Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
Dragons In Our Midst…..
So, you know how much I love finding unusual things! Well, about a month ago, some friends took me to the Lumber Yard Restaurant in Perry for my birthday lunch. On the way, I spotted one of the coolest unusual things I’ve seen in a long time! I thought I missed out on the chance to get a closer look, but, luckily, we took the same route going back and I watched for it……and there it was, again! We stopped and I snapped some photos, but wasn’t able to find out any information on it. Without the details on what it was and why it was there, it was just a cool photograph……not an interesting treasure that was discovered! So…….ever since then, I have been trying to find a good time to see if I could find it, again, and gather some information about it. But, you see, I wasn’t driving and I had very little to go on to figure out exactly (or even approximately) where it was located!!!
So, today was “Adventure” day! I took off to see if I could find my wonderful discovery and, hopefully, gather some information about it! To find it, I had to put several pieces of a puzzle together…….first, I knew that we headed south out of Clarendon on Rt. 237 through Byron…….second, I knew that we connected with Rt. 63 somewhere around Pavilion……and, third, I knew that we barely left a sweet little gift shop in downtown Pavilion when we came upon it on the return trip that day. So, I thought that it was on Rt. 63 just a couple miles north of downtown Pavilion. I found out I was wrong, but not that far off!
I took Rt. 237 south out of Holley, through Clarendon and Byron. Then, I came up on a sign that marked the end of Rt. 237……I was sure (sort of) that we didn’t make any other turns off that road before we got to Rt. 63, so I took a leap of faith and kept going on the road that was no longer technically Rt. 237. I went through Stafford and just after I saw a sign for Bethany, there it was……..my destination…….my unusual treasure discovery!!!
A humongous DRAGON!!!
Yes, I said dragon……and I said humongous!!! But, wait……all you dragon slayer wanna-be’s……this is not the fire breathing, princess guarding type of dragon! No, this is an amazing work of art! Luckily, there were cars in the business that the dragon resides at, so I pulled in and went inside. I was greeted by a nice gentleman named Tom Stringham, who told me that he was, in fact, the artist that made the sculpture about 15 years ago – just for something to do! It had been in the garage for years until his employees convinced him to put it out in front of his business for the world to see……and for me to eventually find and write about! hehehe
So, where, exactly, can someone else find this gorgeous creature? It is located in front of Tom’s business – Emerald Models – on the east side of Transit Road right where Pavilion and East Bethany meet. I’m not sure how much further south Rt. 63 is from there, but it can’t be too far.
And, here he is…….Tom said he is made out of steel and that he hopes someday to put a tail on him, but since it has been about 15 years since he made it, that is probably not gonna happen any time soon! I asked if he had a name and Tom said, no……..personally, I think Rusty would be a cute name for him – appropriate, yet not too menacing sounding! Isn’t he fabulous? Just look at those wings — incredible — and, of course, the photo doesn’t do it justice – you really have to see it in person to fully appreciate it!!!
BRAVO, TOM!!!
Great job!!! LOVE IT!!!
Oh, and on the way home, I started thinking and got real curious about Tom’s business – Emerald Models – so I Googled them and found a very cool business! Click here to check out their website – be sure to click on the Gallery tab and see some examples of their work. From what I can tell from their website, they take an artist’s concept that is too big to manage in a limited space and fabricate it into reality – “enabling artists to create without boundaries”! They work with all kinds of clients from individual artists to large R&D departments of major companies. Their work can be found all over the world! I wish I had known this before I went there – I would have loved to talk more to Tom about it and maybe con him into a tour and interview!!! AND…..the dragon sculpture perfectly reflects the purpose of the business!!! How cool is that???
It was a great discovery……and adventure!!!
Kim's Thoughts 
Kim, This a great find and the info is wonderful to have. Sorry that it took me so long to come around again. Merry Christmas, Albion Gal. Tom The Backroads Traveller
As a thumbnail, my first thought was art from Ricardo Breceda, but it isn’t. I like this type of art.
Wow!!! That is an amazing find & what a great photo subject. He would look great in my front yard.
Now that is a treasure indeed, because, first of all, there was a treasure hunt involved! And you were rewarded with this beautiful work of art! Great sculpture! I love it so much! he is so talented! I had trouble connecting to his website on the link, however. So glad you posted this! Very very cool!!!!
Glad you liked it. Sorry you had trouble with the link – I just tried it with no success, as well. This is an old blog post (Nov 2014), so maybe the owner has changed his web address since I first discovered him.
That’s a cool dragon in the field!
This was a fantastic find! Great sculpture by Tom!