Quick as a bunny - Friday's facts, fascinations and folklore

This week was rabbit week for me.  It started on Sunday morning when I was walking past one of our glass doors and saw the cutest little thing on the porch.

It was a baby jack rabbit. And so tiny.  We are used to having big Jack Rabbits in our garden and love watching them run and hop around, and they never go near our vegetable patch - but they are really big.  Sometimes when you just get a quick glance of them, you think it has to be another animal like a coyote or something because they look so large.

 

Just look at those ears!

But this little babe bunny was tiny - even his ears were small.  He hopped around a little bit but seemed a little wobbly on his legs so settled down in some vegetation in the shade - which was good as it was a hot day.

I then went out for the day and when I came back, he was still there....and looking a little fragile...  I'd left the house around 9am and now it was 5.30pm and he was still on his own...so I got a little worried.
I looked up wildlife rescue on the internet for their guidlines and it said for rabbits that if they are 4 inches long and their eyes are open then they can fend for themselves and you shouldn't do anything.... I figured he was around 4inches so I resisted giving it a cuddle and just kept my distance.

When it got dark, he moved just a little bit to cozy up to the side of the house which was warm but still no mummy and still no cozy den to go into. Anyhow - we went to bed and the next morning he wasn't there....so we are hoping he is doing OK and found his family and is now hopping around the vineyard somewhere.

John named him Flash for the white dot on his forehead.  I wanted to call him Gordon after Flash Gordon, but we already have Gordon the Gopher snake - it had to be Flash.  I'm hoping we'll see him again one day soon, recognizing him by his flash - and see that he is doing OK.

My second scary rabbit story came on Wednesday night when I was driving back from San Francisco.  Suddenly this large rabbit ran in front of the car - and he was really big.  But then, in hot pursuit of the rabbit was an enormous great horned owl!! He was swooping down to the road, claws out ready to pick up this big jack rabbit!!! But in the middle of this was me in my car!  Luckily the owl saw the headlights and quickly swooped up and just missed my windscreen.  For a split second he was flying straight at my windscreen with his wings outstretched.  It was then that I realized that he was in fact larger than my windscreen!! What a wingspan!

Photo by D Chenault

Anyhow - the owl flew off somewhere and the rabbit was saved and hopped into the vegetation!  Phew! And I drove on home with a quickened heart rate!!

I haven't made a silver rabbit in  a while - the ones shown above were from a few years ago...so maybe it's time!!!

Creativity sparks - Ideas to inspire : Review of the day

As a regular feature in my blog, in keeping with the core of what "inside the artisan" is all about, namely where I tell the stories behind my creations, I'm going to start posting about how I find my inspiration to create my pieces and also name them. Sometimes the idea for the piece comes first and sometimes the name comes first. It may well be that I end up not making the piece - or maybe I will one day, months later...... but I will explain how an idea comes to me - and then maybe you can use a similar process for your own creativity - whether it be in art or craft or whatever......

So as I write this - I don't have any idea in my head at all....so if I want to come up with a new idea - (something unique so that it follows my word of the year, from yesterday's posting :-D!), I'd begin by thinking about what I have done, said, heard, and seen today.....and noting anything that sticks in my mind.....

My day started with a man coming to our home to measure up and look at the feasibility of us converting two of our fireplaces into gas fireplaces....General chat - although occasionally the guy would just stop talking, right in the middle of a sentence, and look out of the window - and then comment on how many Jack Rabbits he had seen hopping through the vineyard.....He did this a few times...

Then I went to a board meeting and lunch for the Sonoma Newcomers group and during lunch we spoke of movies and the such.... When I got home my husband wasn't in, but shortly after, he came home and told me he'd been to a card shop and saw two funny cards - one of people in a restaurant and one of rabbits with big ears.....And now here I am, sitting at my computer...

So as I'm writing this blog, I wrote as a stream of consciousness - just writing what came into my head - just those couple of paragraphs. If I wasn't writing it down, I would just replay it in my mind.... just think back on my day and see what comes about.......

Immediately as I've finished my "review", the rabbits stick out, as rabbits came up a few times today........and I think of large ears - as our Jack Rabbits have enormous ears....and then moving to the board meeting..... the movie I was recommending to everyone over lunch was "The Reader" which I absolutely loved.....

And voila! How about creating a rabbit piece with really big ears and calling it "The Listener"??

The next phase is to check that it would fit in with the themes of my jewelry creations...... I've recently changed my themes of jewelry so the categories are that the jewelry evokes one of the following feelings: Playful; Happy; Loved; Comforted; Young at heart; Homey; and Serene. So would a rabbit of some sort with big ears who is a great listener fit into any of these? Yes - I can see him fitting into "comforted" - we all know the great feeling when someone really listens to us, and he could also fit into playful or happy. He has a touch of whimsy - big ears suggesting he's an excellent listener........and so now I'd just go forward and think should this be a necklace, charm, earrings or what and then look at the structural design elements that are necessary for hanging etc etc .

So - "The Listener." I'll now write down this idea in my little book and maybe one day.....watch this space - he may put in an appearance .....

In comparison to "The Listener", here's a photo of a rabbit we saw in Washington state. I don't think he'd be a good listener! Whatever happened to his ears????


Now as I'm thinking about Jack Rabbit....other thoughts are also coming into my head, like Jack in the box and maybe I could do a rabbit like a jack in a box - but the rabbit is coming out of a top hat - like a magician's rabbit....the rabbit could sit on a spring....the top could be a magician's glove with a hinge and when you open it....out pops the rabbit....... Definitely playful...so that will also go in my little ideas book.....

If you are a creator, try the above technique and then email me and tell me your story - I'd love to share it here on my blog.