Fancy Bats.

From Joseph: I’ve begun a series I call Fancy Bats.  This one is the first in the series.  It’s pen and ink on Bristol board.  

I focus on bats because, well, bats are awesome.  They’re such fascinating marvels of evolution, and they don’t get enough love in mainstream U.S. culture.  Whether it’s the puppy-dog cuteness of large fruit bats or the otherworldly intricacy on the faces of echolocating microbats, I’m always drawn to the magnificent aesthetics of these creatures.

As for the style, it’s largely based on my idle doodling.  When I’m bored and not focusing on any particular image or idea, I draw repeating patterns of curves and points, so this is an extension of my instinctual habits.  Also, I’ve been intrigued with the stylized depictions of animals in ancient Mesopotamian and Persian sculpture, from bulls and lions to fantastic beasts like lamassus and manticores.  It’s been a source of inspiration for years.

This is just the beginning, and I don’t know exactly which direction this series will go.  I just know that this ties together several ideas that mean a lot to me, and I hope you all enjoy the results.

I’m with Joseph, I love bats and find them fascinating. Our local bats are Myotis lucifugus, and I love watching them. I also love Joseph’s beautiful drawing, be sure to click for full size!

© Joseph Zowghi, all rights reserved.

© Joseph Zowghi, all rights reserved.

Hackamore Miniature.

An astonishing work, from Kestrel: There is a group that issues a fun challenge to model horse tack makers: push your skill set and see if you can make a nice piece of tack in one month. For the project I chose to make a hackamore in 1:32 scale (normally I work at 1:9) and the goal is to make it look as much like a piece of tack for a living horse while being in scale and as detailed as possible. This was hard… it really was a challenge for me to go this small.

Click for full size!

It all started with a single white horsehair. I braided 8 strands of very fine silk over the hair, to create the base of the noseband (bosal) for the hackamore. I have to check to see if it will look in scale:

Then I tie a series of braided knots in the silk, to create the finished bosal, a very complicated little device:

We need some buckles for the headstall to hold the bosal on the horse’s head:

Next I have to make the headstall of leather, and why not tie a few more braided knots on it to make it decorative. Also I need to braid a long rope with a tassel at one end and a leather popper on the other (mecate) which is the traditional way of rigging reins and a lead rope:

The finished piece, which hopefully looks like it could be full-sized on a live horse:

Jack’s Walk

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Yesterday I noticed a lot of dead or dying trees in the forested area up by the lake so today Jack and I went back to do a bit more exploring. I know that some of the damage was caused by the emerald ash borer beetle which decimated a nearby park, but there are also a lot of dry, brittle fir trees and I don’t know what’s causing that. I’m also curious to see how healthy the underbrush is, but we need a few weeks of growing time before I’ll really be able to tell. In the meantime, the trails are easy(ish) and Jack is having fun.

 

 

Jack’s Walk

It’s another beautiful day so my boy and I went wandering around the woods up by the lake. I don’t walk those trails very often because there’s usually a lot of bugs, but it’s early in the season so I thought we’d give it a try. Jack loves new places so he had a great time and I found a few interesting trees to photograph. The first two trees are alive, but the last tree has been dead for a while. It left behind an interesting carcass, though, and was full of little sparrows as we approached it.

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Jack’s Walk

It’s a perfect day here. The sun is shining in a cloudless blue sky and it’s 21° with a light little breeze. Jack and I decided to go see if there were any flowers up yet at the park and we found daffodils. Lots of daffodils, all just newly opened and at their best. The tulips are up too, but they’re still a few days away from blooming. It was also nice to see the willows already fuzzy with new leaves. Now, I’m going to go find every excuse I can to be outside.

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Jack’s Walk

It’s finally spring around here. The day is warm and sunny and little birds are twittering everywhere. My widows are open and that fresh smell of the season is positively intoxicating. Jack and I decided to go to the forest this morning and found the trout lilies up and getting ready to bloom. We also found a solitary patch of little yellow flowers. I have no idea what they are, but they were a welcome bit of colour. A few more trilliums are also around, but they are coming very slowly this year. We are expecting warm weather all week, though, and I hope that means the flower show will begin soon.

Trout lilies

The first forest flowers

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Jack’s Walk

First trillium of the year

It’s only 4° today and and almost feels as if it could snow. Despite this shock to the system, the forest is starting to wake up. Our favorite park is actually a protected wildflower sanctuary and normally there are hundreds of trilliums by now. Today we found only one, but the ground cover is greening up and I’m sure more trilliums will show up soon. The forecast is for two more days of cold and then temperatures in the twenties. Now that will get the flowers growing.

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Jack’s Walk

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We found a surprise in the woods this morning. The University of Guelph is doing a study of insect DNA across the country and they have installed a trap in our little forest. It’s pretty early in the season for bugs around here, but there was a lot of activity at the trap and more than a few already caught. I wonder how often they will come to collect? Our little forest is the smallest provincial park in Ontario and we often get overlooked. It’s a nice feeling to think that we’re a part of something important. It’s also nice because the path has been cleared so that Jack and I don’t need to scramble up and over anymore fallen trees.

Jack’s Walk

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It might not be immediately obvious, but Jack is fishing in this photo. Sometimes he just wades in and then stands very still staring at the water for a very long time. The first few times it happened we wondered what the heck he was doing, but then one day several years ago Jack suddenly plunged his head underwater and came up with a fish in his mouth. We took one step toward him and Jack, not wanting to give up his catch, threw his head back and swallowed the fish whole. It was about 8 cm long and thankfully he swallowed it head first, but that fish was still alive and moving when it hit his stomach. His facial expressions told the story. Ever since then, Jack wants to repeat the trick. Like all good fishermen, he’s after the bigger one that got away.