Art commission Porcupine

Coffee plays a very important role in our daily life. So it is always great to hear of coffee shops that support free trade coffee. A few months ago, I was commissioned to make an art piece for exactly such a coffee shop. I absolutely love making one-off pieces for clients. So, I was very excited to get started.

The shop Mokobodi (translation: porcupine) specializes is free trade coffee sourced from woman owned farms in Africa.

So naturally I needed to make a porcupine related art piece. But I do love my pieces to have function, and not just aesthetics. So, a functional product display porcupine was born.

The body was first made from recycled Rhodesian Teak floor boards. Sanded and sealed, it really came to life. And then the little guy got some bolted eyes. The spikes were made from copper plumbing pipes in different lengths giving him a very suitably punk look.

Now for the functional part. A copper piping frame was attached in the front to give him stability, but also to create a space for the basket area. A decision had to be made if leather or cotton should be used for the basket. In the end cotton won. Just because it gave a much softer look.

The grey t-shirt cotton yarn was then crochet onto the frame.

And wha-la! Mr. Porcupine was ready for his new home.