Paper birds

April 21, 2012 8:43 PM

Birds are gorgeous but you can't have pets and can't abide stuffed animals. What's a bird lover to do? Vegan Taxidermy to the rescue!

Paper artist Aimée Baldwin of Berkeley, CA makes realistic and beautiful birds one at a time using a foam body, wire legs, and crepe paper feathers. Her Etsy store has birds for sale, including this cute little local celebrity. Guaranteed not to shred your houseplants or poop on the carpet!

posted by Quietgal (25 comments total)

Of course, I went right to the owls and raptors page. Pretty great!

I fear they would not survive our cats, though, which is a worry I wouldn't have if we had a live raptor or owl. Then my worry would be the cats surviving the raptors.
posted by rtha at 8:54 PM on April 21, 2012

Is foam truly vegan? And the glass for the eyes? Is that organically sourced?
posted by hippybear at 9:05 PM on April 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

I find this especially awesome as he seems to do all local birds. They're the same birds that live in my backyard! I might buy one if they werent THOUSANDS of dollars.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 9:27 PM on April 21, 2012

I guess instead of "all local" I should have said "mostly local", unless someone can point me to a bay area viewing location for scarlet ibises.
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 9:29 PM on April 21, 2012

I love how you just wrote, "can't abide stuffed animals."

I forgot about the joys of using unusual verbs in random contexts, like to abide. And, I can't abide the object known as a stuffed animal. Allergies. You know.

Thanks for the chuckle.
posted by simulacra at 9:32 PM on April 21, 2012

It's probably a sign that I shouldn't be allowed access to my credit card while tired, but I honestly considered buying one of the owl ones.

Then I realized that was dumb on like, 6 different levels. But holy heck, amazing work.
posted by dotgirl at 9:54 PM on April 21, 2012

He rather values his work, doesn't he?
posted by Malor at 9:56 PM on April 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

But some fucker nicked his chickadee!
posted by Abiezer at 9:59 PM on April 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

Wow those are so nice! Feathers; no feathers!
posted by anadem at 10:08 PM on April 21, 2012

Someone buy me the black swan please. TIA
posted by Danila at 10:10 PM on April 21, 2012

Yeah but can she make tofu out of pork?
posted by Carbolic at 10:27 PM on April 21, 2012

Chuck Testa Angry!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:29 PM on April 21, 2012

Aimee does awesome work. I had gotten used to her birds when her paper botany examples blew me away. She often works with Anandamayi Arnold, who also makes amazing paper art. If you're in Berkeley, go to the store "Castle in the Air" on 4th Street, (warning: has annoying front page that has to load and then moves around and makes noise, but I think it's worth the hassle) and for the last while, they've had quite a few of Aimee's birds (and a daffodil, I think) displayed upstairs. You can also take classes from them there. I took a paper roses class from them once, which is how Aimee's paper skills first came to my attention.
posted by small_ruminant at 10:47 PM on April 21, 2012 [1 favorite]

I was expecting a stuffed tofu.
posted by jimmythefish at 10:53 PM on April 21, 2012

He rather values his work, doesn't he?

How many hours do you suppose each example takes? What's the hourly rate of an artisan producing a unique good? If she has to choose between making and selling her pieces at the given pricepoint or getting a full time job so she can make her rent payments, which option do you think has greater value for society? And of course most importantly: if she's able to sell her work for that price, then that is what it's worth - at a minimum.
posted by kavasa at 11:03 PM on April 21, 2012 [7 favorites]

He rather values his work, doesn't he?

Did you mean she? She values her work?
posted by MaryDellamorte at 12:14 AM on April 22, 2012 [2 favorites]

kavasa: "

He rather values his work, doesn't he?

How many hours do you suppose each example takes? What's the hourly rate of an artisan producing a unique good? If she has to choose between making and selling her pieces at the given pricepoint or getting a full time job so she can make her rent payments, which option do you think has greater value for society? And of course most importantly: if she's able to sell her work for that price, then that is what it's worth - at a minimum"

Amen, kavasa. And those prices seem just right for a beautiful and unique work of art, which they clearly are! If I had a couple spare grand sitting around, these would be at the very top of my want list (as opposed to the lust list, where they're going to have to stay, I fear).
posted by barnacles at 1:07 AM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

These are gorgeous, but I prefer the work of Grainger McKoy.

I mean, this is just incredible.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 1:50 AM on April 22, 2012

Remarkable, but sadly I think I'd still feel slightly spooked having one in the room.
posted by Segundus at 1:54 AM on April 22, 2012

Absolutely beautiful work. Funnily enough, a lot of them looks more lifelike than some older examples of actual taxidermy (you know the ones - unloved, dusty old specimens in museums and antique shops).
posted by Gordafarin at 2:13 AM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

A woman should have a hobby.
posted by pracowity at 4:29 AM on April 22, 2012 [2 favorites]

(a little bird told me some of you may be confused by pracowity's bon mot)
posted by taz at 5:58 AM on April 22, 2012 [3 favorites]

For those of us who DIY, paper mache unicorn taxidermy.
posted by runningwithscissors at 8:37 AM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

And the glass for the eyes? Is that organically sourced?

The glass is most definitely inorganic.
posted by maryr at 12:34 PM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

And if you can't abide paper mache taxidermy, you can go all the way back around to cute kitten wedding party taxidermy.
posted by FatherDagon at 12:51 PM on April 23, 2012