Deathbird
Harlan Ellison wrote an extremely powerful short story called "The Deathbird" about the end of the world. As with most of Ellison's work, the tale's evocative imagery was comrised of both visual and potent emotional landscapes. The Deathbird was a holocaust creature - THE holocaust creature - with the seed of the final moment in its heart.

When I started venturing into pewter casting, I decided I wanted to create an allegorical piece representing that essential creature, without whom nothing would end and therefore nothing could begin. This was my first attempt at "lost wax" casting, where you create the piece in wax, entomb it in plaster and then melt out the wax, leaving a perfect cast for the pewter. As will all first steps, it was a learning experience, one that I have chosen not to repeat until I have more experience and better equipment.