You’ll rarely see a painter commit themselves to painting just one subject all over again. It can be repetitive and most artists run away from repetition. However, Boston-based artist Stuart Dunkel doesn’t seem to have this issue.
The majority of Dunkel’s artistic output in the past decades revolved around creating adorable oil paintings featuring a small white mouse named Chuckie. The mouse usually interacts with food and toys or engages in mischievous adventures.
Dunkel, who has been engaged in visual arts since the 1990s, started painting Chuckie as a joke. His wife was scolding him about leaving crumbs in the kitchen, so he decided to turn it into a joke. He painted a mouse as part of the still painting he was working on and said it was actually the mouse who is creating all that mess.
After sharing laughs with his wife, Dunkel decided to submit the painting to a gallery show and immediately sold it. He began creating more mouse paintings and they became his calling card.
“The mouse series was really successful and people really responded to it. I’m very mischievous so the mice paintings are a good vehicle for who I am,” Dunkel said in an interview with The Avid Pen.
If you would like to see more of Dunkel’s adorable oil paintings featuring Chuckie, continue scrolling.
