Rodents on the Go

 


It all started innocently enough.  For the landmark birthday of a good friend of mine, I painted a picture of a female squirrel headed south for the winter in her pink convertible (she has a bit of a squirrel obsession, and I have to say I can relate).  It was a tiny little painting, no more than about 8 x 10.  If I'm going to gift someone with a piece of art, I like to keep it on the smaller size, so that there isn't a three foot by four foot painting of a squirrel driving a pink convertible destroying the Feng Shui of their minimalist living room.  

My sister Jocelyn saw what I had done and liked the idea enough to commission her own small painting, to become a gift to the newborn child of a relative.  It was her concept for the squirrel to be piloting a vintage World War One Sopwith Camel airplane (the type made famous by Snoopy in his imaginary dogfights with the Red Baron).


 
Pleased enough with my effort, Joss, who is a long-time supporter of the arts, especially painters, thought it would be a great idea to gift any new child in her life with a painting, as a means of potentially sparking a life-long interest in the visual arts.  Great idea.  

And thus a veritable deluge of rodents-piloting-vehicles paintings ensued.  

We went full on Miami Vice, with "Speedboat Squirrel".


That was followed by "Speedbike Squirrel".  A trend was becoming obvious...not only are squirrels proficient drivers of all types of craft, but they look cool doing it!


For a baby girl, "Skateboard Squirrel" became her unique piece of art:


And just to illustrate the international reach of this motif, here is "Scooter Squirrel", with a Vespa-riding rodent in what is a European-flavored seaside town:


Who knows what the end game of this artistic exploration will be?  We still have many modes of transport left in the queue.  One thing's for certain, if it keeps up, I'm seeing what my artistic legacy may well be..."Dave Rheaume?  You mean the guy who painted rodents driving vehicles?"  




I suppose there are worse fates.  It could be something completely preposterous like...say...dogs playing pool.  






The squirrels and more can be found on my Fine Art America page:








 

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