It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him

-J.R.R. Tolkien


I have been working on an art project which has as its premise an Ossuary of sorts to contain the relics of Humpty Dumpty. That has little real relevance to anything other than the fact that it is basically a box, painted and gilded as an Icon on all sides. This presents a bit of a problem in that it needs to be varnished very slowly, four sides and the lid, one side at a time, four or five coats....and my workroom for producing this is right next door to the Family Room where we spend our evenings' TV time....personally I am not adverse to the effects of Damar-varnish, in fact I reather like the smell, it makes me feel acomplished. Mary on the other hand has been more than patient given the fact she has been assaulted with the fumes on a constant basis for the past week. I would do it outside, but well, this IS Oregon. I could take it to the garage, but that just seems to lack the appropriate romance. I plan on giving it a break for a few days, inasmuch as we are having houseguests, and while I feel I can assault Mary's senses, I do have a certain level of decorum. So in the meantime, the Reliquary is going to have to sit, and await its next set of coats....

That said, I was intrigued to research the origins of the nursery ryme; I had thouight it to be about the downfall fo George II but in fact find that it has its origin in a cannon. Humpty Dumpty was the name given to a very large and efficient cannon which, high in a tower parapet, protected a castle in England but which during the English Civil War was shot out of its perch falling to its demise in the rocks below. So how this became transposed to an egg is beyond any reason - especially given the fact that no-place in the nursery ryme does it in any way hint as to being an egg. I like the egg theory though, it just has the appropriate feel, and I can envision the ooze of albumen once the shell has cracked. Much more so than to see an iron cannon sticking out of the ground. So for my artwork, Humpty remains an egg. Or its remains anyway.