Final Thoughts

It's been 4 years and this blog needs some final comments. 

The sale of the moose was a disaster.  The average sale price of the moose was 1/4 of the previous auction.  Because of the success of the prior event, the artists worked twice as hard.  Acknowledging how awful this event was by those who ran it would have provided some comfort. 

The lesson I took away from this.  Don't ever do it again!

I can't blame the Chamber of Commerce, the economy was tanking, but someone should have thought, "How many people want a second moose in their yard?"

The artists get 1/4 of the auction proceeds.  The whole event depended on the artists.  People flock to Bennington and business flourishes. Then they sell the moose and money goes to charity.  And in my case the take was less than $600.  It cost me far more than that to make it, plus a couple hundred hours of labor.  And because so little was paid for it, Mystical Moose is disintegrating in someone's yard right now.  There were other moose that had even more work put into them, such as RoboMoose. 

The success of the last auction I am sure led people to put more work into the new ones. 

The universe was generous with providing many signs along the way that showed that I should not continue, but I didn't heed them.  The delivery of the moose was supposed to be in December.  It kept getting postponed, time and time again we heard  "It will be next week"  Finally it was delivered in February.  The designer of the moose forgot that it needed to fit inside a door.  The previous moose, because the head was tilted at an angle, did.  I had to make a hoop greenhouse for it to fit in.  The plastic kept blowing off and the entire structure wanted to tip over.  Working in the freezing cold trying to get bondo to set up is a trying ordeal.   

Still, we artists tried to stay excited about it.  And when it was all over, it would have been nice to say, sorry it didn't work out....

Parting advice:  If anyone wants to do this in the future, they should stick to painting.  People prefer paintings over sculpture.  Look at auctions of art.  You never see the values of sculpture equal paintings.  Painting takes less time and is more appreciated.  

Good luck to future projects, follow the adventures of the Bennington Catamount

More Magical Cloak

Mystical Moose has a more magical cloak. Random twirls and Zodiac Signs have been added to his cloak.
Gold and Red Sparkle not apparent from a distance appear and disappear as the viewer moves around him.

New Wand

Mystical Moose has a new magic wand. This one is an improvement over the old one which was damaged by an enthusiastic fan.

New Collar Colors

Because several people thought he was Santa Claus, his collar and shirt were changed to take out the green. This collar has much richer colors, plus gems.

How He Came To Be

When the idea first came up for doing another moose, I hesitated because I could not think of a concept that was at least as engrossing as my previous moose, Moosewood, a moose that was half tree, half moose, borrowed from the “Greenman” of Irish myth.

Ideas of Father Time and a Wizard suggested themselves. Anthropomorphizing an animal opens the door to many engaging and whimsical ideas, capturing the imagination and appealing to the child in all of us.

The design needed to be accessible, detailed, and fun to look at.

There is a richer background of Wizards than Father Time as illustrations, so a wizard was chosen. What would a wizard that was also a moose look like and wear?

Some famous wizards are Merlin, Gandalf, Dumbledore and Mickey Mouse. Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings is a wizard icon who wears boring homespun. Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series is probably the most famous Wizard and he has a great wardrobe but wears a strange cap. Mickey Mouse illustrates the iconic crumpled hat in the Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Mystical Moose is mostly modeled from Dumbledore He gathers his beard in a ring, and in an early movie, wears a red robe with multiple cuffs. He also carries a book mentioned in a Harry Potter book.

Being a moose besides a wizard, it would be likely that animals would enjoy his company, so birds nest in his beard and mice hide in his clothes.

I hope you enjoy my version of a wizardly moose!