The inspiration for this image came initially from the great illustrator and naturalist John James Audubon. When looking for visual references to rats, I found myself pouring over his detailed works. Teaching at the Wagner, I walked past copies of Audubon's etchings of North American flora and fauna at work, and have referred to them many times while teaching my students.
While surfing on line to look at more illustrations of rats by Audubon, I stumbled across this story about him discovering that a box of his watercolor paintings had been destroyed by a rat that had used the paintings to make its nest. The story was beautifully illustrated in a woodcut (featured below) by an unidentified Japanese Meiji artist.
This is my 3rd year participating in New Year's Exchanges with the Baren Forum for Woodblock Printmaking. Here are my prints from previous years' trades:
Year of the Pig, 2019
Year of the Dog. 2018
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