Made by Jane Maxwell
I am planning an outdoor Halloween installation. I live in a remote rural area of Ireland. Drawing on Irish folklore I will include animals such as the hare and the fox. Here is my first effort at a hare’s head. The body is featureless as I may need it to support a different kind of head in another installation. The final group will be seen from the road at night, with lighting for added effect. Wish me luck.
The hare looks great in his “outfit”. I really like the ears lying down. Good job.
Thank you for your kind replies and interest. There are two kinds of online sites about Irish folklore: the very academic and the very silly. The former can be found by Googling ‘The Irish Folklore Commission’. You would need to be very interested to get to grips with it. The main story I am basing my hare on is the one that tells of a pre-Christian goddess of Ireland who was a shape shifter who sometimes took the form of a hare. The designs on her cloak are based on the stone carvings at Newgrange, County Meath, a ceremonial site that is older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids.
He looks wonderful in his woodland surrounding. Here’s wishing you luck with the rest of your project and I would love to see it all lit up when you have finished.
Jane, I’d love to know more about the beautiful ‘costume’ that your hare is wearing. Is there a specific folklore story that we might be able to read online?