Mouse Ironing

It's my mother's birthday today, so here is something I gave to her a while back (for Christmas, truth be told). It's a mousy take on Edgar Degas' Woman ironing (Blanchisseuse repassant) c.1882-86, now at the Reading Public Museum and Art Gallery in Reading, Pennsylvania. Degas' picture is oil on canvas; mine is acrylic on wood and the mouse is about life-sized. Note her MONOPOLY iron.

A Loafing Mouse

My mom, a mouse person, let me steal this picture back so I could un-frame and scan it for show-and-tell. I made it for Christmas a dozen years ago. At that time I'd realized that I couldn't expect to get illustration work featuring anthropomorphized animals if I didn't have any examples in my portfolio, so I began to make studies like this one, which is acrylic on paper, 1.5 x 3.25 inches. Of course, this out-of-proportion and ratty loafer never got me any work, but what he lacks in looks and ambition, I hope he makes up in character.

Fall for Pip and Squeak this Winter!

Lend Pip & Squeak a hand and whisk them away home for the holidays! Seriously, where else can you find such a mélange of mice and snow and scarves and carrots and coal nuggets and tophats and branches and Harold Lloyd and the most vertiginous, acrophobia-inducing scenes from Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur and North By Northwest and, well, Vertigo - ALL in one picture? Seriously. I ask you.

For Small, Ornery Varmints

Hey! Put all that lasso practice to good use and capture a
Cat and Mouse for the small, ornery varmints in your life.

Why Not Build a Snowman?

Or go mountain climbing - depending on your size and stamina. Sure, these mice might look like they're taking winter in stride, but it's cold out there, so why not invite Pip and Squeak into your nice, warm house for the holidays? Don't forget the cheese!

By the Toe!

A scene from Cat & Mouse.

Laundress Mice Carrying Linen

My mother has a collection of laundry-related art and objects and she also loves mice, so I made a little painting for her birthday, based on "Laundresses Carrying Linen" by Edgar Degas.