Friday 1 October 2021

Noah's Ark: Benches for World Animal Day

 We found old Noah on his bench in the park





and asked his advice on loading the ark.







It rained so long that we thought Crikey!
A flood of biblical proportions looks likely.





Though rounding up animals is quite a chore
Noah knew how - he'd done it before.

So the Fribble lads and the Drizzly wenches
set out to save our animal benches.

Wenches is a silly word. Is it just here to keep the rhyme? Editor

The big ones went first:  the tigers


www.asianreplicas.com

the cows




http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007-08

the zebra


http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk



the buffalo


http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/


the sun bear



http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenzowie

the sows.


©Pamela Silin-Palmer 2013

Noah referred to his Ancient Ark Planner
and asked them to wait in an orderly manner.




The wolves howled their protest 


www.artwooddesigns.com


The owl was a screecher


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Owl_Bench

but we wanted to save each precious creature.

Dubious rhyme here, Seashell. Do sort yourself out. Editor.


The foxes


photo by Joanna Michalak


the horned frog



http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/




the bunnies

©Pamela Silin-Palmer 2013

the sheep


http://www.philart.net/



each animal bench we wanted to keep.* 

*Except snakes. I hate snakes.

The squirrel bench


 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Station_bench


and peacock 



http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_Jinnah


we put on the boat, along with the wombat



http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/



the horse


http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com




and the goat.



http://www.erikacrofut.com/

What about pandas? I'd like to see a panda bench. Editor



There was space for the badgers


http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/

a place for the frogs
www.etsy.com/shop/rustilee

adorable monkeys



http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou/

and a couple of dogs.


http://www.dogmt.com/

Some were wood 



www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns


and some were stone



http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/


some were skeletons


http://www.flickr.com/photos/mieke/


and some were bone.


www.marenakos.com

That's lucky. Those dogs will need something to eat. Ed.


There were lots of lovely paw benches saved


http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com


though some of the dogs were not well behaved.


www.straightlinedesigns.com

You could take off some of those dogs and save a panda.  Ed.

What's with the pandas? They get enough publicity as it is. 



What about dragonflies?



www.cottageandbungalow.com



What about bats?*


http://www.flickr.com/photos/dziadzia/

*It seems to have escaped your notice that these are baseball bats. Ed.



Centipedes matter!



www.louishenri.com


and so do cats.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477

(There are rather too many pairs of cats already.)


Cartoon by Mark Parisi, 2014


There's space for a rabbit



http://www.georgiagerber.com/

and a lizard, of course


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosaic_street_bank.jpg



we can fit in a deer



http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bruno_Weber


and another nice horse. 




http://www.3drivers.com/

So why no panda then? Why two horses and no panda? Ed.


We can fit in a snail if it's not very big


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SnailBench


Here's a nice salamander






and some lovely pink pigs.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/hangcat/

We couldn't find spiders or chickens or drakes

What about reptiles?

No way am I googling benches and snakes



Here's a crocodile bench, if you really insist



http://www.flickr.com/photos/carson/



and a lovely giraffe that we just about missed


http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/


Here's a beautiful camel that will really enchant us


http://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofsecrets/


and last but not least, a praying mantis.


www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns


Enchant us and mantis is a terrible rhyme. Ed.

I know. It's a half rhyme.

No, it isn't. It's just rubbish. 

What about leprechauns?

                                                    www.etsy/shop/uneekdesigns


What about rats?

                                     benchsite.blogspot.com.The-Year-of-the-Rat-Bench

What about unicorns?

                                         benchsite.blogspot.com.we-all-scream-for-ice-cream                                                                                                       


And trolls?

                                              Kelly Riley @ coyoterimstudios          

And bats?

We've already done bats. Ed

Rats then. 2020 is the Year of the Rat.

Rats to that. 

Trolls and leprechauns should go on The Ark shouldn't they?

No. Trolls and leprachauns do not exist. 

That's because they didn't make it onto The Ark.

Unicorns do not exist either.

I beg your pardon. Ursula is our Unicorn-in-Residence here in Fribble-under-Par. She's a peace campaigner, a romantic, and a lover of ice cream.


I have only one thing to say to that. Ed 

                                        https://www.flickr.com/photos/trilbybutton/3390098439/

Wait! A couple more camels were found in the park!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/oiyou/

We need to ensure they are saved in the ark. 

It's pretty crowded though.



www.larcobaleno.com

I wonder how many chameleons have snuck on?

Is that it?

That's it. That's the ark full, with all the animal benches loaded.



www.etsy.com/shop/ventrytoys

What about snakes?

