The World's Largest Crochet Sculpture & Crochetdermy by Shauna Richardson.

above: Shauna Richardson stands by her Lionheart project, the world's largest crochet sculpture

Artist Shauna Richardson turns game hunters into knit wits with her mounted animal heads and animal statues made of hand crocheted knits. Taking the old tradition of taxidermy and giving it a politically correct and artful spin, she creates life-sized and oversized sculptures that blend craft, realism and collecting.

I will first share with you her Crochetdermy mounted heads and animal sculptures, followed by her Lionheart project, featuring the world's largest crochet sculpture.

Crochetdermy





















The Lionheart Project

In 2009 Shauna won ‘Artists taking the lead’ part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad with the ‘Lionheart Project’.



For two years she has been creating the largest single-handed crochet sculpture in the world, three giant lions.






The finished piece will be housed in this mobile glass taxidermy style truck case and tour throughout 2012:

The building of the glass case:



Tour Dates
Shauna Richardson’s ‘Lionheart Project’ has announced its UK tour, which will see three giant crocheted lions travelling the country in a 16 metre long illuminated glass case (shown above). Starting on 1 May 2012 at Chatsworth in Derbyshire, the three giant lions will tour the East Midlands before arriving at the Natural History Museum in London in time for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Harking back to a travelling menagerie show, the lions will also visit venues in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northampton and Nottingham, calling in at events such as SO Festival and Twycross Zoo. The lions will reach out to an estimated audience of over half a million visitors across all venues, with countless more sightings when they take to the road.

Learn more about the Lionheart Project.

Shauna at her studio on the outskirts of Leicester, photographed and made into this slideshow by Nick Hand:


About the artist:



Shauna Richardson’s background is in conceptual art. The unique body of work she terms ‘Crochetdermy’ evolved out of the exploration of the theory that ‘Anything can be art’. She uses crochet to sculpt realistic life-size animals – uncanny taxidermy-like forms. Crochetdermy combines themes such as objects, collecting, craft and realism and experiments with accessibility and audience. Richardson has received much critical acclaim. Her work is receiving worldwide media coverage and selling into collections across the globe.

Despite the enormity of the Olympic Lionheart project in the last six months Shauna has managed to fit in a very unofficial portrait of Prince Harry commissioned by the Guardian Weekend Magazine, and winning ‘Best Sculpture’ and the ‘Overall Gold Award’ at Art of Giving held at the Saatchi Gallery.

She will is presently exhibiting the life-size brown bear (shown below) in ‘The Power of Making’ at the V&A – Sept 2011 – Jan 2012.




images courtesy of the artist. Additional lionheart project images courtesy of Inspire LeicesterShire

Crochetdermy pieces are created to commission. Selected works on her site are available for purchase.

Shauna Richardson

Three New York Meat and Cheese Lovers Go Vegan For Six Weeks and Get Vegucated.

Part sociological experiment and part adventure comedy, Vegucated is a award-winning documentary that follows three meat and cheese-loving New Yorkers from different backgrounds who, for six weeks, adopt a vegan diet and a whole new way of thinking about food.

Now, personally, I love my artery clogging animal parts and fat-laden dairy so much I fear I'd never participate in such an experiment. Nor, do I want to know the ugly truth behind how my meat is treated and prepared (I've seen all those tragic PETA films). That being said, the trailer for this documentary made me feel instantly shamed and admittedly piqued my curiosity.



Vegucated is a feature-length documentary that follows three meat and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks. There’s Brian, the bacon-loving bachelor who eats out all the time, Ellen, the single mom who prefers comedy to cooking, and Tesla, the college student who avoids vegetables and bans beans. They have no idea that so much more than steak is at stake and that the fate of the world may fall on their plates. Lured with true tales of weight lost and health regained, they begin to uncover hidden sides of animal agriculture and soon start to wonder whether solutions offered in films like Food, Inc. go far enough. Before long, they find themselves risking everything to expose an industry they supported just weeks before.


above: Marisa Miller Wolfson, Writer/Director/Editor

But can their conviction carry them when times get tough? What about on family vacations fraught with skeptical step-dads, carnivorous cousins, and breakfast buffets?

