A perfectly formed tiny needle felt bird sculpture, this diminutive wool toucan is 1:12 in scale, measuring just over 6cms long from the end of her tail to the tip of her beak. That brightly coloured, distinctive toucan beak is 2cms long, which is famously the same length as her body!
Male and female toco toucans look the same, but I felt she was female as I made her. Gripping her driftwood perch with tiny wire and yarn blue clawed legs, her miniscule 1mm twinkling glass eyes watch furtively for rivals intent on plundering her dried flower berry branch. The wings and tail are made from layers of individual tiny wool feathers, whilst her body is sculpted from wool capturing the natural red, black and white plumage patterns of this iconic South American bird.
Each tiny toucan comes in a miniature glass bell jar that is 9cms tall with a 6cms diameter cork base, containing both Whitstable beach-combed driftwood, collected on my daily bird-watching beach walks, and a plush hand-crafted bed of wool and plant-fibre leaves and grass, with some added local, foraged and dried plant details. The bell jar is gently wrapped in tissue-paper and is delivered safely cocooned in a beautiful bespoke giftbox tube, along with two free stickers illustrated with my original toucan sketches.
As spring tentatively arrives in the UK, bringing the warmth of occasional sun to break the monotony of grey cloud and the still stinging winds off the East Kent coast, I am inspired by the riot of colours and huge variety of species amongst the distant tropical birds of the world. Particularly for me that means I get out all the amazing books illustrated by the Kent-born Victorian artist Elizabeth Gould, and pour most especially over her fantastically posed and painted toucans. Her birds bend and flex on the branches, showing the dazzling colour of their pantomime dame-like plumages.
In this collection celebrating the wonder of Gould’s toucans, out of the 51 species of toucan to choose from around the world, the focus is on the Toco Toucan. Why you might ask, is this the most recognizable breed of toucan to the British public… well, it owes its recognition to beer. The Toco Toucan was chosen by John Gilroy for his fantastic Guinness advertising mascot, introduced in 1935. The cheeky, smiling cartoon birds were part of a famously successful ‘Guinness is good for you’ campaign, which was accompanied by catchy slogans written by a golden-age titan of crime fiction, Dorothy L. Sayers.
Gould, Sayers, and Guinness – all wrapped up into one tiny exotic bird!
