New Camera: Eastar Medium Format

I just got this Eastar medium format camera in the mail from E-Bay yesterday, it came with two rolls of very expired film and a light meter(whatever that is).  I've been wanting to graduate from 35mm to medium format 120mm for a while now so this is my first step. This morning I took my first picture with it. With lots of sighs, eye rolls, and moans I made my family pose for a picture. I don't expect much out of this first batch of photos due to my complete lack of knowledge and the thirteen year old film. Who cares though, this is fun! I also scored a Konica 35mm camera from an estate sale a couple of weeks ago, so I have that going for me too. I consider it an upgrade from my dusty old Canon AE-1. Digital is for idiots.

Newest Copper Dragon

My latest dragon is taking a long time to complete. I started it last year and at this rate it may be another year before I finish it. I only work on it for one or two hours every other weekend. I have so much going on, so many other interests. Real trouble with focus. I love the way it's coming out and how heavy it's getting. Lots of painstaking work creating the scales that will cover the back. I plan on putting in some wings real soon. Once I get the scales up to where the front shoulders are I'll add the framework for the wings. 

New Dragon

Here's a Quint inspired photo of my newest project. This one is the biggest yet. It's most likely going to take all winter. My work is slow due to issues with my scatter brainery. #dragonsmith

Copper Dragon Sculpture: Finished!

Well, I finally finished her. I love the way it came out. Really cool coloring. I've started on a new and even bigger dragon. I need to get my hands on some larger sheets of copper. Not cheap!

The Birth of Maybellene

I didn't even know she was a girl!  Over the past few days I've been trying to come up with a name for my creation. I was thinking it had to be something Nordic and manly like the name of one of those Icelandic strongmen. How wrong was my line of thought. The name was chosen for me by the Gods. I was out in my workshop listening to music and just spending some quality alone with the dragon. I was excited because I could already feel it's spirit. Just as the thought of what to name this mythical creature popped into my head Chuck Berry's Maybellene started cranking out of my radio. So, to my surprise and delight, she is a girl and her name is Maybellene.

Copper Dragon Sculpture

Copper Dragon

I started this dragon about a year ago. It started as a request from a customer out of my ETSY store. I kind of got side tracked with other projects and lost interest in it. Then about a month ago the guy e-mailed me and asked how the dragon sculpture was coming along and that he was still interested in it. So I've been working on since then. I'm loving the way it's coming out. Heavy, huge and sharp! All good things.

Road Trip

In one month I will embark on my third road trip down to Disney World. It's a 23 hour drive. The last time we drove straight through without stopping. That's our goal this time as well. My wife does most of the driving. Mostly because my driving, along with my breathing and most other things, annoys her. I do a fair amount of the driving, in fact my favorite part of these trips is the drive down. I love to travel by car. I love the hunt for the next cup of coffee. I love even a bad cup of coffee while out on the road. The pinnacle of the trip down,for me, is the North Carolina rest area vending machine coffee. I'm not kidding, I just love the primitive ness of it. The whole trip will be ruined if I find a Starbucks built in its place. I love a crappy cup of boiling hot coffee on a shitty scorching boring stretch of highway. On camping trips my go to coffee is instant. No stupid commie presses for me. I will do the old school percolator though. I can't really explain it. It's kind of what I imagine Charles Bronson drinking on the set of Once Upon A Time In The West.

Rest in Peace Roddy Piper

I'm shocked and saddened to find out today of the tragic death of one of my all time favorite wrestlers. Roddy Piper has died at 61. He played an equal roll along with Hulk Hogan to launch the WWE into the billion dollar industry that it is today. It was their relationship in the ring that made wrestling explode into the mainstream. Wrestlemania was born out of everyone's hatred for Piper and love of The Hulkster. What sucks is for all those millions upon millions of dollars that he made for Vince McMahon, during his last few years, Mr Piper was probably working his ass off just to pay the bills and put food on the table. Very sad. Rest in Peace brother. You will be missed.

Bucket List

Lately I find myself saying "I'm going to put that on my bucket list". The trouble is I don't have a list. So this is my attempt to get back into working on this blog and write my bucket list. I may come back and revise this list from time to time. We will see....

MY BUCKET LIST:

Motorcycle across the United States 

Bench press 300 pounds 

Presidential Range traverse in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

Own a 1977 Black Trans Am

Travel with my family out west in an RV

Climb the Grand Teton

Become a student of Kendo

Make my own bourbon

Take up smoking a pipe

That's it for now.  I know I'm forgetting some, but this is just off the top of my head.

Dead AC Compressor

winter is good

my friends the trees
all twisted and weighted down
like me
thoughts of death and the dying
I love the bleakness and cold
a pair of ravens seem amused and come to check on me
their voice raises my spirit even further
hands frozen
enjoying the cold burning my finger tips
only small moments like this
can I call my own
how amazing
I get to draw this cold into my lungs
only for an instant though

Bourbon and Archery

arrows missing their mark
a mellow glow
a smile greets the setting sun
glancing shot off the lawn mower
feigned anger, I loose another
it's not about accuracy
this is my time
the recurve and me
an arrow shatters another glass jar
making me laugh
sitting in the darkness now
in the grass
bow on my lap
the Makers hits its Mark
and the moon smiles

Surviving The Flames!

Some of the survivors of my first firing. I dug a couple more out of the ashes after I took this picture.

THE SACRED PIPES

I thought adding a photo of the GREAT ERNEST BORGNINE was a classy move on my part.