South West Life

Everybody knows that imitation is an important form of flattery.  We’ve been looking at the Cow Parade for quite a while now and we are sure it’s good fun.  My own inbox has had a flow of links to stories about this that or the other cow.  It’s certainly been a bit of fun and I’m guessing it’ll have some impact on the flow of visitors through and around the region.

The other day though, I was out and about and realised that I had seen quite a few cow themed works of art that hadn’t been part of the major Cow Parade, and that had been crafted just for the sheer whimsy of it.  These artists have got out with the paintbrush, the cement mixer, or the welder and put together something just because they wanted to.  The works they’ve made are right next to the road so they’re obviously happy to share them with us, and I for one am grateful for the occasional chuckle, especially when I’m off to a meeting that I might not really want to make anyway.

So here’s the deal.  I’ve started with a couple that aren’t even necessarily my favourites, I just put the camera in the car and drove to something I had to get to.  I snapped off some varying cow art, and I’m presenting it here.  If you’ve seen one you think is worthy of this publication, take some snaps, reduce them to 500 pixels wide and send them in.  In keeping with the genuinely slapdash origins of the alternative cow parade, they’ll be judged by a guy who knows very little about cows or art.  After that the judgements will be kept pretty much secret.  Anyone sending a cow image in may get to see it on the website.  This is about honouring the unsung cow art heroes in our community, and their work, please send the location, the medium, the photo, your own name and the name of the artist if you know it.  Please only send an image you actually own, no copyright dramas will be entertained, an image that doesn’t belong to you will simply vanish.

Remember that the whole thing is about fun.  The more homespun the better, as long as we can tell it’s a cow.

Stand by to be amazed, or bemused.

Dave R