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Yarn Taxidermy

Let the weirdness continue with yarn taxidermy.  The idea of hanging the head of a dead animal on a wall to enjoy (??) has never held much of an appeal to me.  But I was intrigued with these realistic looking taxidermy done in yarn.

Shauna Richardson is an artist from Leicestershire, UK.  She has specialized in something she calls crochetdermy and has recently made quite a reputation for herself.  She uses crochet to sculpt realistic life-size or bigger-than-life looking animals.  She has received critical acclaim with her work  receiving worldwide media coverage and selling into collections across the globe.  In 2009 Shauna won ‘Artists taking the lead’ part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad with the ‘Lionheart Project’.  (Click on the project link to see all three lionesses of this huge project.)

I also encourage you to check out the photo below to get an idea of the size of  this project.  It took Richardson just over two years to create this self-proclaimed "largest single-handed crochet sculpture in the world".  The finished piece is housed in a mobile glass taxidermy style case and is currently touring in the UK.

Shauna Richardson with one of her 3 lionesses
If you'd like to review more photos of her work click here.  Or if you'd like to hear Richardson speak about her work, check out this less than 2 minute video.  It is clear from the video she loves what she's doing and if you look around besides the "stick with a knoche on the end of it" as she describes her crochet hook, she is also using anatomical drawings of the lionesses to get their musculature just right.  She is truly an artist, first, and a crocheter with great yarn skill second.  When skill and passion come together in one person it is remarkable the type of work that person can achieve. Here's her depiction of Prince Harry.   She's also done something call the Royals with William as a white horse and Kate as a lioness.  Clearly she also has a well developed sense of humour.
Richardson's Prince Harry as a baboon 


Or how about a faux grizzly bear butt on the wall?

A Bear Behind
Although this isn't really knit, it does capture a certain comical reality that is enjoyable.  This is created by Bree Y a crafter who currently lives in London, UK though she started life in Los Angeles, California.  Check out her website here called Anatomically Incorrect Creatures.  There you'll find she now creates a small and large version of this masterpiece as well as many other humorous things to hang on the wall.

Now these are the type of taxidermy I'd be tempted to put up.  The real thing doesn't have a chance after seeing the type of reality one can make with yarn.  And I hear animals around the world sighing a loud thank you as well.
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