Description
Inspiration for my Pipistrelle Brooch
I have always wanted to model a bat. But it wasn’t until we found one temporarily roosting in our upstairs corridor, shortly followed by a customer asking if I would make her a pipistrelle bat ornament, that I finally realised the time was right. My original commission piece was of a pipistrelle sitting with it’s wings tucked in (see my pipistrelle bat ornament). I was itching to model one with the wings out but struggled with the design of one in full flight which would also work as a necklace. That was until I spotted Gav Sidey‘s photo of one poised for flight, with its wings in a lovely loose W shape.
My original bat, with wings tucked, was nicknamed “Nora” after a TV character from my childhood (Nora Batty). As this model shares the same head and body, should it be Nora – or Nora’s identical sister Nelly? I’m not sure. This Pipistrelle Brooch is identical to the original ornament version, with the exception of the underside where material has been removed to lighten the model for the brooch version.
I do still have a bat on my To Do list. The one that set up home in my upstairs corridor was a brown long-eared bat. And did you know that, when they sleep, they curl their ears up? He was absolutely adorable. And the experience of sitting on the floor of my daughter’s bedroom at dusk, watching it fly around seeking the open window (which it sadly found all too quickly), was truly magical.
