Tapirs get their first coat

Two weeks to go, and the tapirs get their first coat. Here they are, waiting for their feet to dry - all 120 of them. Tapirs are 'irregular ungulates' - four toes on the front and three on the back. Guess that means that they could only ever count up to fourteen!

17 of 30 now have ears

These ears are a bit too big, I'll have to sand them down. Interesting though, how the ears have given the models so much more character. Also, I am fascinated by the image of these creatures lined up in ranks. I have the strongest feeling that there may be some paintings here. The irony here, is that tapirs are by nature solitary. 21 days to go!!!

Let's make it 30

Interest is growing and when I combine the number of work colleagues with the growing number of folks who say they will attend the lunch at the 'Table' on the 27th April (World Tapir Day) it seems like 30 tapirs might be a better number. This will also give me a few extra to send to people who have heard of my project but live outside Ottawa. So it's now 30 bodies; 120 legs; 36 days to go. The picture shows the two originals; twenty at the deaf and blind stage; 10 new 'bodies'.

T shirt Photoshopped over Mexico pic

The T-shirt has arrived - pretty spiffy eh?
You can get yours, and other Tapir paraphernalia, at http://www.cafepress.com/tapirday/
Info on Tapirs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapir
The people I will be sending all funds raised to: http://www.tapirback.com/tapirgal/fund.htm

Eyes and ears

I found some small black shiny beads that I thought would make great eyes. In the black test piece in the picture above I punched a hole with a nail punch and pressed in a bead. Works great as it shines just like an eye against the matte of the paint. And for ears, I'm going to use 'biscuits'. They are used for jointing wood and are really inexpensive. I cut the ends off the lozenge shaped 'biscuits' and then insert them into slits I will make in the sides of the head. So that was quite a successful test ...... 46 days to go!

It was inevitable......

Sooner or later flesh and sharp tools were bound to come together. Lets hope that that it now for this project.

So, why tapirs?

It occurs to me that Pandas, Koala bears and maybe penguins and the like ...... you know, the 'cute' ones, will always have people concerned for their well being. But, if we're serious about sharing the planet and giving dignity and respect to all living creatures, then I think we should be looking out for the 'less cute'. If we can preserve tapirs, we'll be going a long way to preserving all creatures. That's not to say tapirs aren't 'cute' (I happen to find them fascinating) - it's just that they seem to be well below the radar of human concern.