GALLERY  WHISTLE THUMBNAILS Artist's comment: This alert fellow is a meerkat. What's a meerkat? Suricata suricatta, you geek. Although he's a whistle, he's not quite as musical as "Timon" from The Lion King. He's a bit more like the real thing. I like to capture the piece right after being sculpted, in case anything happens in the kilns. These photos of unremarkable quality capture the dynamic stance from three viewpoints. The drying earthen clay looks grey in the photos, but will be whte after firing. My meerkat is a surprise birthday present commissioned by a good friend, Debby, who not-so-subtly asked the intended recipient one of those questions like, "What kind of animal would you be, if you were an animal?" Guess what his answer was. The surprise is that recipient doesn't know exactly what his answer is being used for. Yet. This piece was totally hand-sculpted and voiced. Color choices are being made as you read this. --mm

WHISTLE #057: MEERKAT (as yet unnamed)