Why Calgary artist Jeff de Boer makes armour for mice and cats

We're not kitten around, and neither is he

Media | Jeff de Boer, creator of armour... for mice and cats

Caption: Alberta-based visual artist Jeff de Boer makes armour for cats and mice. And for decades, collectors around the world have been buying it. Jeff let CBC Arts into a studio to see his work and have a chat about why he does what he does, and some of the challenges of being an artist who fortifies small creatures.

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What's it like to be an internationally known visual artist celebrated for creating armour... for mice and cats? Calgary-based artist Jeff de Boer(external link) knows... he's been doing it for decades. And it turns out there's some pretty special meaning in it for him, plus a challenge from the mainstream art world.
You'll see de Boer's work all over Calgary this summer — he'll be installing some large-scale pieces at major city landmarks including the MacDonald Bridge entrance of ENMAX Park in Calgary and at Calgary International Airport — but in this segment from Exhibitionists, he's telling us what it's like to work on a very small scale.
Watch Exhibitionists(external link) Sundays at 4:30pm (5 NT) on CBC.