Saturday, June 25, 2011

Animals -my favorite subject


Humphrey and Zebra
sketch and handmade stamps on paper

I really like to draw animals. I had the aim of making a stamp of Humphrey after the sketch, so I made it with few details. The resulting stamp is one of my favorites. Humphrey is my brother's family dog. He is adorable. The photo I referenced is of him sitting on a chair with a toy on the seat beside him. It just so happened that I tested the zebra stamp on the same page. The envelope stamp is an idea for a future collage.




Piglet Feelings
pencil on paper

Maren and Hans told us many wonderful stories of their time being on the Alm last summer. The alm is a mountain farm in Austria, typical in the alps. For Maren, it was her second summer at the same alm and thus she was more prepared for the exhaustive days of labor. They had two pigs named Socrates and Napoleon. I was fascinated to learn that the pigs would coax the cows into feeding them. Maren described with gestures how the pigs would crouch low and make baby cow sounds to get close to the cows for nursing. In fact, cows are usually afraid of pigs. Maren said she would fine one of her pigs often drinking from her cows. She said if she did not catch them in the act, she would soon learn about their feeding frenzy by all of the white foam around their mouths and their tails spinning with glee.

FUN FACT
Did you know that pigs have the equivalent of a three year old child in brain function and emotion capacity?

1 comment:

Suzanne said...

Hi Cynthia! I have often wondered what you wound up doing after UWF. It was so nice to come across your blog and see what you have been up to. You look so happy in all the pictures with your husband and I love what you are doing with your art (no more shoes?) ... LOVE the stamps! Email me sometime so we can catch up ... studiovetek@gmail.com

Suzanne Vetek
xoxo