About the celebration that is
Est 2021
I follow a lot of bat and environmental scientists online. Someone replied to a post on the annual US Fat Bear competition, that it was a shame there wasn't a "Fat Bat" equivalent.
My immediate response was:
A small shout out to my friend Georgia who gifted me the bat jumper - I live in it through winter
I took the tweet as permission to indulge and set to drawing a week of of daily microbats. For the first series I did them perched on crystal lolly bowls, plus one little red flying fox in a ginger jar - Chinese motifs frequently depict bats, in sets of five particular (See the 2021 series here).
Creating something so unusual and joyous was good for my mental wellbeing at the time. This, along with the enthusiastic response from friends and strangers, and knowing I was making more people aware and engaged with bat biodiversity, cemented my decision to make it an annual event. 2022 was Fatbat and cake, 2023 Aussie Fatbats and Snax, 2024 Fatbat and beverages.
While I had at least one call for a FatBatMonth I know that it would burn me out and sap the joy from it. One of the lovely things about this project is it is an annual sprint project - it is seasonal, anticipatory, and once it's past one must wait for next season for new designs.
A side result of FatBatWeek has been the production of notepads and stickers of my favourite (and popular vote) designs which you can oggle (and potentially invest in) over here in my Stationery Shop.
About me:
I've been drawing fairly regularly bats since 2008, my honours year in my Natural History Illustration degree focused on the Bats of Central Australia, and also bats in international folklore. I've done bat illustration work for the Australasian Bat Society, Bat Conservation International, and SMACON, as well as various client and personal projects. I immensely enjoy creating work that reaches out and enthuses people about bats. If you have a project that might benefit from my illustration skills, consider commissioning me and reach out for a quote.
I use the tag #fatbatweek via instagram, Cara, and on Blue Sky.
Love what you've heard so far and want to be kept in the loop: join my bi monthly updates mailing list by dropping me a line to let me know (I will eventually automate this but in the mean time it's a bcc, meaning no corporation gets your email address from me).
Love what you've seen AND want to enable more joyous blue sky creativity? I take commissions, or/and you can investigate my Patreon.
