Thursday, January 24, 2013

BEWARE...there be a Sea Dragon floating about!!

No where else in the world can the species "Sea Dragon" be found but off the coast line in Australia's Southern waters. Oh yes....sea dragons are real and are relatives of the seahorse. Two species have been documented and are protected, the Leafy sea dragon and the Weedy sea dragon. These creatures move as the kelp and seaweed they love to hide in....camouflaging themselves to look identical to their surroundings. Divers wanting to witness these amazing and beautiful creatures sometimes miss them due to their camouflage abilities. These little sea dragons eat tiny little mysid shrimp or sealice...sucking up their prey through their tiny little snout like mouths...no harm to humans!!

Far below where you would find these tiny creatures is another Sea dragon....the mystical Spinney Sea Dragon..waiting patiently for an unexpecting visitor to come within his grasp. He unlike the tiny little Leafy and Weedy sea dragons does not have a tiny snout but the full mouth and teeth of his ancestor...the land dragon. Many centuries ago when the land dragon was becoming extinct some took to the water and overtime mutated to be able to live beneath the ocean waves. Still maintaining their strengths and agility and adding new abilities. They live in the coral reefs and some even beyond that...deep deep down. This sea dragon lives among the sea urchins and sea anemones. He, like them, can spread out his fins by his head and lure other fish in.....then SNAP..he has them in his jaws. His home is a shell that he can shrink himself down and pull himself into during the day. He is nocturnal and therefore only comes out at night......to hunt!! Since he is nocturnal, that means he is sensitive to light and that allows him to be able to move gracefully and swiftly in reaction to shadows. Shadows of other fish...swimming very incredibly close.  They have the ability to grow as large as they need in certain circumstances. Perhaps that's why no divers have ever reported seeing one....as they are the divers that are reported missing!!!

Mystical Spinney Sea Dragon

This is my latest sculpt in my Sea Dragon series. He is 5 inches tall and 7 inches long. A strong wire armature makes up his body that I covered in clay...baked and then detailed using several layers of acrylic paints. His eyes are jade beads with red glass vintage beads attached with a bronze head pin. He has been sealed with a varnish. His fins are handmade from vellum papers and then painted using acrylic paints. Fringed yarn was added as an adornment to his fins. His shell is a natural shell...a spider conch shell. 



My artist signature stamped on the bottom



I'm very happy with how this one turned out and am even more excited about designing the next one. I will be putting him in my Etsy shop. Please share with any of your friends that collect dragons. I mean everyone needs a sea dragon for their collection, ri iight?? Ohhh, remember to keep him out of water...they can grow very , VERY large. You have been warned!! ^_^

Until next time...........Hugs,
Regi

2 comments:

  1. OMG!!!! he is awesome awesome awesome!!! I love your story too.
    Nicole/Beadwright

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  2. I have enjoyed seeing this come to fruition. I love the colors and your story is wonderful. So. . . still no mermaids? Not even for a snack???

    Peace and Hugs,
    Johanna

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