omg I actually made art! (I don't think anyone has noticed, but I haven't submitted anything new since the middle of november!)

So - This is another pipecleaner dragon, but with a theme, namely a holiday called St Lucia Day (read on for explanation).

Actually I already finished this thing a couple of weeks ago, but I had huuge camera problems. Dark background + light pipecleaners + lack of daylight caused my problems. In the part of Sweden where I live we do get daylight also during the winter, but it's not a very bright light, which I need to take decent photos. It is slightly ironic that I got the idea for the Lightbringer Dragon from Saint Lucia Day, which is celebrated the 13th of december and is all about remembering the light Come to think of it, daylight is so rare here so like half of our holidays are about light (Lucia day: during dark times, don't forget light, Walpurgis Night: yay, light is coming! Midsummer Eve: yay, light is here! o.O )

Back on topic. Lucia was actually an italian christian martyr. With some help from Wikipedia, the story goes like this:

Lucy was a Christian during the Diocletian persecution. She consecrated her virginity to God, refused to marry a pagan, and had her dowry distributed to the poor. Her would-be husband denounced her as a Christian to the governor of Syracuse, Sicily. Miraculously unable to move her or burn her, the guards stabbed and killed her.

And this is a little different every time I hear the story, but in one version of the story, the guards tore out her eyes as they were the most beautiful parts of her. In another version, she tore out her eyes herself, and gave them to her admirer, saying that if he thought her eyes were so beautiful, he could have them. In both versions, she is miraculously granted new and even more beautiful eyes.

On St Lucia Day, girls dress in white with a red ribbon around the waist, symblizing how Lucia was stabbed and/or the eyes business, and wear a crown of candles (real or electric depending on the fire hazard and if it's an adult or a child wearing it ), which looks a lot like a halo.

Somehow I came up with the idea of transferring those ideas to my pipecleaner dragons, and this is the result. The horns are candles, and the red things coming out of the dragons eyes are blood, or at least a symbol of blood, like the ribbon. Also, the expression on the face is really sad. I'm very happy with how the face turned out...

I don't remember how many hours it took to make, but I'm guessing around eight or nine. Oh, and it's of course 100% pipecleaners!