The Dragons of Mariarosa

I have a young cousin named Mary Rose who lives in Ohio. She is one of my Facebook friends. Facebook has closed the miles between us and I feel I know her much better than I ever would have without the social network. Anyway, one day, purely for her own amusement, Mary was doodling what she referred to as "stick dragons" and then posting them in an album on FB. I was immediately charmed by them. Their simplistic elegance and whimsical nature seemed to me to capture the very essence of Mary. 

So, with fair warning, I began "stealing" her images. Then I began playing with them in digital collages using Bomomo designs and online photos of castles, Japanese tea gardens... anything that would suit a dragon. I even used a photo of the Mormon temple in DC. I submitted each collage to Mary for her feedback and happily she's quite honest with me. She'll tell me if there's something she doesn't like about it and then I'll make adjustments. 

This has been such a happy collaboration for me and this is just the beginning. She has a lot more dragons that I haven't played with yet. Another friend on FB, when noticing the images, offered to buy a print from us and we gleefully complied. I printed the image as a 5x7 limited edition print on 140 lb cold press water paper and was pleased with the results.

Below are photos showing the original subject dragons and then the resulting collages. I hope to add to this collection.

Archimedes

Orion

Lancelot

Palomedes

  

Minerva