A whole roost of bat sculptures. These fruit bats are made of rusted steel and I was told the artist is a gentleman named Henri Dupree who lives in New Mexico. Here's a close-up to show more detail.
They have a rather ingenious hanger and the use of ball-bearings for eyes is very effective. Look how they reflect the light and appear to glow. The bats come in 14- and 18-inch sizes and also with wings open or folded across their chests.
As you may recall I find bats quite interesting, and was very charmed by these. After finding the gate for our next flight, I came back to take these pictures and decided I just had to have one. I got a 14-inch fellow with his wings folded who was my bubble-wrapped "carry-on bat" for our flight. He currently occupies a place of honor on the wall in my office.
These fruit bats also reminded me of a children's book titled Stellaluna that my children enjoyed. The title is the name of a baby fruit bat who accidently falls into a bird nest. The mother bird tries to raise Stellaluna along with her new bird "siblings" and all sorts of strange miscommunications ensue. Stellaluna can't understand why the mother bird keeps bringing her nasty bugs to eat and she teaches her new siblings how to hang by their feet off the edge of the nest, causing parental panic. All is put right in the end of course, but it is a fun entertaining read for small children. We often buy it for gifts these days - we certainly recommend it.
1 comment:
I like bats too, especially outside and not so much in the house...
I really love those bat sculptures!
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