..not a creature was stirring, not even a, er tank...

usually I prefer to paint during the day with the natural light,

but being a night owl, I don't usually turn in until after 4ish, and I can just as easily be found daubing the canvas in the wee hours

this tank isn't making too much noise

even though it is travelling at speed in this painting (yeah, really - got lil bits of dirt being flung up in front of the tracks...)

it's nearly finished

sometimes it's best not to 'overpaint' a painting

recognize it? 

it's an M1 Abrams MBT, the Australian Army's main battle tank

so LOVE my military hardware big time!! love love love!!

surrounded by a litter of leverets....

uh-oh! they're all awake! that tank's not so quiet after all then

these pics are all aceo size - 2.5 x 3.5 inches

sorta tiny eh?

cute 'n' tiny

talkin' 'bout cute 'n' tiny - here's some REAL cute 'n' tiny -

totally adorable eh?

my dreams of Wesley are still continuing :)

I have his photo next to me and he looks 'so real' every time I look at him

I can smell him, and feel his fur, he looks ready to hop out and into my lap *sigh*

the hares I am painting are coming along

...at their own pace - as my paintings do

this one has dark rich brown lowlights now, and detail on the ears

- not ready to hop off the page yet

no fur in yet, nor whiskers

I'm still getting the 'feel' of the hare

watercolour dictates it's pace to me

not the other way around

anyway - leverets of another type have been born and have now left the nest

I made these 6 little chaps as a donation for Nowzad Dogs - the charity that helps stray dogs and the soldiers who adopt them, 

and I support them with every sale of a Drive Safe baby Army Hare

and this half a dozen will raise £90 for them

nice eh?

if you are a serving soldier in the coalition forces (British / America / Australian..) with a set of old cams and would love a free hare, plus 2 free hares going straight to Nowzad for fundraising then get in touch with me - my contact details are on that link above
(for EVERY set of Army cams sent to me I make 3 free hares as a thank you - 1 for the soldier and 2 for Nowzad - this is my way of showing my appreciation)

which one will look great in your wheels?

these wee hares are expert back seat drivers, and so willing to adorn your rear-view mirror

each hare is an original, and perfectly 'imperfect'

these ones are made from German Flecktarn cams and it was rather tough to turn out, so I made the ears 'open'

and why not? they look pretty neat I reckon

and like all those stray dogs in Afghanistan, and the soldiers on deployment there, they all have their 'scars' 

~ whether visible or not ~

so if you want to give one of these 6 hares a home, then just get in touch with Nowzad

£15 each and all money goes to the dogs....

....doggies like Anjali and her new litter 

she was rescued by German soldiers, 

so it's pretty good that I've got those hares made in flecktarn 

isn't she such a beautiful lady! soft and gentle and loving, and look at those tiny little puppies

omg! so adorable!

here's a close up of those imperfect ears

blue-eyed beauty...

purdy lil hare...

and one with fully sewn ears but still a bit tatty and with some fawn coloured bits like Anjali

always good to be so individual eh?

because nothing is perfect in this world 

anyway  *yaaaaaawwnn*

times' gettin' on

uh-oh!

someone is out for the count already!

and if the fur-ball at the front is not careful he will be tumbling out of bed and straight into the foody bowl :)

(I reckon he might be dreaming of rabbits eh?)

so here's a little something relaxing 

to listen to

with your bedtime cup of tea

50s pretty cool 

likin' him lots..

I reckon he'd love one of my little hares in his hot wheels

....anyway it's nearly 4am and time to stop stirring

drive safe with baby British Army hare

well, some really exciting news!

here is my first litter of leverets ~ born in British Army dpm cams!

and a few of them are now in the mail on their way to their forever homes!

em, I mean forever vehicles!

because they are 'drive safe' hares after all 

(opinionated little back seat drivers that dangle from your rear-view-mirror, keeping you right on the roads)

(these ones have a Scottish accent ofcourse :)

I think they are really, really very pretty!

the cams are ever so flattering eh?

and aren't they all so adorable standing to attention on parade? 

ingrained discipline because they came from real service cams that have seen time

and like the stray dogs that they help to raise funds for thru the charity Nowzad,

these little beasties also have scars and nicks and many imperfections

ofcourse that doesn't bother any of them in the slightest

they are just happy to find a loving home and a loving heart

with someone who will accept them exactly as they are

without requiring any changes

or imposing any conditions on them

okay, let's be serious here -

if this tiny lagomorph could breathe and eat 

then in reality 

you would find your curtains shredded to bits (as far up as their hind legs will let them stretch ~ and yes, my curtains are still in tatters from Wesley and Arabella), 

you would find your telephone cable snipped in two (yes, it will happen every single time you leave even 5mm of it exposed), 

your carpets will be 'dug' into and torn up... (yes, sigh, such is the lagomorph burrower), 

you would have your digestives stolen off your side plate in a nick and 

your shoelaces will be nibbled to bits, even the parts between the eyelets.. (yes, true, I have had to replace so many laces I considered wearing slip-ons (uh okay, just joking there..) )

so maybe you have room in your life for a non-breathing, non-eating leveret perhaps?

though non-eating and non-breathing does not mean non-alive,

cause seriously - get a look at that sparkly little blue eye, so full of personality and resolve and determination and...

and for every hare sold I donate approx 25% to Nowzad, around £4 / $6

to help homeless stray little fluffy things like those above

~ yeah ~ puppies!!

and for those stray puppies that have outgrown their fluffyness

but are still adorable none the less

my donations still help the stray dogs that the soldiers take in and 'adopt'

and the strays that 'adopt' themselves to a soldier, because that happens often too

and sometimes the soldiers take in those cute little bundles of pocket-sized fluffyness when they are out on patrol

it's a win-win situation 

and Nowzad reunite the strays, who have been adopted by the soldiers whilst on deployment, thru official means

and you have beautiful, loving outcomes for all involved

glad to be helping!

uh -oh! dissention in the ranks.....