Browse Entries:
All Posts

Friday Fan Art for You Beetleheads

August 23, 2013

Throughout the year I am fortunate to receive letters, drawings, and the occasional package from fans around the world.  These notes contain questions, inspired art and ideas, and conversation all sparked by my work or common thread of interest in the fantastic, art, or books.  I love to read these letters and I am always so amazed to see the beautiful work that is produced. What fans do not always realize is that often times these letters and works are just as inspiring for me as my work is to them.  Sculptural artist, June Gallagher’s, gift provided a mischievous masterpiece of inspiration.

front

Last week I received a package from June – a New York-based artist that I had featured in a previous Friday Fan Art post showcasing her beautiful Thimbletack sculpture.  Inside this package I found another Spiderwick inspired work: an absolutely stunning, talking sculpture of Hogsqueal.

back

Like Thimbletack, Hogsqueal is made from Premo Polymer Clay accented with mixed media material for the details.  The base of the sculpture is enforced with a aluminum wire mesh.  His overalls are made from an old sock (also used for her Thimbletack sculpt) and his coat has been created from a wool fabric (found on Etsy).  Both his whiskers and ear hair tufts are made from feathers.  June’s eye for details included shrinking crayon wrappers to fit the polymer clay crayons in Hoggy’s jacket!

crayons

Located on the back of a rock on the mossy platform you can find a small button tactfully hidden behind a screen door.  When the button is pressed you hear, “Hey Beetlehead, what are you staring at?  Never seen a hobgoblin before?”  The voice is a friend of June’s son and was recorded on a tiny device purchased online.  All in all, after finding the right fabrics and recording device, Hogsqueal took about 2 weeks to create.

Listen to Talking Hogsqueal

For the past year June has been on a mission to devote her time to being grateful.  This decision was made after a tragic event in June’s life caused her to focus on the wonderful and inspiring things around her.  I know how important art can be in moments like that and am honored that my work has been included June’s healing process (Hogsqueal is too).

head

You can find more of June’s work at her Etsy Shop called Oaknwich Lane Designs.

Never abandon imagination, June.  Keep Sculpting, Keep Dreaming.

Back to main news page

Never Abandon Imagination Tony DiTerlizzi: Never abandon imagination.

Imagination is a world of possibility that exists within each of us. It is what makes us uniquely human. It is our creative fingerprint that touches and influences the world around us. Imagination is essential to art and science; to innovation and prosperity. It gives us hope, calls us to action and leads to change.

Whether it’s fairies, dragons, robots or aliens, all of my children’s book characters are siblings born of my imagination – an imagination strengthened through years of encouragement from family, teachers and friends. While so many others abandoned it during their transition from childhood to adulthood, I fiercely held onto mine, hoping for a day when I could share it to inspire the next generation of dreamers. Innovators. World changers.

Imagination empowers us to envision and create a reality of what could be. We must hold it dear, foster it and never abandon it.