Oh, alright, here's one. 


http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/


What about pandas? 

Sorry, couldn't find one. They're very elusive you know.

And what happened to the rhyme? 
It seems to have become as extinct as the dodo.

Best I can do. 

Hasn't Noah done a marvelous job rounding up all these animal benches?


In celebration of all animals 
on World Animal Day 2021


( Including pandas)


http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/


And here is a Panda Banquette with all the pandas you could possibly need.


www.larcobaleno.com


Credits


Isn't Noah splendid? I found him in the RSPCA charity shop back in 2013 when Benchsite began. As the shop helps to rescue thousands of animals every day, I just knew this was Noah and I couldn't wait to write a blog about him. Some people have expressed concern that he is smoking a pipe and of course smoking is bad for health and October is Stoptober month. However, as Noah is several millennia old now, I don't think this is a problem. 

I found the boat bench far from the sea in a beautiful walled garden high on the hill overlooking Wells Cathedral and Glastonbury Tor in Somerset. More boat benches are rocking up at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/boat-benches.html 

The white Siberian tiger bench is from Asian Replicas, who make a huge variety of lifesize statues and furniture in the Philippines www.asianreplicas.com   Elsewhere on Benchsite you will find their edible benches such as tacos and ice creams. You could also have pizza bench, a cake bench, or a chicken and chips bench. Their extensive catalog is at http://www.ardt.biz/ARDTCatalog2013/ARDT_Catalog_2013.zip

The cow bench was photographed by Ralf Lotys in Kothen, Anhalt in 2007. Kothen is a city in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. The cow bench appears in Wikimedia at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007-08_K%C3%B6then_(Anhalt)_12.jpg  Let Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, show you the cream of bovine benches.

The zebra is from Jolly Roger Ltd. Lifesize Models in the UK. http://www.lifesize-models.co.uk  They have thousands of quality resin and fibre-glass 3D life-size models, figures, signs, statues, props, furnishings, etc. Their showroom has over 2000 themed models, which include animals, people, and everything from counter-top coffee beans to fullsize elephants. Their Facebook page shows some of the models in amazing situations  https://www.facebook.com/TheJollyRogerLtd  You will also find them talked about on Twitter https://twitter.com/lifesizemodels

The splendid buffalo bench is from Papillion, Nebraska, photographed by Jimmy Emerson in 2012. He also photographed the delightful horned frog bench in Springerville, Arizona in 2010.  Jimmy lives in Georgia and likes to photograph county courthouses and post offices. He hopes to visit all 3,143 counties or county equivalents in the United States and from the looks of his photostream, he's made a very good start. http://www.flickr.com/photos/61278305@N00/

The sunbear is known for having an extraordinarily long tongue. The sunbear's tongue bench at Edinburgh Zoo is much photographed. This photo is by Greenzowie at Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenzowie/with/8731733772/  I don't know anything about greenzowie but there are some excellent model shoots on the photostream, as well as glorious landscapes from a wide variety of places. 

The howlin' wolf bench is by Eric Widitz in Fox River Grove, Illinois. Eric is a chainsaw sculptor who makes all kinds of statues and furniture from huge chunks of American wood. A lot of his stuff has a nature theme but he does people as well. See his catalogue and videos of his work at www.artwooddesigns.com   This bench also appears on Benchsite in a very different context at festivals

There are many splendid bird benches here on Benchsite. Turkeys, for example. And chickens. The Great British Bird Bench survey also yielded a lot of brilliant birds, including owls. The Owl Bench is near Bowling Harbour in central Scotland, photographed in 2009 by Lairich Rig. In the background are the Kilpatrick Hills. 
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Owl_Bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1423367.jpg

The colourful fox and badger bench is near Ryde, Isle of Wight. It was photographed by Joanna Michalak earlier this year. It is inscribed in loving memory to Eric and Joyce Harris from Stephen and Christine Harris.

Paul Sivell makes intriguing chainsaw sculptures and is inspired by nature, local traditions, and mythology. His distinctive style is well known around the Isle of Wight though he also works throughout the UK and abroad. The badger bench is one of his many functional sculptures (benches!) which can be seen at http://www.thecarvedtree.co.uk/

The wombat photo is by Mike Cogh, who has an extensive collection of brilliant benches on his Flickr photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/ I was delighted to find this wombat just in time for World Animals Day. I can honestly say it's the only wombat bench I have ever seen.  

