Inspiration

I've written about inspiration here before, and it can be surprising how quickly you can go from "stuck" to "Voila!"  

I wanted to make simple mice for a long while but somehow it never happened.  Then, while we were on vacation in Kincardine, this stunning fibre was found in a lovely shop on the main street.  On a top shelf in Stilara there was a basket of fluff... 

I was immediately drawn to it... but walked away.  I have so much fibre already!!  But I went back the next day, probably because the color matches my sweet Zorro so well!  Look at that!  

Once I had the fibre, everything fell into place.  Kinny was born that same day!  

I'm terrible at replicating my work, so the next three mice were all different!  Stilara, Cameron and Baby were all completed in time for the Artisan Showcase and all three found new homes.

That's Stilara, Cameron, Baby and Kinny from left to right.

Even unborn, Baby was super photogenic.  

Once she was finished, there was no stopping that adorable little creature!

Still, Kinny is my favorite and I'm glad I kept him!

French ladies and rats

I purchased 3 postcards for myself in remembrance of Rose and to help myself get over missing her emails and letters.  It's been 2 months since she died and life moves on, only it's smaller now and I miss the highs of opening the mailbox and finding something from her...

So I paid three strangers to send me something, 3 gorgeous postcards.  I didn't open them right away, I'm going to savour them on days when I need a little pick-me-up.  Like yesterday.  

This card was purchased on eBay and is called "Un Jour Maigre" and is dated 1906.  What an interesting scene of rats eating mussels, crab and lobster!

The title translates as a lean day, meaning a day of abstinence, or a day when eating meat is forbidden.  But these little guys are feasting on shellfish, so I imagine there's a story being told here in regards to fasting days and Christianity.  

The artist is Leontine Malbet and I was curious about her.  I discovered she was a painter in France, her full name being Aurelie Leontine Malbet (1868-1906).  And it turns out she also shared a fascination with rats and mice!  These are the images I found online:

What can I say?  Very cool!  Why would a French lady of that time paint rats and mice?  Paris of course is teaming with rats so she may have had some life models to study (although she seems to make her critters all white).  

These next three all appeared in the weekly magazine France Illustrée.  Again I'm sure there's some social commentary attached to these images.

November 19, 1898

May 13,1893 and January 16 1892

I love this next one.  The artist's talent is clear, with the lovely grapes and peaches, and then there are two rats.  Why would you paint this?  I would love to know!  And who would hang it on their wall (besides me)?  

I also really like this one.  Again, the lovely, ripe peaches, they look delicious... and mice!  Lots of mice, enjoying the spilt cream?  I wish I had a better picture of this, to see the wee mice in more detail.  This image makes it clear that the critters in the other paintings and drawings are rats, these wee guys are darn cute mice.  

So, how does a person go about finding out if any other of Aurelie Leontine Malbet rodent paintings were published as postcards?  If there's one...???  

I'd love to hear from you if you have any insight!

And again, thank you Rose.

Little windows

Postcards are amazing little things.  They are social commentary, giving us a peek into what people thought in a by-gone time, and also little bits of retail:  who bought what and to send to whom?   My good friend Rose got me interested in postcards and, mostly because of her generosity, I have a lovely little collection of Krampus and rat cards, mostly vintage.  

A particular card caught my eye recently, this one:  

It features a lot of white mice having a good time, more or less realistic with a bit of whimsy. 

Attempting to find out more about this card online, I found this painting:

and was immediately struck by the similarities.  The overall placement of objects is very similar, but elements like the tipped glass on the right, the spoon in the jam, the partially eaten brioche on the left, etc... are copies of each other.  And if you look closely, some of the mice are identical! 

Take a look at these two images: 

While the postcard has a lot more mice, these two in the painting are obviously the same as in the postcard image.  

So the question is:  which came first, the postcard or the painting?  The postcard is dated 1904 by C. Riviere (perhaps Charles Riviere) while the painter, A. Bechard, is from the 19th-20th century but that's all I know so far.  This painting is for sale on the Proantic website and I have attempted to contact the vendor but have received no reply.  

If anyone has any insight or ideas, please contact me!  

Mice are nice, Krampus is coming and a little Baileys for everyone

  If you've read this blog for a while, you know that I am not a very Christmases sort and MUCH prefer the glorious thrills of Hallowe'en.  In fact, I rarely purchase anything new for Christmas decorating (to save space and money for skulls and severed fingers, of course!) but this year there was a notable exception:  mice!!  I spotted these ADORABLE mice during Elora's Starlight shopping event at pod (75 Metcalfe Street) which always has unusual things on offer.  
  Mice enjoy a little Christmas cheer so they appreciate this mouse-sized Baileys... and behind them?  Why, that's a framed postage stamp featuring Krampus. (Thank you again Rose!)  Krampusnacht is December 5th so you'd better watch out if you've been naughty!  

On our door we have some switches for Krampus... they're supposed to be birch but I think he'll be okay with our willow.  Apparently, one Krampus custom is to display the switches all year, to remind children that Krampus will return!  Love it!  

Ratty guts taste like strawberries?

Need a little Hallowe'en rescue remedy from the March blahs?  How about Chocolate Strawberry Rats or White Chocolate Mice?  Enjoy!

I spotted this recipe in the October 2012 issue of Canadian Living.  See, I'm catching up!