolkien, I know nothing of the sources you've mentioned and intend now to spend my spare time researching all I can find!  D&D will be a stretch for me though. My ex was a somewhat hardcore gamer which was interesting and totally put me off those games. But I shouldn't judge them because of him - I do appreciate amazing artwork was always a feature. Do you know Terry Pratchett? One of my favourite authors and I love his descriptions of dragons. As you mentioned, being a fantasy writer, his dragons are a little more on the cutesy side but certainly much loved by me! I'll have to find a way to track down that HBO series...