May 14 - Axolotl

"We won't protect what we don't love, and we can't love what we don't know."

~ Richard Louv

Axolotls reside at a strange point between being critically endangered, yet thriving perfectly well in captivity.   

This over-representation weirdly hurts conservation momentum. The public assumes they're safe because they're visible, but their wild population is near extinction.  I remember my own incredulity seeing one at a local fish store hmmity hmm years ago, thinking the owner was part of some international exotic animal rescue or something.  ".. and you can sell these things?!"

The larger of these is an Isopresso design I had just finished when Joe Mock dropped into a recent Bling Bling Jam webinar to show a quicker-built/linework version.  Both perfectly capture that "balding man with a colorful poof of side frizz" look axolotls have.  *cough*💮🤡*cough*

(view other posts by The Balloon Brothers or Isopresso)