Sometimes I laugh so hard the tears run down my legs.
That’s the caption on one of Alice Hinther’s most popular greeting cards, one with a cheeky looking 1950s woman against a red polka-dot background, but it could just as well describe reactions to her line of collage greeting cards which are now available in stores across Canada, the U.S.A., Europe and Australia. Humour and whimsy are a theme in much of this self taught, multi-media artist's work - from her greeting cards, calendars, paintings, stained glass mosaics, garden art, jewelry and recycled furniture. Alice lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The Adventures of Mr. Mouse
The story of Mr. Mouse started when I decided to build a little mouse house in the staircase at my cottage with my then 8-year-old grandson, Ty. I cut a hole in the riser of the stair and built a little living room scene behind the staircase complete with chairs, a couch, a coffee table and magazines that he could peer into. We then started setting up various scenes - Mr. Mouse preparing Easter dinner, Mr. Mouse cleaning the dishes after hosting Easter dinner, Mr. Mouse working in his workshop, etc.
Before I knew it, Mr. Mouse had a whole life of his own and I started building a story around him. Mr. Mouse, whose first name is Orville, is a widowed mouse. His wife, Ethel, passed away 2 years ago and he lives in a rambling old house on his own. He is a retired carpenter, so he busies himself with carpentry projects in his workshop. He has many other hobbies such as cooking, painting, fishing and hiking but often feels lonely and would like to find a Mrs. Mouse to share his life with.
The stories follow his adventures and his pursuits in finding the perfect mate.