Alligators Always Dress for Dinner . . .

 

"Alligators Always Dress for Dinner" ●

This is a commissioned piece for a customer who fell in love with a previous "Alligators" piece, that had already sold.  I worked on this piece over the last couple of weeks, knowing exactly where I was going with it . . .  until I got to the alligator . . . the one I had was the wrong color . .  so I opted for this little guy . . .  he is more of a gecko . . . a distant cousin of the alligator, but he works!  

Especially in his colorful garb, and with his articulated tail!

For this piece, I used a cabinet door from Habitat for Humanity, and covered it in tissue papers, and bits of other papers and ribbons, then over-laid with sewing pattern tissues.

The title is borrowed from a children's alphabet book, by the same name, of vintage photographs by Linda J Donigan, Michael Horwitz.

It's All About The Alligators

 "It's All About The Alligators" ●

Many years ago, I worked for a guy that always liked to express himself in idioms.  He had a million of them. "get your ducks lined up" , "break a leg", "waste not want not", "take a load off",  the list is endless.

But one of his favorites was "When you are up to your ass in alligators" . . . .  Quite honestly, at the time, I was never quite sure of what it meant.

Many years later, I still remember the words. and with the help of the internet, I have been able to find the quote in its entirety, and I think I now know what he was trying to say.

Here is the full quote:

"The objective of all dedicated employees is to thoroughly analyze all situations, 

anticipate all problems prior to their occurrence, have answers for these problems, 

and move swiftly to solve these problems when called upon. 

However, when you are up to your ass in alligators, it is difficult 

to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp."

This quote, often used in business, is about how unintended consequences can assume greater importance than the activity originally undertaken. . .  I think.

Using a wooden game board, I spelled out the quote with Scrabble tiles. An articulated wood toy alligator is attached to add interest.