Over the last n years I've had two wonderful canine friends, both border collies.
The older one passed away... approaching two years ago. The other little munchkin is still around and kicking... especially when you scratch the kick chakra on her belly. Getting old and slow now, but still wonderful, vibrant and cheerful.
Anyways, a while back I got it into my mind to make little... totems of them. I think I had recently watched Gladiator and Russell Crow's character had little models of his 'ancestors'.
I'm not religious, I don't believe in idols, but this process got me thinking that in previous eras they didn't have photos, and such trinkets might be a lasting memory trigger of your special folk and thus a tangible link to one's lineage.
With all that in mind I made these...
Older doggo on the left (sitting), younger doggo on the right (standing/walking). These are carved (yes, I am nominally a "sculptor") from pieces of (beef) bone. They're the 'osso bucco' remnants, dried out on the back lawn for months, long since picked dry by both dog and ant.
I cut out little blocks from the bone mass with a hacksaw, then generally dremelled them into shape. They're very small pieces (a 'standard' sized pen for scale). The first one I made... at least 5 years ago (using covid as a now common time marker) and the new one I did over the last couple of days (though I'd chopped out the blank long ago).
To wax lyrical for just a moment I think this captures the essence of my little friends. Not a 1:1 likeness obviously but there's a 'something' that reminds me of them. The older one sitting patient (such a good girl), and the young one pacing, waiting to chase her (she's a little scamp) and running an occasional circle around her just to see if the older one was still awake. Which looked very much like this...
The project wasn't sketched out before it was started, so it was almost entirely freehand. Turned out... as good as I could have hoped for.
Like I've said previously, 'the hobby' comes in many forms, and while this is only game hobby adjacent, it amused me some years ago, and again this week. Creating is the juice.
Until next time...
