Monkey Business
Wallace Edwards (1958 - ) Click here for more information about the artist
“Byron had a lot on his mind, yet he couldn’t think of a word to write”
for Monkey Business (Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2004)
Watercolour, pencil and gouache on paper
Purchased with the assistance of the Elizabeth L. Gordon Art Challenge Programme, Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation
“This painting depicts the idiom ‘having a lot on his mind’ for the book Monkey Business, a collection of idioms published by Kids Can Press in 2004. The chaotic collection of objects represents the myriad of thoughts which flow through one’s mind in a day. This plethora is contrasted with the blank sheet of paper, an ironic comment on how it is sometimes hard to come up with anything in spite of the richness that abounds!
I called the caribou ‘Byron’ after the famous writer Lord Byron. One of my best friends, a prolific journalist, used to talk about Lord Byron, so the name is inspired by him.”
-Wallace Edwards
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