Project Delphine: An Artist's transformation from Girl to Mermaid on Kickstarter

[Delphine]

Hello fans of things oceany! Some of you may have heard about me and what I'm doing. If not, welcome to the journey. My name is Belle, and here I am Delphine the Mermaid. I am an artist, doing my senior thesis, a 2-part work of art. The first half involves creating a realistic mermaid tail, and second, some performances in and with the tail. Recently, Malinghi posted about my work, which made the news headlines. I was super excited to have the opportunity as an emerging artist and merfan to share my excitement and my story. So, here I am. In order to create this work Project Delphine, I've created a Kickstarter campaign to help cover the expenses of such an artistic venture. My design is based on the common goldfish and the Betta. The tail is to be made out of Dragonskin silicone rubber, nylon, some hand-made accessories I'm working on (like a fabulous shell bra & sea-inspired jewelry), and my wonderful Finis Wave monofin, which arrived via mail earlier this month.

[Project Delphine] http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/belletomermaid/metamorphosis-into-mermaid (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/belletomermaid/metamorphosis-into-mermaid)

This Kickstarter was just a part of starting, and I worked over a 2 weeks on it to get it just right. I'm enjoying time in my studio and working hard on all my projects, though this is definitely the largest I've begun yet. Project Delphine on Kickstarter.com is now coming to a close. It's an all-or-nothing type of funding, and has only 5 days left. The last day to back Project Delphine ends on December 2nd, 2012. Also Malinghi had suggested I offer something special just for you--a tutorial on silicone mertail making as a reward. Would that interest any of you? If there's enough interest, I will do the tutorial. As Malinghi put it, "Imagine if people routinely tried to raise money for tailmaking projects through Kickstarter by promising to make tutorials or guides? Seems like a win-win situation." (Mers in the News: http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?3758-Postable&p=48808#post48808 (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?3758-Postable&p=48808#post48808))

Also, I'm thrilled to announce Project Delphine has now swum into the headlines! There are 2 different newspapers, the Malden Advocate and the Melrose Free Press that have shared my story. Feel free to share & check them out. Melrose also requested some photos, so there's a few they published in the article.

[Melrose Free Press] http://www.wickedlocal.com/melrose/newsnow/x1783173605/From-Melrosian-to-mermaid?zc_p=0#axzz2Ctxtnw3B (http://www.wickedlocal.com/melrose/newsnow/x1783173605/From-Melrosian-to-mermaid?zc_p=0#axzz2Ctxtnw3B)

[Melrose: Photo Gallery] http://www.wickedlocal.com/melrose/photos/x1783173597/GALLERY-Melrose-native-becomes-a-mermaid (http://www.wickedlocal.com/melrose/photos/x1783173597/GALLERY-Melrose-native-becomes-a-mermaid)

[The Malden Advocate] http://malden.advocatenews.net/local-artist-brings-fantasy-to-life-melrose-high-grad-smfa-student-transforming-herself-into-mermaid/ (http://malden.advocatenews.net/local-artist-brings-fantasy-to-life-melrose-high-grad-smfa-student-transforming-herself-into-mermaid/)

[My Artwork] http://iwstudios.deviantart.com/

So, if you have a moment, please check out my Kickstarter. Basically, I need all the publicity I can get, and any help is deeply appreciated. This can be anything from backing to sharing my story & work with your own friends and family. Have a great week. Thanks, stay awesome & keep swimming!!!

<3Dephine

[roamingmer]

An interesting idea - I Hope a little extra helps reach the target so that it can be completed.

[AniaR]

so glad it seems to be going so well!

[Delphine]

roamingmer--Thank you so much! You are extraordinarily generous! I hope so, too. :) Cuz the show must go on, as they say.

Raina--Me too, haha! I'm going through with it no matter what. It's sort of hard to talk about with others at crits, and I still have much to do. I'm still excited about it, and can't wait to get my hands "dirty" working with the silicone. I wanna see what it can do. You mentioned before that lighter silicone tail need more pigment, did you add more than 1 jar of powdered pigment to your fluke? It's a mix of colour, but a large part of your fluke looks yellow.

[Delphine]

For any who are interested, I need all the help I can get. There are about 21 hours left, and it's all-or-nothing through Kickstarter! Wish me luck, too lol.

[Mermaid Miel]

Now you have $189 still to go and 12hrs.... Good Luck!

[Delphine]

Thank you, MeriaMiel! I'm ecstatic to share that Project Delphine was a successful Kickstarter campaign! Thanks to my friends, family and a bunch of awesome others, I've been overfunded! This gives me a little more wiggle room for options with Delphine. :)

[Thalassa]

Congratulations! It's always so exciting to see others successfully fundraise for a tail. :-) (or get a tail in general, lol)

[Delphine]

Thank you, Thalassa! I agree. :)

[AniaR]

fin-tastic news

[Delphine]

Haha, thanks Raina. Yes, it was rather fin-tastic for me, too. :lol: