Dear Crocodile----Pam Lawton's entry for Gail's Book
I started by doing some research on crocodiles---honestly I don't know the difference between crocodiles and alligators, but I did know that they've been around since the dinosaur era--so they are definitely resilient. In my research I discovered that crocodiles really do shed tears and they do look like they are smiling. But don't be fooled, the tears are not real ones, but a means to help lubricate their eyes and keep them clear. Gail's piece for the book included the poem, We Wear the Mask by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, which speaks to Black folx need to continuously mask their true feelings as a survival mechanism. I believe the crocodiles tears and smile are also a mask, a form of insincere expression. I knew I wanted to create the image of a smiling, crying, crocodile with it's head out of the water. I also wanted to experiment with materials I've never used. I have several leather and cloth samples given to me by an interior designer. I cut the leather to