Giraffe for baby shower

Made by Trish Jullian

My daughter in law asked me to make a giraffe for my granddaughter’s baby shower. I had painted 150 wine glasses for her wedding previously and have done wire sculptures so I thought I could figure it out.

I was so thankful to find the giraffe pattern on line that Jonni had. I completely finished the head and neck before moving on.

Making the body was frightening. To be in proportion, the giraffe had to be over seven feet tall. My husband helped with the armature. As with anything, if I was to do it again for like maybe $10,000, I’d do things differently. It took me three months to complete but we traveled to Turkey for a couple weeks and then I was sick for a couple weeks plus I didn’t work on it some days and only touched it briefly on other days.

I researched and printed out pictures of giraffes. I measured and did ratios. I had been to South Africa and noticed that they had darker brown patches than in other parts of the world and chose that color scheme.

I finished two days before the shower. We loaded her into the back of my son’s truck and she made her appearance at the shower. She was a huge hit and received a lot of pets.

She’s back at my house now in a room full of plants. Her name is Willow and she hasn’t eaten any of my plants. Thank you Jonni for introducing me to another art form. I’m 71 years old. It’s good for the brain to keep learning and to think in three dimensions.