Because the beaver isn't just an animal; it's an ecosystem!

Category: Beaver Art


So Maine artist Brooke Knippa and her uniquely animated ceramics have  been way famous even before she was featured on Bored Panda. I thought she just might be amused by our beaver story and guess what?


Not only did we get an original piece made especially for us, we inspired her to do a line of beavers which will be coming in the future!

Brooke’s handywork catches a pretty penny on the open market so if you want to own the original Worth A Dam beaver mug come bid on it at the festival silent auction.

Thank you Brooke.

 


This happened recently through the hard work of our friends at the Beaver Brigade.

Beaver Mural Unveiling Sat April 20 2024 at Charles Paddock Zoo Atascadero  John Khus
with SLO Beaver Brigade Audrey Taub
California Coastal Commission WHALE TAIL® grants program &the San Luis Obispo Beaver Brigade
in collaboration with the Charles Paddock Zoo & the City of Atascadero. The Coastal Commission WHALE TAIL® grants support experiential education & stewardship of the California coast and its watersheds.

Chumash artist John Khus, who created the mural, will reveals it in video below.. at the Charles Paddock Zoo at 9100 Morro Road in Atascadero This mural has been made possible through the California Coastal Commission WHALE TAIL® grants program and the San Luis Obispo Beaver Brigade in collaboration with the Charles Paddock Zoo and the City of Atascadero.

The art of John Khus has been recognized by Chumash leaders as “striking, beautiful, unique, carrying the voices of our ancestral artists with whom he has walked all his life.” He has exhibited in galleries throughout the Central Coast and taught art and cultural heritage at the 2023 inaugural Chumash Heritage and Marine Science Camp in Oceano. His original artwork resulted in the “Tomol Rides Wishtoyo” mural in Cambria, which was recently presented with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition.

“The Beaver are my relatives, as are all the animals, plants, land, water, and air,” Khus said. “So, the importance of this mural is the same as someone might give to a family portrait or ancestral painting.”

The mural unveiling will include remarks by representatives from the SLO Beaver Brigade, and the artist. “The mural represents the beavers tending the waters from the Salinas River all the way to the ocean in Monterey Bay,” said Audrey Taub of the SLO Beaver Brigade. “I love the representation of all of the life forms that depend on the beavers. The three young beavers in the center of it all are just innocently doing their job of being beavers, unaware that all of the other critters around the ponds need them in order to live.”


So this is coming soon, written by beaver friend Jeff Miller and published by Heyday Books.

Mind you there isn’t an illustration of beavers on the front but the odds are good Martinez will be one of the stories featured Jeff asked for photos and sent me what he’d written about our story for corrections.

Unfortunately it’s being published after our festival so we can’t feature a copy. But keep an eye out.

By Jeff Miller , Obi Kaufmann

Learn about the wildlife of the Bay Area from a lifelong protector of endangered species, and enjoy the wild ride.

Jeff Miller’s quirky guide to the coolest animal neighbors in the Bay Area will have you gawking at elk, whooping with cranes, and crowning yourself a crossing guard for newts before you know it. Join Jeff on a local safari to meet more than sixty species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and insects, and discover the fascinating and sometimes bizarre mating, feeding, and athletic antics of our most charismatic animals. Portraits by Obi Kaufmann, the renowned conservationist artist who created The California Field Atlas, bring each animal to vivid life alongside fun facts, comical photos, and maps to help you scope out the best spots to find your furred, feathered, slimy, and slithery friends. Imbued with the author’s deep compassion for the well-being of our local fauna, Bay Area Wildlife reveals why each of these creatures matters, as well as the threats that loom over our region’s incredible biodiversity.

 


Ooh fun, At the festival when kids finish their beaver puzzle they will get this:


It’s getting to be that time again when packages start arriving at the door with generous treasures that folks have agreed to donate to the beaver festival silent auction. I’m sure we’re far luckier than we deserve to be, but this was a recent original sketch donated by an Oregon artist I’ve wrote about before, Fiona Barnacle (also known as Bearclaw). She and her husband attended the State of the Beaver again and were reinspired to share her talents with us.


Its ab it’s an original sink drawing on water color paper. I’m hoping we can persuade our friend at “Uve been framed” to take it under his wing.

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