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Saturday 19 November 2011

3 blind mice

3 blind mice
see how they run
see how they run
they all ran after the farmers wife
she cut off their tails with a carving knife
did you ever see such a thing in your life
as 3 blind mice!
Have you ever thought how gruesome some of the nursery rhymes we taught our children actually are??!!!
I have been working on another piece and it has given me cause to think about the fairy stories and rhymes we all grew up with.......most are pretty gruesome and even downright scary!
I mean a wolf that ate your Grandma!
While all this was running around my head I was shopping trying to find plastic frogs (that's turning into an impossible task........why do all toys now need batteries?) when I came across these quite sweet plastic mice (Early Learning Centre) and that is where this idea started!


 The rhyme ran in circles round my head.....I couldn't make sense of why BLIND mice would run around after the farmers wife.....I mean how could they see her?!! My thoughts took a sideways step.....why were they blind? maybe the farmers wife was a sadistic old bag who put nails in their eyes before chopping off their tails?!!
If you look the rhyme up there is speculation it had a hidden political meaning as a lot of old rhymes did......decide for yourselves!

 ONE.....

 TWO....

 THREE....


 BLIND MICE!

 Before I glued the mice to the knife I took some pics of them and then printed them out using my Poloroid Pogo printer....see this post.....and used them to make a journal page.

 I used braille paper in the background!!


24 comments:

Sarah said...

Glad to see you using that braille paper :) but oh, those poor mice! As a serial rodent owner (rats, degus, mice, hedgehogs) the sight of those poor little fellas with nails in their eyes is really truly horrid. But as a good horror film fan I can appreciate a bit of well executed horrid :) and these - both the sculptural piece and the journal page - are brilliantly done.

Heavens2Betsy said...

Gruesome and gorgeous for it! penny

Helen said...

Oh, those poor mice... but I love your sense of humour. The journal page is great, and how wonderful the braille paper looks...

Deborah said...

Omg you crack me up Sue. Brilliant!

Cath Wilson said...

Absolutely wonderful, if a bit gruesome, he, he. You're so right about Nursery Rhymes, though - much prefer Roald Dahl's Nursery Crimes - they make me giggle out loud and I often re-read them. Love the braille paper, too - it's always fascinated me. Great humour in it, too x

Sarah Anderson said...

i was always fascinated by the wolf and the seven little kids where mummy goat came back to find the wolf snoring away with her babies in his tummy so she cut him open and replaced them with stones; when he woke up he staggered into the water and drowned! I can cope with that story, no blood involved lol.

pearshapedcrafting said...

Good grief! Gruesome or what! Brilliantly executed though - especially using braille paper for your journal page! Origins of Nursery rhymes and tales are some of the most fascinating stories! The original Grimm's tales are really gruesome and not the picture book tales you find in WH Smiths!!!
BTW please give a frog warning if ever you find any as I can't stand them(you may find some at Chester Zoo or Blue Planet shops)

Machele O'Dufaigh said...

OMG, how deliciously gruesome. Perhaps we need to rename YOU the "Farmers Wife". Perfectly murderous...LOVE it;)

Dina said...

I love how clever you are! You rock.

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

Very clever piece Sue, gruesome but clever and I love the journal pages. The little gadget you use for the photographs is quite handy, another item on my wish list LOL. Tracy x

Carol Q said...

lol - must be your most warped piece of work yet Sue! brilliant and I love the use of braille paper for the journal page.

Anonymous said...

OMG....amazing art, brilliant interpretation... just a tad scary though!!

Siobhan Brignull said...

I love the way your art is so 3d and literal, and I love this, it is making me smile big time, ps Polaroid Pogo only thing on my xmas list, at the mo!

funkycrafter said...

yikes! this is difficult to look at... but in its own gruesome way i find it interesting. without the nails it would actually be cute. they really take it over the top. also makes me wonder what is going to happen to the frogs if you find them. and then there is the old chant "greasy, grimey gopher guts".

Sandy said...

Wow how cool and scary.
Your humor is brilliant.
Stunning work as always.

Love them.

johanna said...

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH - that´s definitely wonderfully gruesome!! i LOVE this!! and there couldn´t have been a better addition than braille paper...

Kathy said...

There are no words.

Brilliant.

Yet... eww.....

...wow...

Kathy

Nigel said...

You know, I worry about you at times :p

It's still brilliant though :)

Debs said...

Totally WILD! I love it.
oh gosh they hated kids, they loved to scare them!
Can't wait to see your FF.

Alison Horne said...

HMM what was that I said about you being brave? You clearly took it further this time.Thank goodness we crafters have an outlet for our gruesome tendencies!Fab.xx

Effie said...

Great idea for a cheese board!... Fabulous stuff.

thekathrynwheel said...

Oooh this is fabulously gruesome! Really, what goes on in your head?!
I Love it, and I agree with Effie - a fabulous cheese board heehee!

Photocat said...

While I do see the artistic side of this work and how well it is made, the subject itself distresses me. If the goal was horror it worked succesfully. Don't know if I could make it though... think I would have issues with putting nails in eyes, even if they are plastic. But again, you take a firm stand and you are a true artist!

olive said...

seen this in the flesh (so to speak) it is truly mind blowing awesome....xx