Day #4 on the grizzly

Day four was another good day on the bear project. The face is starting to really take shape. The nose and cheeks are pretty much shaped and we started on the bottom jaw. I am really impressed at how much attention Jan pays to the tiny details. He spent quite a bit of time today adjusting things so that the top and bottom teeth line up perfectly, even though they wont be together when the project is finished.

It's also neat to see how closely the leather putty can be made to look like real leather. Once the hair is cut into the putty and it's painted, it's awfully hard to tell where the leather ends and the putty starts. Here's how the cheek is looking so far. We started shaping the bottom jaw today as well as continuing to stretch and add putty to the back of the bear.

This afternoon, Chris Kearns from Pitt Pounders Leather Guild in Pittsburgh called to talk to Jan about a class they are trying to set up for June. They've got 7 people signed up already. Hopefully they'll get the other 3 they need so that Jan will make the trip out there. It'd be nice for people on that side of the country to get a chance to learn from Jan. I got to talk to Chris for a few minutes too. It was nice talking to you Chris, and I hope you have a great class out there in Pittsburgh!!

Kathy said my blog wasn't any fun to read since I never pick on her here. Well, let's fix that. Kathy is starting a new job soon. She had to go in and get finger printed today. I don't think they were all that worried about her criminal past as they were about her hanging around with all her nose picking friends. I think they were just wanting to get a good look at her hands to make sure she washes up :o) (ya happy now Kathy???)

Jake called this afternoon right after I left Jan's for the day to ask about hooking up the generator. While the weather here in Billings has been just wonderful, it's been foggy every day back home and cold enough for the frost to build back up on the power lines again. The power finally went out today. Jake got the generator hooked up and running, but Stacy called a little while ago to let me know the power was back on. 10 hours is sure better than 10 days like last time!!

That's about it for today. Thanks everyone for the comments. I'll let you know how tomorrow goes.