Dog Tags

Carved from bone and hung on an adjustable black cotton cord.

Sometimes ideas come to me out of the blue. Bam!. And sometimes, like these dog tags, the idea is part of a evolution. I recently completed a commission for someone that included the paw print of a special dog in her life. Before I committed to adding the paw print to the already carved sculpture, I tested out a variety of techniques on a scrap piece of antler, finally settling on a combination of carving, painting and gold leaf. I very much had paw prints on my mind when some friends very suddenly and unexpectedly lost their dog. I made them a worry stone with a paw print carved in it to commemorate him. I carved a few more of the paw worry stones and then I had the BAM moment and thought this design would make an excellent dog tag. It was a “drop everything and carve this!” moment. And I liked it so much that I carved some more. And now these will be part of my regular stock going forward.

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