Desert Bus for Hope

Photo of the needle-felted Xanathar the Beholder taken from the front. This blue and beige creature is spherical with a large eye and mouth with spiked teeth making up its front. Sprouting from the top of its body are ten stalks, each with one eye on the end in a variety of colors.

Today’s prize preview has its eye on you… or eyes… eleven eyes, for that matter. Behold, who hovers before you but the great lord of the Sword Coast underworld, Xanathar the Beholder! Of course, Xanathar has never looked so stylish before when compared to this needle-felted fluffy recreation of the famous Dungeons & Dragons character. It looks huggable, but don’t do that… it has sharp teeth. (And it’s a sculpture, not a plushie. I almost called it a plushie, but it’s not.)

Side photo of the needle-felted Xanathar the Beholder. Pointed spikes grow out of the top side of the beholder’s body. The statue is placed on a wooden base.

Johanna Iles Art donated this crafty creation to us. In Johanna’s own words…

This infamous crime lord is made from ethical wool fibres which are needle felted by hand to create a firm, 3D art sculpture.
The 10 eyestalks are internally wired enabling slight adjustments when shooting Xanathar's disintegration ray.
The large eye is painted in watercolour, overlaid with a glass cabochon then coated in resin creating the creepy ability to follow you around the room.
The teeth are made from apoxie clay, acrylic paint and coated in resin saliva.

Close up photo of the beholder’s facial features. This detail photo shows the felted surface and intricate paint detail on the beholder’s grimy teeth and large brown cat-like eye. The eye is reflective, lit up by the room.

This is normally where we’d say check back in later for more prize previews, but there’s nothing else to preview… because they’re all live now! Check out the Live Auctions, Silent Auctions, and Giveaways pages for all the details on the wonderful creations donated to us this year by our craft-along community and prize sponsors. And, while you’re perusing, make sure you’ve got your Donor Account set up and ready to go since you’ll need one to participate in auctions and giveaways.

If you want a shot at winning this prize during its live auction, tune in to Desert Bus for Hope 2023 on Friday, November 17th at 7:00pm PST. And don’t miss the start of this year’s run in… oh geez… five days?!? When did that happen? Anyway, the run kicks off on Saturday, November 11th at 2:00pm PST on twitch.tv/desertbus.

A photo of someone holding the beholder sculpture in their hands. The person is using both hands to hold the sculpture.