A variety of whimsical characters fashioned from natural materials and found objects are on display in the exhibit cases. Dave Franz, library director and chief creative, shares this second series of woodland creatures to make you smile and ponder.

A workshop will be hosted by Dave on Friday, December 22 at 1:00 pm Registration is required (click here).

Woodland Creatures will be on display through December 30, 2023. Some creatures are for sale and 50% of each sale will be donated to the library.

The inspiration for the woodland creatures series comes from Dave’s time as a Scoutmaster for Troop 173 in Parsippany. Dismayed by his own lack of plant identification skills, a requirement for a First Class Scout, he set out to identify many of the common native plants and trees around us. “It’s really just shape and pattern recognition,” says Franz. “Leaves, seeds, bark, and flowers all have unique characteristics. You just have to pay attention and conciously note the differences. The First Class requirement is to identify 10 native plants, so I started out thinking about how many different plants could be used to create a quirky critter. Acorn caps make great eyes, especially paired with black-eyed-peas! Pistachio shells look like bird beaks, ears, flower petals or shoes.”