This was a fun (and daunting) commission. The client had a vintage Christmas ornament that was a cherished heirloom in her family. She had no way of deciding which of her four adult children would get the ornament, so she came up with a unique solution: having me recreate the figure, Pepino the Christmas Mouse, four times. (only 3 shown in photo alongside the original).
It was fun, but as each of the felties is a unique, hand-crafted item, it was a challenge to try to match the original as closely as possible four separate times. Another hurdle was finding a company that supplied wool in the colors I needed to match the original Pepino. There are a lot of reds in the world, and finding just the right one was a bit of trial and error. And, as you can see, the green of the original Pepino (and even the pink inside the ears) faded to grey over time, so the client and I agreed it would be nice to bring those parts back to their original, festive colors.
In the end, the client was very happy with the outcome. No word yet on how her brilliant solution went over with her children. I like to keep in mind that my client commissioned me to recreate four Pepinos and worked with me over a period of months to nail down all the exacting details — and that kind of effort and care seems like something I’d cherish even more than the original store-bought item. I hope the kids agree!
For a little backstory on Pepino: The client named the mouse after a song by Lou Monte, Pepino the Italian Mouse.
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