Because everybody needs one...

"Giraffe Finds a Friend" Pencil. Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

I'm not sure, really, when and where inspiration strikes.  The other night I was paging through an old sketchbook, looking at seeds of ideas for Halloween images, fairy tales, and more, when I found a written line (not terribly common for me), which read, "Giraffe with a nest on his head."

It could happen, you know, as the giraffe is up so high in the trees as he searches for a snack among the leaves.  As I sketched it out, I realized the giraffe was happy to have that nest there, because it was the home of this little bird.  You see, they are fast friends.  Drawing this picture made me as happy as the giraffe seems to be.

Considering that my hair sometimes resembles a nest, and that once a bird actually tried to get some of the hair from my head for a nest, I empathize with the giraffe a bit, too.

At the Zoo

I think it's pretty clear by now that I love the zoo.  I've already mentioned that we live within a short walk of the Central Park Zoo and walk by at least once a week, often stopping in to go face-to-face with a penguin or to hang out with the sea lions.  A couple weeks in Singapore this summer with my husband helped that love grow. There, you can get really close to a lot of the animals, feeding giraffes, rhinos, and even orangutans.  They've got an amazing zoo and bird park, and the night safari is a lot of fun.  This past year my brother and sis-in-law had their first child, and I spent a lot of time telling him about different animals and the sounds they make.   I even made a song up about animals he could see in the backyard called, "What can you see when you're sitting in a tree?"  I started to think about what it would be like to bring your own baby to the zoo, at that age when they are excited and curious and the whole world is new. I wanted a mom and baby to be walking through a whole mass of animals; what we see are the animals they've seen for the very first time.  I picture this drawing hanging in a kid's room, where mothers can teach their kids about animals: Can you find the baby kangaroo? Where is the mother giraffe?

"At the Zoo" Pencil. Copyright 2011 Jessica Boehman

Sneak Peek--Giraffe Liner

This is a sneak peak of my second liner, inspired by the graceful giraffes that I got to feed while in Singapore with my husband. I'm always amazed by the sheer size of these creatures, and by their gracefulness in bearing in spite of their amazing height.