Mouseville and the Artist

Three miniature rodents materialised, hovering with suspicious charm over a designer handbag. The artist’s original idea and pencilled out draft had been disarmingly wholesome: a single mouse, peeking sweetly through a neat little hole.

Following consultancy with Mrs bookish, what has since emerged instead, looks rather more like a rodent that has already taken matters into its own paws and hung itself from the handle. (It is hard to believe in mouseville).

However the truth is Painters with nothing to lose always paint more interesting compositions. Not confined, not boxed in, just creativity in quiet action.

The artist just doesn’t give up - interesting, resilient and robust, comparable to rodents maybe. Though definitely not a love rat, would have squashed his tail in a trap if I thought differently.

Needless to say I still had a nightmare the night I first saw what artist had first produced. Discreetly advised that “I really don’t think the hole in the leather is a good idea.” A small concern, perhaps—but it is, after all, someone else’s brand. And brands, as we know, are delicate ecosystems. Legally speaking, one mustn’t do anything that could be interpreted as damaging them. You may paint a brand, certainly—but only as long as it remains safely trapped on canvas. No adventurous afterlives on keyrings or T-shirts. Important to remember rules. Nobody wants to be sued.

I try and keep up with the rules, only because rules are not existing in artist mind.

It is also difficult to keep up with rules when you look around you. It is glaringly apparent AI can steal everything from every artist so long as it's mixed up. We have had work directly stolen from us too and found it being sold on someone’s etsy shop. They were apologetic and took it down, matter resolved.

Art, inconveniently, refuses to behave much like a rodent, it is subjective. One viewer sees whimsy; another sees rodent-assisted vandalism. Strictly speaking, it was initially going to be a mouse committing the offence—not artist. Very important distinction. And if the handbag had appeared “shredded”? Well—history suggests that only increases the price. One might even suggest calling it a distant cousin of an 18.5 million self-destructing masterpiece.

For the record, artist listened, and was meticulous. The brand’s structure remains entirely intact—symbolically elegant to its natural form. Definitely no nibble marks on the bag.. No direct vandalism materialised - just a rodent’s presence, daring to exist.

The Year of the Rat signifies prosperity, cunning, survival—qualities not entirely alien to the luxury market. So whether this is a Mice Bag or a Rat Bag is largely a matter of perspective. Either way, it is lucky if you consider Mice are Nice or that the Year of the Rat has traditionally been linked to luck and is fondly loved within the chinese zodiac.

Artist definitely listened and changed composition. When I asked him what he was thinking when he was actually painting he said with all sincerity. I was just thinking about Bagpuss and the three mice. (A UK TV series of yesteryear) Involving a pink cat and cute rodents.

Here’s the children’s lyrics (short excerpt):

“We will fix it, we will mend it,
We will stick it with glue, glue, glue.
We will fix it, we will mend it,
And it will be as good as new, new, new.”

A song about adaptability not gnawing on leather- the song reflecting the theme of Bagpuss—taking broken or forgotten things and carefully restoring them with kindness and imagination.

By the end, when the song says “we will fix it, we will mend it”, it really means:

• restoring value and story, not just repairing damage

• giving forgotten things (and their owners) a sense of care again.