As with most of my work, this started as a pillar of wet clay

As with most of my work, the pilar quickly took on femenine form

Left side view, still wet

Side viewRight side view, still wet

I was thinking of several different sources as I designed this piece...

...One was african beauty. I made an effort to make her features african. Unfortunately, due to the small size of her face relative to texture of the clay, i wasn't able to get a great deal of detail in.

I was also thinking of mythical Amazon warriors, which is why I gave her the strange shoulder-plates. The headdress started as that of an Aztech princess, and the horn on her forehead is from the Japanese Oni. These elements combined to suggest a dinosaur... sort of a sexy protoceratops

I usualy pinch-suclpt solid, and then while the clay is still semi-wet, I split it, carve out the interior, and re-seal the opening using coil scoring techniques.

Once I knew she was a dinosaur, it was natural to add a tangle of horns and a tail. (That is my girlfriend Genny in the background)

Front view, almost done

The back is a bit unsightly, and brings to my mind Geigeresque images from "Aliens". The main reason for the gaping hole in her back was to allow air into her hollow interior. I originally left a vent through her bellybutton, but was concerned that it was inadequate.

Side view, basicly done. You may notice that she has six arms. The four extra ones are vestiges of support strutures that I decided not to completely carve away.