Pamela Silin-Palmer is a decorative artist, fine artist, and illustrator who now lives in Ireland. She makes magical paintings, greeting cards, dolls, paper products, and glorious hand-painted fantasy furniture. From renaissance rabbits to royal boars, her website is full of fun and fantasy - a real delight! www.pamelasilinpalmer.com  She provided the pigs and bunny benches in this story. There are loads of lovely bunny benches around but I thought these the loveliest of all.


Three Men on a Bench are waiting patiently to enter the ark. They are dressed appropriately as a deer, a pig and a horse. The photo is from Davey Scarycrow, who likes to photograph assemblages, birthday parties on benches, and vintage stuff, including old cars. I think I recognised my old 1976 Ford Fiesta in his photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarycrow/3520051220/sizes/m/in/photolist-6n4bAh/

I've done Sheep Benches before. Oh, indeed I have. With my artist/designer hat on I have even made sheep benches, like this one, entitled Don't B Sheepish 2.





Don't B Sheepish 2, subtitled Bathmat on a Piano Bench, is available for $4,500. Contact Bo-pEEp via this blogspot. No, just joking. Benchsite is non-commercial and always will be. 

The sheep bench shown in this post is one of several bench sculptures called Eastwick Park Farm, made by Rosalie Sherman in 1983 as part of the ongoing Philadelphia Public Art project. It includes a vast array of public art: 846 sculptures, fountains, mosaics, memorials and, of course, benches, scattered all around Philadelphia. There are driving site tours and maps for locating the art. The scale of the Philart project is really quite something and it's being added to all the time.  http://www.philart.net/

The Squirrel Bench is near the station at Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria. It was photographed by John Illingworth in 2006 for Geograph
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Station_bench_-_geograph.org.uk_-_241759.jpg

The elegant peacock bench is in Jinnah Garden in Lahore, Pakistan. It was photographed in 2010 by Khalid Mahmood
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_Jinnah_Garden_Lahore.jpg

As 2014 is The Year of the Horse, I thought horses ought to have a blog of their own. And so they have. We galloped into the new year with a lot of gorgeous horses. 

The first horse and the lovely pawprint benches were photographed by Kate Robertson from Idaho Falls. Kate is the Queen of Creativity. She describes herself as a painter, mixed media artist, weaver, spinner and writer. Besides that, she photographs all kinds of stuff wherever she goes on her creative pursuits. She is a Kaizen-Muse creativity coach and she has loads of ideas on how to get your creative mojo working. She has various blogs; I first saw her at http://thequeenofcreativity.blogspot.com

And 2015 is the Year of the Goat bench. Erika Crofut from Connecticut made the beautiful goat bench and she has other bright, fun animal benches and sofas on her website at http://www.erikacrofut.com/  Erika explains that she has always loved the process of transforming a thought from my head into something physical that can be shared with people . . . My projects are all attempts to interpret and visually articulate ties between history, family, and stories. . .  I use my art to express my amazement and gratitude for how beautiful an average day can be.  

Rusti Lee from Colorado made the cheerful green frog stool. Rusti's shop is at www.etsy.com/shop/rustilee  She makes whimsical handpainted stuff for the home, especially knobs, frames, boxes, and more. I love her painted signs.  

The lovely carved wood Japanese monkey couple are from http://www.rakuten.co.jp/kanmuryou/   If you particularly like monkey benches, or for that matter, dragons, there are plenty of monkeys and dragons at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/monkey-business-on-st-georges-day.html  And remember that 2016 is the Year of the Monkey so Eddie, my Inner Editor, finally gets his say at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/2016-year-of-monkey-bench.html


I was intrigued when I saw Studio Job, the black and white bench of animal skeletons by Mieke Tacken in Amsterdam. Mieke's photostream shows a real commitment to design: she goes to all the design shows and takes photos of amazing things. Like some other people I know, she seems to have an interest in photographing seating of various kinds. Chairs? There are thousands. And quite a few brilliant benches too.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/mieke/

The two stately Labradors were made by Stephen Huneck, a self-taught sculptor who carved by hand. The Stephen Huneck Gallery is at Dog Mountain, in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. http://www.dogmt.com/  Dog Mountain is set on a 150 acre private mountaintop and is always open to people and their dogs. Its unspoiled haven is covered with hiking trails and dog ponds. There is no leash law on Dog Mountain: dogs are not just welcome here, they are cherished! Dogs are free to run, play, swim and best of all meet other dogs! Stephen's artworks, include paintings, sculptures, books, and a Dog Chapel, "A place where people can go and celebrate the spiritual bond they have with their dogs. It is the largest artwork of my life and my most personal." Stephen died in 2010 but his love of dogs lives on in his artwork.

