C-art-oon takes the biscuit

Apr 27 2008 Sunday Sun

I DON’T know much about art. But I do, as they say, know what I like.

I think I probably drive my art-loving friends to despair. “It’s a Canneletto”, they’ll exclaim in delight.

“Is it?”, I respond, while wondering silently why the artist should have been named after an Italian ice cream cornet or a kind of pasta.

Each to their own. I couldn’t possibly understand what on earth the latest exhibitions at Baltic are all about, though I like the thing that reminds me of the Vertigo record label of the early 1970s . . . get in there!

However, I have found an arty artefact in and around Newcastle that I do like very much. He’s tremendous fun, and he’s called Dennis.

Dennis is a cartoon elephant and he is the creation of one of those people who seems to me to be spectacularly gifted.

You have to remember, I am unable to walk down a street and use a mobile phone at the same time, so anyone who even remotely multi-tasks is one up on me. Or possibly several up.

Dennis’s creator is a guy called George Welch, who not only draws Dennis in an assortment of amusing situations, but also has a history in comedy, and even entertains once a week by playing as part of the Ukelele Allstars.

His cartoons make you laugh out loud and, if you can’t afford to buy one, they’re also available on mugs to drink Dennis’s health out of.

Where can you find Dennis? Obviously I can’t give a cheap plug to a commercial art gallery — or store, as it prefers to be known — but here’s a clue.

The name might remind you of a place where you might make digestives, rich tea, or jammy dodgers. Worth tracking down . . . just for Dennis.