I’m doing the back scales. Scales, strangely enough, are something I simply love to sculpt. There is a wonderful underlying pattern that transitions through the surface. The best way I can describe it is through music.

When I am sculpting, I have to hold in my mind a certain type of music — in this case a classical piece. The large scales near the dorsal are the oboes, wide deep complicated woodwind sounds. The tiny surrounding scales are the piano, a delicate accompanying sound, light and airy. The delineation scales, the ones that separate the top from the bottom, are the drum beats, distant and low. There are other instruments too, small and less prominent, to fill in the sound and round it out.

Working this way is a lot like being a conductor. You sculpt the sound. It is easy to see that the composition of these scales is not, say, a rock and roll beat, nor punk — but they could be jazz. By thinking this way, I find it easier to hold the thought of the patterns in my mind for long periods of time.

The fins, with the silk and lace, will be the violins. These undulating notes wrap themselves around all the other ones and give them unity.