The stone elephant bench is at Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa in the UK. It was photographed by Ell Brown, who lives in Birmingham and has a HUGE Flickr photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/    Elliot Brown also photographed the snake bench at the end of the story. It's from the Highgate Playground in Birmingham. I found it just about non-snakey enough to put on the ark. 

Dog benches are very popular here on Benchsite and a dogbone bench comes in handy when you have a lot of hungry dog benches to feed. The Tenino Dogbone bench is from Marenakos in Preston, Washington. They make a variety of granite dogbone and other types of benches.  www.marenakos.com   There are some very nice medical dogs on Benchsite at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/feelgood-medical-benches-for-world.html

The lifted leg dog bench is actually a table: it's called Bad Table. It's one of many flabbergasting designs made by Judson Beaumont at Straight Line Designs Inc. in Vancouver.  None of these designs are straight lines; each one throws a wobbly in an entirely different way.    www.straightlinedesigns.com

The pretty dragonfly bench is by Cottage and Bungalow and costs $2,260. It's at www.cottageandbungalow.com a small store which offers personal one-to-one service in furniture, quality home furnishings and accessories. Their coastal home products make you want to go out and live on the beach. As for animal benches, they do a stunning blue peacock, a dolphin, and the pretty dragonfly shown here.  For more intriguing insect benches, see what's buzzing for National Insect Week at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/national-insect-week-buzz-about-benches.html

I was aware that these are baseball bats rather than animal bats. This bat bench is the suitably named Johnny Bench baseball bench. It's in Cincinnati and was photographed by Tuscola Joe way back in 2003 and made available on the Flickr Creative Commons.http://www.flickr.com/photos/dziadzia/  See Miggy's choice of good sport benches at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/miggys-good-sport-benches.html


Louis Henri's Shongololo bench is inspired by his African roots; shongololo is the Zulu word used for centipedes and millipedes. The Shongololo bench has 56 hand-turned walnut legs. Louis Henri Bührmann grew up in South Africa in a family of designers and innovators. He now resides in London where he produces opulent interiors and distinctive designs at his own business www.louishenri.com  Louis' Twitter is at  www.twitter.com/louishenrii

The cat bench was made by sculptor Don Drumm, who, in conjunction with Cricket Forge, makes a variety of sculptural pieces for galleries, gifts, and gardens. The cat bench shown here was photographed by Rachel at Ravenwood Curio Shoppe in Jackson, New Hampshire. Rachel has a photostream full of gorgeous images. She loves autumn and there are a lot of beautiful pictures of New Hampshire and pumpkins and Halloween. There are beaches and beach house and surfing and all manner of interesting things at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477   If you like cats, you'll want to see the purrfect benches I found for World Cats Day. And cats who play the piano? No problem, tune in here. 

Georgia Gerber sculpted the beautiful bronze rabbit. Georgia creates bronze sculpture primarily working with life size animal and human figures, often incorporating architectural or abstract elements with an emphasis on creating accessible public art which encourages viewer interaction. She has an amazing studio and garden at Whidbey Island, Washington. Her bronze sculptures can be seen at http://www.georgiagerber.com/    For more sunny bunny benches see http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/sunny-bunny-easter-benches.html


The bright blue mosaic lizard is a street bench in Adelaide, Australia. It was photographed by Dinkum in 2010.   http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosaic_street_bank.jpg

The deer is by Bruno Weber on Uetliberg in the canton of Zurich. It was photographed by Roland zh  and made available on Wikimedia at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bruno_Weber_-_Uetliberg_IMG_1657.jpg

The second horse is from 3D Rivers, whose mission is to help the internet community meet the growing need for a wide range of well-designed, high quality 3D models and consumer goods products in a constantly changing environment. They offer a huge range of 3D products including things like buildings, transport, everyday objects, characters, model packs, animals, and yes, of course, benches. This Indian-style horse is one of the many different kinds of benches available via their online site at  http://www.3drivers.com/

The snail bench is in Priory Country Park in Bedfordshire. It was photographed by Simon Speed in 2010 and comes from Wikimedia at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SnailBenchPrioryCountryPark.JPG?uselang=en-gb

The salamander bench is  by Yael Shmueli in Herzliya in Israel. It was photographed by  אבישי טייכר   and appears in Wiki Commons at  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PikiWiki_Israel_7389_bench_in_shape_of_salamandra.jpg?uselang=en-gb

