Meet Stevie, The Wonder Mouse by Okedoki

Okedoki has revealed her next character sculpture: Stevie, the Wonder Mouse. The
beleaguered rodent follows her much-loved Benny the Dreamer figure, and the eyes are the window to connecting the two. But where Benny drew from anime and Japanese character culture, Stevie feels like a welcome revival of the 1960s-1970s American underground comix antihero. Quoth the Canadian artist:

He’s a miserable mouse, but you can see he’s also a survivor. I painted the little heart tattoo on his right arm to represent hope and perseverance.

Folks going to DesignerCon in Pasadena this weekend will be able to catch (a first glimpse of) this mouse at SpankyStokes’ booth #301.

While Stevie the Wonder Mouse appears paunchy with thinning hair, he’s very much alive. Again, it’s in the eyes. I learned from my good friend, Tyra Banks, that you gotta have motivation (a story) or else your eyes look dead. This is Stevie’s story:

Initially, I sculpted this piece while I was going through my cancer treatment. He looks like how I felt at the time, which was “hell”.  I think it was time to breathe life back into him, and finish him up.  Back then, it was a reflective piece, to work out of my system how miserable the whole experience was.  Now, my health is better, and I look at him with a different perspective.  Perhaps with hope and perseverance, that he can embody these qualities to my collectors.  I think no matter what challenges we face in our lives, that we can over come them and through these obstacles, we become stronger.  So……here we go…….Meet Stevie, my wonder mouse.

Brave.

Okedoki sculpted, cast and painted the Stevie prototype and sent it to VTSS for production. Click through for a few more images of the process, and check out her blog for more. I’m digging this piece. Very nice to see an original mouse (as opposed to yet another Mickey retread). Stay tuned for further details on Stevie the Wonder Mouse’s availability!