I wasn't sure if I was going to write this- wasn't sure if I could. But this has a lot to do with some of my creations, and I think I owe my brother the recognition for his part in their making. My older brother, Jeff died 1 year ago on Oct. 28th. He was only 39 and his passing was sudden and unexpected. It hit me hard, and I still have a hard time believing that he's gone. His passing caused my mother and I to reconnect after many years, and through her I learned about a side of Jeff he didn't always share. I knew about Jeff's love of fantasy, of course, that went back to the days of Dungeons and Dragons, but I didn't know that he had traded D&D for the World of Warcraft. My mother and younger brother played too, and through them I learned about some of the different characters and their roles in the game. Jeff had a Tauren character. When Mother saw some of the work I was doing, she brought up the idea of making plush World of Warcraft characters. She's also the one who found ArtFire and sent me the link (THANK YOU Mommy!). As a way to honor Jeff, I decided the first characters I would make would be Taurens. It took weeks of study about Taurens, and even longer testing out patterns, changing, adapting, and trying again before I came up with a Tauren I was willing to put up for sale. These patterns are created completely by me, and each character is one of a kind. The Taurens measure between 14" and 18" and are stuffed with polyester fiberfill. They're dressed in leather and carry polylmer clay (sculpted by hand) weapons. I think Jeff would be proud of them. Recently I've started making Murlocs. So far I've created 3 different patterns, with options to customize each one. These monsters measure between 12" and 17" tall and are stuffed with polyester fiberfill. They have jointed arms and legs, and I use pipe cleaners in their fingers, making them completely poseable. If Jeff were here, I'd give him one for a pet. He always liked my comical fantasy sculptures- my Christmas presents always made him laugh. As I get time, I'll be creating new characters, and delving deeper into Jeff's World of Warcraft. These are the plushies I have available at the time of this post, however, I'm working on another Murloc right now, and will be listing new characters as I complete them. Thanks for reading and browsing.
-Michelle of CreativeCritters
