Tuesday, December 16, 2008

A Little Love for the Giant Tortoise

Western Cape, South Africa

This is the living room of the acclaimed South African artist Michael Medven.  He does those lit paper animal sculptures that are so popular.  (Though the deer heads seem to have been reproduced ad nauseam).  Much of his work is truly amazing, and his home is filled with it - life sized zebras on the run, eagles in flight, dogs napping by the door... and, bizarrely, meandering among all these sculptures, was the family pet, a giant african tortoise.  This sweet lady would make her way from room to room, following us around on our tour of Michael's studio.  At one point, she actually got stuck under the coffee table, pulling it all the way across the room until it jammed in the doorway, allowing her to escape. This was an impressive - and determined turtle

I had many questions about the daily care required for an african tortoise, but we didn't have the time to satisfy my curiosity - after all, Keith was working and I was supposed to be shooting a show about shopping.  

But the tortoise was pretty amazing.  And surprisingly fast!  I want to learn more...



1 comment:

Stephanie Torresi said...

The image of that tortoise getting stuck under the coffee table and dragging it around while you are trying to focus on other things has me chuckling. Sounds like the tortoise may have been a little jealous that the attention was off of him...it's almost as if she's posing for the first photo and showing off her stuff for the second. Perhaps it's time for his own show...and you know what, judging on your small glimpse into his life, I'd probably watch it.