VENICE ON TAP

There is a general rule about the glass-blowers of Venezia is that they are capable of making vitreous replicas of just about anything that exists in the real world – and much that does not!

Over the years, as we've window-shopped while strolling through the city's labyrinthine ways, there have  been many amazing and amusing items that have caught our eye and made us marvel or, more often, chuckle, at the Venetians' inventiveness and tenacity, but – without question – this is one of the most quirkily delightful...

FISHY CATALOGUE

In my recent posts about Ronald Searle, I didn't mention his wonderful cats.

I am not really a 'cat-person' (with the exception of Zebedee and Dylan to whom - most of the time - I don't have an allergic reaction) but I love Searle's felines: knowing, devious, lazy, lustful: basically human-types in cat-suits!

Another devoted admirer of Searle's moggies (and the rest of the cartoonist's human and animal zoo) is my long-time friend, artist, animator and mosaic-maker Martin Cheek who recently produced a witty series of Catfish portraits: decidedly fishy felines that captures the eternal bond between the cat and its favourite food.

Even though it's not a Friday, I'm serving them up for your enjoyment...

And this Fish-face is made up of five fish - can you find them all?