Customs are now open: http://wintersoulstudios.bigcartel.com/product/shisa-ornament

Everyone meet the newest edition to my pendants/tiny sculpture lines, the Shisa! To give a brief idea of these creatures, they're a variation on the "guardian lions" or Fu Dogs from China. In particular, the main amount of inspiration I used for my sculpts were from the Shisa of Japan. Similar to the lion-dogs, the Shisa also come in pairs, the open mouth being male (warding off evil spirits) and the female having a closed mouth (keeping in the good). (Depending on where the info comes from, I've seen the genders switched... anyone who has studied these more extensively is welcome to pass on additional info!)

How I came across the idea for this sculpt is a little strange. Originally I had seen him in a dream. I woke with a strong urge to draw the critter, but not thinking too much of it. Aside from being quite intimidating, he seemed like a typical Fu-Dog. That day I just happened across a video describing Shisa, and came across info about the image of the Shisa being used on a figurine-necklace and how it was a sort of protector of the wearer. The features fit the dream critter perfectly as well, if nothing else, this would make an excellent addition to my sculptural bestiary!

While I was sculpting this, I wanted the overall feel and look to lean towards a somewhat natural looking combo of lion and dog, while staying monster-like (as opposed to just saying the creature was just based off of a lion, or just based off a guard dog). In the dream, he actually had a bit longer of a muzzle, but I like where it's at here. Also, I just love the look of floppy/rose ears, so no lion ears on this one. Pictures of the female are soon to come! For casting, I thought that symbolically it would be neat if they originated from the same sculpture, so the female is actually cast from the same base. Of course, the head is completely changed to have a closed mouth, along with the tail being wrapped around the orb.

In the shop, I'm putting them under the category of "ornament" because they're a bit large for my personal taste in pendants. Plus originally the thought would be that they're hanging to guard a particular space, (i.e. the entrance to your room, your office, etc.) Of course, I wouldn't be opposed to people wearing them! If you happen to order a custom and wanted it hooked up to a necklace cord, just let me know :)

Customs are open! These are limited edition casts, limited to 25 casts for each gender. Several of those casts I'm reserving for a specific project, plus I will be posting special paints featuring my own coloration ideas soon!
Customs may be purchased here: http://wintersoulstudios.bigcartel.com/product/shisa-ornament

Info
Size: About 2" x 2"
Edition: 25 casts per gender, 50 casts at most.
Original sculpted in epoxy and monster clay
Cast in urethane resin, certain casts containing a glass marble. Hand painted in acrylic.
All sculpting, casting, and special (hand painted) releases are done in the US, by the artist.