cutsie and modern versions of elephant style

i want to differentiate between the 2 types of collectors out there... the obsessed and the appreciator.





i am the appreciator, atleast i hope so! :)

if i was obsessed with elephants, i would buy every elephant i came across: national geographic elephant t-shirts, grey elephant mugs, life-like elephant figurines (eww!!!), gold elephant tusk jewelry, or perhaps an elephant mouse pad. i don't own any of those.. thankfully.

an appreciator collects the idea of the object. i like wooden elephant forms, not a detailed representation. i prefer a pink plastic chunk that resembles an elephant over a skillfully crafted perfectly identifiable elephant. i like a modern twist, whether it be with basic shapes or a twist of colors. i can appreciate the ironic beauty there. :)

my first elephants were from my fiance and my sister, ashley. dan got me 2 elephants whispering to each other. if you look at the whispering elephant's hand, you can see he is hiding a ring for his friend! aww! how cute!! this is a cute collectable.. borderline obsessive.. but still cute enough to be safe.. haha.. :)

ashley (go see her blog too) got me a candle stick of 3 elephants standing on top of each other. this is great because, you would definitely never see elephants standing on top of each other in real life. it's just a fun artful take on happy pachyderms. this definitely fits in the appreciator category. i understand that some cute elephant figurines (like the whispering couple) are portrayed in a fashion you also wouldn't see in real life, but it sometimes lacks the art factor. that could throw them into the obsessor category. does this make any sense?

this probably sounds like crazy ramblings to some of you, but i want people to understand i'm not like a crazy cat lady.. but with elephants. :) i just appreciate the style of our elephant friends!