Giraffes and other fun things

This giraffe is one of my favorite art pieces ever. It was just so much fun to do. And doesn't he look happy? He now lives in the nursery of a precious little girl.

As always I started with an idea. I'd never done a giraffe before and wanted to give it a try. I started by drawing a pattern. It took a while to get that exactly right.

Next I selected a thin piece of wood for the backing. It's approximately 24 inches by 48 inches. I selected another thin piece of wood and transferred the pattern I'd drawn onto it. I cut it out with a jigsaw.

The "frame" is made from thin slices of wood that I painted and then glued around the edges.

The giraffe tail is made from toothpicks. Each of the "spots" were cut on a bandsaw, as were the eyes and hooves. I layered it all together and Mr. Happy Giraffe was born.

Creating dimensional folk art is fun but it also takes a great deal of time, effort and imagination. Things that might work well on a canvas won't work with wood. The opposite is also true.

It bothers me when people don't appreciate the talent and effort that folk art involves. I figure it's because they don't understand the process. I hope this helps you know a little more about what it is exactly that I do.

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