B.
When is a dog a mouse?
Behind the scenes
Throughout the centuries man has delighted in creating representations of his canine companions.
That amazingly lame sentence is my way of getting us into a blog about a dog: Julia Morison's dog called Mouse, who's been in attendance all week in our new 'Outer Space' while Julia and the CAG team install her exhibition. (Julia's exhibition, that is - not Mouse's.)
Photo: Mouse, by Nathan 'The Chihuahua Whisperer' Pohio
Working offsite differs in many ways from working inside the Gallery. And one thing you were guaranteed never to see was a dog inside the Christchurch Art Gallery. Though there are rumours of the pooch of a current staff member once getting loose inside the Dowse, as a rule we try to keep live animals away from the priceless objects.
Mind you, it's not as if Mouse has the heft to do any damage. A young chihuahua, she's so tiny and light that when she jumps up and down you'd swear she was about to float off. And when Julia wants to restrain her, she ties Mouse to nothing weightier than her handbag.
What's this blog got to do with art? Nothing. We just like Mouse.
Related reading: Beasts
Notes
Zoology
I'm pretty sure the kids at my daughters pre-school haven't seen Cai Guo-Qiang's Heritage, which was commissioned for his show Falling Back To Earth at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane last year.
Notes
The Mouse-trap by Petrus van der Velden
This article first appeared as 'Cleverly caught' in The Press on 14 February 2014.
Notes
It's Showtime!
Today is Show Day here in Canterbury. Over at Canterbury Agricultural Park you can see thousands of animals being put through their paces or if you'd rather, you can look at some of these equally beautiful beasts from our collection.
Notes
Eileen Mayo
It's 107 years since this multi-talented artist, described by art historian Kenneth Clark as 'outstandingly good', was born in Norwich, England.
Notes
Lizard's Lounge
I stumbled into their lair on accident, and found myself in a madhouse of reptilian decree. I immediately froze, in a vain hope they had not noticed me in my peculiarity, but my attempts were feeble, I had been seen. I felt a cold sweat and a shiver ran down my spine as they glared at me with beady black eyes from a nebulous of smoke and dust that choked the room. I was their intruder. One of the lizards mockingly hissed a welcome, 'Please take a seat, you look weary.'
Notes
Loads of bulls
Looking out of the library window at the Kings Manor here in York I can see a bronze calf.
Notes
A Well Timed Care Package
One of the best-timed gifts my family and I have ever received arrived at our home on Mt Pleasant in May.
