One small leap for HareKind

Late last year I drew some new hare illustrations for a project I was doing and I have now turned them into soft sculptures.

These are tiny ornament hares made from scraps of deer in snow fabric I had. Waste not want not. The shreds left over from even these tiny bits, plus the thread ends I have left from my hand sewing all get used as stuffing. In our very modern world is it not strange that no-one has come up with an everlasting length of thread? I always have lots of 10cm lengths that are too small to sew with.

These tiny hares have perhaps a nose on an ankle,

or a chest on a nose!

and this little chap was made from a thrifted instructional apron cloth. I always find it fascinating to see printed instructions along with the colourful cut out bits, a diy on cloth! So ofcourse I had to the use words as well ... creative suggestions ...

the tiny white hares are already in my etsy shop and the bounding hares will making their way there very soon

These are some more of my new illustrations that I am printing directly onto cards and will be in my etsy shop too. I rather like the simple black line on white.

I've already given 2 of these cards out to little birthday girls (testing the market!) and they were accepted with smiles and thank yous.

and these are my bounding hares which I used for my soft sculptures above.

When I was in the Army I trained as an 'Illustrator Reprographic' - this was in the days before computers and everything was done by hand. On civvie street I would be called Graphic Designer, but I am very fond of the military nomenclature of everything classed back to front with a descending order of calibration.

and even way back then, when I was drawing booby traps, mines and tanks, I still made sure to draw a rabbit outline amongst the camouflage pattern of the NBC warfare suits. I have the original amongst my portfolio and when I uncover it one day I'll take a snap of the military lagomorph. I was very lucky to be posted to a base that had plenty of hares living on it and I would see them in the early morning and at dusk. It was truly magical!

Now that I march to my own beat I have found that there is less a market for tanks and more for squirrels. Then again perhaps I could make a range of armoured soft sculptures? T72s, APCs, Challengers, Chieftains ...

Above is Baby Squirrel Bud with her tiny squirrel toy. Bud is living happily in her forever home now.

Bud is a very energetic baby and from her first day in the nest she has been intent on getting out and about to explore the world. Mama had a job trying to keep her in for the first couple of weeks, what with her thin newborn fur and finding her balance! But she learned very fast and most mornings mama would find her on top of the nest reaching for the lower twigs to haul herself up to start the day’s explorations. She may be an eager explorer but it doesn’t stop her still being a youngster though, and she takes her little toy squirrel everywhere with her. It has a tiny bell on the tail that tinkles away as Bud scampers around the forest and mama can easily keep track of her, whew! that’s a relief!

Bud has been spending time with the dexterous nuthatches as they scamper up and down the tree trunks. She has learnt a lot about gripping and foot placement from them. She has a programme all worked out and next on her lesson plan is wood mouse’s long grass survival springing skills. Goodness! That sounds rather exciting!

Bud loves to sit on a comfy shelf surrounded by lots of activity going on. She is particularly interested in the Kitchen Show and would love to help with the salad preparation. In the winter she loves to snuggle up on a cosy chair and snooze in front of the fire, occasionally watching the snow fall from her apartment window in between snacking on walnuts and hazelnuts.

and Baby Squirrel Seedling also has her own toy - the Creative Suggestions bounding hare, to keep her company in her forever home.

Seedling is very intelligent baby squirrel and she taught herself to read amid the paper scraps lining the nest. Mama chose the scraps well and picked only the positive and interesting bits, so Seedling has had a good diet of Latin, French, Russian, advanced mathematics and all the Zeds in the Concise Oxford.

She really is very bright and when mama brings in supper Seedling rattles off a few facts, usually in Russian! Just as well mama is as learned too. Seedling has been making small trips to the outside world and has surprised all the woodland animals, including the usually very smart forest rats with her identification skills and knowledge. Normally the rats impart relevant and pertinent information to the new-out-of-the-nest babies, what with their very worldly ways and diverse living habits, but nope, not this time!

Seedling has shocked the rats with her snippets of knowledge and some of the visiting city rats have now left the city for good to come back and live in the hygienic forest instead. Seedling has been inspired to continue her learning and is doing an online degree with honours. Mama is very proud of her.

Seedling loves to snuggle cosily on an armchair with her (rather large) collection of snippets stored nearby. She would love her own shelf on your bookcase where she can put her university texts though, and her small collection of complete books. She will be spending many hours a day studying so requires some peace and quiet but afterwards she will have lots of time to go book collecting with you. You do love books and snippets of this and that too don’t you?

It will be The Year of the Hare in precisely 2 weeks now. Time sure does fly.

I rather like my new bounding hares - they are any-time decorations I feel!

This will be a good year for a lagomorph lover like me as there will be even more hare art to choose from, and drool over!

Though ofcourse I am blessed to have two of the real deal - Arabella and Wesley!

They want to remind you that it is customary in the Year of the Hare to support your local rabbit rescue!

- now that's an order!