Wild Earth Integration

Well well well… if it isn’t Monday again.

Today, I thought it would be nice to show you an illustration I’ve been working on for awhile. Ta-dah! As many of you know, I’m a bit of a plasticine fiend, so it’s nice to get to show you these as I finish them.

But what’s Monday without a few facts that you could whip out at a cocktail party. I think it’s high time for a Wild 5 again.

And so I give you, the Wild 5: Bear Edition –

• Never ever try to outrun a bear. It just won’t happen. Although they look big and lumbery, they can run as fast as a horse. So picture them as large, furry, carnassial-toothed horses. *nods*

• Most people know about a few species of bears – the grizzly (like my clay friend), polar bear, black bear and of course, Yogi, are fairly famous. The spectacled bear, Asiatic black bear and sun bear are less famous. But just as awesome. Go Google them, I’ll wait.

• If you ever ate even a small part of a polar bear’s liver (not that you should, just sayin’) – you would most likely die. Like most arctic seals, a polar bear’s liver is insane-o high in retinol (also known as Vitamin A). To put it in perspective your liver should have about 575 IU of Vitamin A per gram. A polar bear has roughly 24,000-35,000 IU per gram. Moral? Please don’t eat polar bears.

• Some bears faced a pretty cruel past. Bear bile farming is one example. Kept in small cages known as ‘crush-cages’, many Asiatic black bears are unable to move or stand for their entire lives, while an IV removes their bile. Needless to say, this is an awful fate for any animal, so efforts are constant to stop bear bile farming in Vietnam and China. If this bothers you as much as it does me, you can pop by here to learn more, or make a donation directly to my site and I’ll send it to the right people.

• A male bear is called a boar, while a female is called a sow. This is not because they are related to pigs. In fact, I actually think if you encounter a male bear, you ought to be calling him ‘Sir’. But that’ just me.

Have a beary good week, all!

(Can you blame me? Really?)

Good morning on this snowy day!

Just wanted to pop in and show you a teaser of some new clay illustrations I’ve been working on for some Wild EduCards (flash cards for your little one, done Wild-Jess style)!

These cards will be available by download in the Trading Post soon (that flashy new link up top) for a very reasonable price – one buck!

This sort of reminds me of Willy Wonka’s lickable wallpaper, no? Please don’t lick your computer.

Just a quick update to look forward to — Last week, I was fortunate enough to speak at a workshop focused on creating positive change in the world. I chatted with 3 groups of Grade 7s-8s about sustainability, social justice, environmentalism and (of course) clay. The kids were awesome, and they definitely have some world changing ideas.

Just wait ’til you see what they made. Stay tuned for more details and pictures of their masterpieces!

In the meantime, I hope you’re feelin good.

“Many things take time to create and to come alive. Be patient.”

I’ve been working on some new illustrations for a book I’m putting together. This is the first one. Incidentally, chameleons are great self-help gurus.

Details:

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful..."

The macaw is a beautiful creature that is quite well known for its intelligence, bubbly birdsonality and downright eerie ability to mimic human speech. But since it’s International Macaw Day (I just declared it), I thought I would treat you to some trivia on our flashy, florid, feathered friends.

5. They are rowdy party goers. In other words, they love spending time in a big flock of 20-30 individuals. There are 17 different species of macaws and they’re all the life of the party. Just don’t ask them to keep it down, because they just won’t listen.

4. Don’t let the cute face fool you — the hyacinth macaw is the biggest of its kind, with a wingspan of four feet. They also have a tongue that has a bone in it, that helps them easily crack through the tough shells of nuts and seeds. Take that, Tweety.

3. They self-medicate. You know how you run off to the drugstore and grab yourself some of that pink stuff when you have a stomach ache? Animals do that too, they just don’t have ready access to drugstores. Instead, they use what’s around them. Macaws (and a whole truckload of other animals) have been known to eat damp soil, which helps to neutralize their stomach and all of its fruity-diet induced erks and aches.

2. They get married. Ok, so that was wildly anthropomorphic, but macaws really do mate for life. (In fact, I bet their ‘divorce’ rate is much better than ours…) Once a macaw has found its other half, they will breed together, groom each other, share food and quote Tennyson. Bottom line: if your marriage is in trouble, perhaps you should talk to a macaw.

1. Most of them are lefties. Yeah, you heard me. Lefties. Scientists have determined this by carefully filming and documenting dominant hand/claw preference for hours on end. They probably could have saved some time by trying to high-five them.

So there you have it. Up next, International Buy Me A Sandwich Day. Any takers?