The two cheery pink pigs were photographed by Hangcat in Chicago. He's a young photographer who makes the most of his city by capturing quirky features of city life. He does benches too, and graffiti that people write on benches. Hmmmm, that's got me thinking of another post . . . http://www.flickr.com/photos/hangcat/

The saw-tooth crocodile bench is a little scary. It's in the Crossroads Mall in Bellevue, Washington. I don't know if I'd want to sit down on it even if I had shoppers' feet.  Jim Carson from Seattle photographed it in 2009. It's part of his photostream at  http://www.flickr.com/photos/carson/   Jim's cycling photos of rural Washington, Oregon and Idaho bring back the happy travelling days of my childhood. According to Jim, Wallace, Idaho is the centre of the universe. 

The giraffe bench is one of a range of recycled plastic animal-themed benches made by Playline Design in Devon in the UK. There's also a hedgehog, a dinsosaur and a frog  http://www.playlinedesign.co.uk/devon-planters-seating-5  The business  provides active and imaginative playground equipment for schools, holiday parks and local authorities throughout the UK. They also cater for special educational needs children with a variety of play equipment based around visual stimulation, and sensory items such as sand and water play. 

The gorgeous camel bench was photographed by Hilde Heyvaert at Adventureland in Disneyland, Paris. Hilde's Flickr photostream is called House of Secrets Inc. and it certainly is full of secrets and surprises:  festivals, animals, costumes and loads of colourful stuff from Disneyland Paris. http://www.flickr.com/photos/houseofsecrets/  Hilde lives in Belgium and is described as a steampunk fashionista extraordinaire. She writes for The Gatehouse, a blog about all things steampunk and dieselpunk. 

I felt so lucky to find the praying mantis bench, which is from Dragonwood Designs in Pennsylvania.So is the little green turtle bench.  www.etsy.com/shop/dragonwooddesigns
Dragonwood's owner is a professional cabinetmaker/woodworker who designs and makes unique and beautiful furniture and objets d'art from woods such as honduras mahogany, walnut, bubinga, hard maple and German beech. I try to provide an eclectic mixture of meticulously crafted furniture with useful items integrating natural aspects of the materials with which I work. I strive to create the sublime as well as the mundane, furniture and objects which are unique designs and not available anywhere else. That has certainly been achieved with the praying mantis bench; I didn't see one anywhere else! 

Trilby Button is interested in color, texture, illustration, words on walls, and weird hair. Back in 2009 her Second Life avatar got involved in the first of the Unicorn Wars. I’m not certain but I think Trilby was on the Pro-unicorn side. https://www.flickr.com/photos/trilbybutton/3390098439/in/photolist


The camels who just made it onto the ark at the end are from Andy Davison in London. The camel bench-ends were photographed on the London Embankment along the River Thames. Andy's camels are part of a varied photostream which includes ciabatta bread, cats, and lots and lots of football games. http://www.flickr.com/photos/oiyou/

The jumble of animals is called the Cake Stool. It's by brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana at the mind-blowing design company L'arco Baleno. http://www.larcobaleno.com/ The Cake Stool is described as "an iconic example of the Campana brothers’ signature style" and we see it again with the Panda Banquette at the end of the story. These playful pieces repurpose stuffed animals, which the brothers Campana consider 'a humble, often overlooked material'. The Cake Stool is described as ". . . a poetic, vibrant stool, that plays on the irony in these soft representations of predatory animals. The stuffed animals are hand-sewn onto canvas stretched over a stainless steel structure. Another exemplar of this limited edition of 150 is in the collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts." The Panda Banquette is is a limited edition of 25. At $44,170 it's the most expensive bench ever featured on Benchsite.

Noah's Ark, fully loaded, is a wooden toy made by Rosario at Ventry Toys in Tralee in Ireland. It was photographed at Ventry harbour and really looks ready to go. www.etsy.com/shop/ventrytoys

The joke about how many chameleons might have snuck onto the ark is by Adam Hess and is one of the best one liners from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2017. That's not just me saying so - it's on the official list.

The snake bench was photographed by Elliot Brown at Highgate Park -Adventure Playground in Birmingham.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/

Kritterville USA makes brightly coloured and very cute benches, chairs and stools. The panda bench was photographed in 2010 and appears in Kritterville's photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/artompotamus/ There are also frogs, beetles, bugs, and a variety of other kritters. 

Eddie, my Inner Editor feels that primates did not get their fair dues in this story so I've agreed, as usual, to let Eddie put up a picture of himself. Here he is last summer with his Factor 500 suncream and everything he needs for a day at the beach.








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