Part sociological experiment, part science class, and part adventure story, Vegucated showcases the rapid and at times comedic evolution of three people who share one journey and ultimately discover their own paths in creating a kinder, cleaner, greener world, one bite at a time.

If you are interested in renting/buying the DVD, taking the challenge for yourself, reading reviews of the film or learning more about the entire project, their sponsors and community groups, visit getvegucated.com

Burn Wood, Baby, Burn. The Incredible Pyrographic Art of Julie Bender.

When I first came across these, I found it so hard to believe they were actually wood burnings. The intricate rendering of texture, the detail and the overall appearance seems as though it'd be virtually impossible to create with a pyrographic tool. Julie Bender has shown me otherwise.

NOTE: all the images in this post are copyrighted by the artist and may not be reproduced or used without express written permission from Julie Bender.

Wood burning (aka Pyrography) is an old-fashioned art and nowadays often reserved for camp arts and crafts projects. Artist Julie Bender elevates the centuries old tradition and depicts animals and birds with an incredibly deft hand - bringing hair, fur and feathers to life on a piece of maple wood.



Inspired by animals and nature – and her Canon EOS Rebel T1i digital camera – Bender's process begins by compiling inspiring photographs and penciling in her subjects on a well-sanded maple surface with a keen sense of composition and attention to wood grain.



Light-handed strokes and smooth, subtle shading using very tiny tips characterizes her technique. She finds her personality well-suited for the challenge of this exigent art form as well as the extreme patience and considerable time that is required of her work.



Julie, pictured above, states: “This unusual medium still has me marveling over the fact that my subjects may be brought to life solely by applying heat to wood.”

Below are a selection of some of my favorite pieces of hers. Many still available for purchase.

Wild Animals:








Her work consists of pyrographic renderings of wild animals, birds, dogs and horses. Each work is produced on grade A northern maple veneer, sealed with protective finish, signed on front and back and individually numbered and dated on back.

Equine / Horses:







Avian / Birds:








Canine / Dogs:





A background of Pyrography from Julie:
Pyrography, the art of burning or scorching on a natural surface was an art form practiced since the dawn of recorded time by Egyptian and African tribesmen fascinated by the mysterious beauty and power of fire. Defined in traditional terms, pyrography is the art of drawing with fire; using a heated tip or wire to burn or scorch designs onto natural surfaces such as wood and leather.

In the late 19th Century, Melbourne architect Alfred Smart discovered a way to pump benzoline fumes through a heated hollow platinum pencil in order to improve upon the pokerwork process and allowing the addition of tinting and shading that previously were impossible. In the early 20th century, the development of the electric pyrographic hot wire wood etching machine further automated the pokerwork process.

Modern day pyrography is typically done with solid-point tools, which resemble but are more sophisticated than soldering irons or hot wire tools. These tools are electrically heated by equipment that may allow temperatures to be adjusted, thereby producing a great range of natural tones and shades. Subtle or bold effects may be achieved, depending on many factors, including heat, pressure, type of wood or surface, and tool tips used.

Julie's technique is to use tools that allow her flexibility to develop her unique style. Light, gradual strokes and smooth, subtle shading are her hallmark in attaining fine detail in each work of art. When it comes to pyrography, Julie considers herself a purist. The wood and grain she uses is selected carefully for best composition and aesthetics.

"Borrowing from the ancient craft of wood-burning, I attempt to portray the natural world in fresh ways to express my profound appreciation of animals and nature. I am moved by the graceful synthesis of a smooth wooden surface and the heat infused within to create rich sepia. As I ‘paint with heat,’ I feel a certain parallel between the wild and natural spirits that embody my subjects and the organic and distinctively unforgiving nature of my medium." - Julie Bender

NOTE: all the images in this post are copyrighted by the artist and may not be reproduced or used without express written permission from Julie Bender.

See (and purchase) all of Julie Bender's beautiful work here.