The most intolerable sort of slavery, the slavery over which the very gods weep, is the slavery of the strong to the weak; of the great and nobleminded to the small and mean.  It is the deep commandment of our whole being to be free.  Freedom is the one purpose, wisely aimed at, or unwisely, of all struggles, toilings and sufferings on this earth. People seldom rebel against anything that does not deserve rebelling against.  Everywhere the human spirit stands between a hemisphere of light and another of darkness, on the confines of the two everlasting empires: necessity and free will. —Thomas Carlyle

I don't create many promotional works in collaboration with friends who are merchants.  This is not because I have any objection to producing works which support commercial aspirations; in fact, I think such works are essential to merchants.  When working on a project in any medium it is natural for the creator or creators to loose objectivity for their finished labor.  By the time a model is complete a merchant is often saturated with the creative process and cannot see the finished project objectively.  To create imagery which truly shows the potential of a product requires "fresh eyes" which are looking upon and working with the model for the first time. The limits upon my time for working in this medium are a great restraint to what I am able to produce.  I am an unreliable asset, therefore, to a merchant working within the brief period available to promote a new product release.  It is because of these limits on my time that I do not make any promises to my merchant friends.  I would help .. if I could be of help. Every once in a while, however, a new product comes along out of the imagination of a dear friend and I find myself compelled to set aside all my other creative interests.  It happens.  It has happened this week in fact.   ;-) There is a very exciting set of products coming out tomorrow over at RDNA created by Arki and Spiritfoxy.  This is an imaginatively original fantasy collection described as so: "On a world far, far away live an ancient people called the Malaik - a beautiful & majestic winged humanoid race with the spirits of Warriors and the souls of Mystics." I have only just begun to explore the possibilities of this set but I am more excited in Poser than I have been for a long time.  These are a winged race alright .. and what wings they do have!  They are described as "The most gorgeous wings you have ever seen!"  For me .. this is true.  I have never worked with wing models as beautiful, dynamic and controllable as these wings.  I offer you only a tease in this particular image ... but you will see more soon ... and you will want them for your own.  The lance is also part of this collection and I could go on for a long while about the craft invested in this piece .. it is stunning in its quality. You know me .. I seldom go on like this about a product without good reason.  I like courageous originality in all craft and I am inspired by works that are evidence both of creativity and utility.  This product set is a sweet pleasure for me to work with and I will try to show you why in the coming days. May you be creating something wonderful with deep pleasure and satisfaction! Terry I want to express my appreciation to the Poser Admin's at Ren' for selecting my 'Photo From a Near-Forgotten Dream' among this week's Staff Picks.