Picasso's goat

As an art student, I attempted to make some kind of reinterpretation of Picasso’s goat – it was the size of a kid and bright red. It really wasn’t much of a homage.

Years later, I saw the original at the Musee National Picasso in Paris and felt like a little girl in front of his larger than life nanny goat. In cobbling together my kid goat, I’d used a single black and white photocopy of Picasso’s ‘La Chevre’ and was just delighted by all sorts of detail that I’d missed – in the lumpy plaster, the bits of scrap metal, the wicker basket that forms the goat’s rib cage, the ceramic jug udders...

There is something so endearing and humorous – and just so goaty – about it. 

‘La Chevre’, 1950 (cast in bronze in 1952) (http://theotherparis.net)

Picasso and family, including Cabra the goat and Lump the dachshund, at home in Cannes, 1957 (http://www.hrc.utexas.edu)

And here’s another attempt, this time sketched with oil pastels.

A bundle of life

A little late for his 80^th birthday but who needs birthdays to celebrate someone?

He's my compass and my touchstone.

I respect his courage to speak out against injustice – and to take an unpopular stand.

He also said, “My father always used to say, 'Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument.' Good sense does not always lie with the loudest shouters, nor can we say that a large, unruly crowd is always the best arbiter of what is right.” 

And he does it all with such laughter and playfulness and dedication.