Diana & Raymond

There is no Hippo Art Museum yet. Maybe I will open one someday. When I do, I will arrange for a very special room, showcasing all hippos which were donated to the collection. I am very proud to have already received a few Privately-Owned-Hippo-Donations! Those additions make the collection even more special to me. Finding a hippo in a shop and buy it, is really nice, but people giving up their own hippos, because they know I collect them, makes it most special. A few months ago, during a very nice dinner with new friends in a french bistro, I was confessing my hippo-addiction. Then, they told me they have a few hippos, whether I would be interested to have some of them... what kind of question is that for an addict? Would I like the red pair or the blue pair? This offer and the choice made me feel a bit overwhelmed, but how could I refuse...? A few days later I received 2 red, hand painted, smiling hippos, originally from Johannesburg, South Africa. They are named after their donors, of course. Dear Diana and Raymond, I chose the red pair, because I do have a few blue hippos in my collection already. They do stand out because of their color, and because they are super cute. But to me they will always stand out, because of their history. Meeting new friends and getting a Privately-Owned-Hippo-Donation at the same time, it can't get much more special than that! We'll see you soon!

Hippo Pon

My favorite place to stroll around is the weekend market. Always crowded, hectic and hot, but I enjoy the sounds, smells, funny tourists, food and snacks. The main reason I roam the narrow alleys is to find hippos, of course. Last weekend I found a very dusty one made of glass, on a lower shelf, buried by rhinos! My favorite place of the market is the art section. Last year, I already noticed an artist whose work I really like… the only “problem”: no hippos! He paints elephants, mostly. Besides that I have seen koi (fish), cranes, roosters and horses. A few months ago I decided to just ask (I thought, I waited long enough for the artist to come up with the brilliant idea to paint a hippo, no?). The manager of that little shop turns out to be the nephew of the artist. He told me that he was sure his uncle could paint a hippo for me. His uncle is Mr. Surapon Pittayasakul (Pon). He is not only a painter, but also a writer and an award-winning cartoonist. In just nine months of studying with a Chinese monk, Pon mastered the unusual brush painting technique. First he used hand–ground Chinese ink on rice paper, later he moved to acrylic paint on canvas. After my hippo-hunt last week, I enjoyed a cold drink and a chat on a small chair in front of the shop. The nephew told me, it was the first time his uncle painted a hippo, and he enjoyed it very much. I will just wait and see, whether the painter decides to paint more hippos. So I might end up not having the only one, but I definitely have Mr. Pon's first!

   Pon2Art

                             Hippo Pon - December 2011

Colossal Colosseo

I bought a few hippos at places where I had to bargain..... it is considered common knowledge, you should not show too much enthusiasm for the object you want to buy, if you do not want to pay too much. In march 1998, I had the chance to use this haggling-wisdom during a real life situation. Rome, Italy… a few days enjoying Italian food, strolling along the Tiber and making wishes at the Trevi fountain. After visiting the Colosseum, I decided to wonder around a bit. And it was then and there, I failed the test.... totally! Suddenly I saw a huge hippo on one of the blankets spread out on the ground.... and before I knew it, I was pointing at it, and a sound escaped my mouth that could easily have been heard in Naples, for sure. The salesman just smiled....."Special price, sister! Only 350 USD!" Pfff..... why does nobody come up with a: what-to-do-when-you-just-blew-it-bargain-advice? For a moment I turned around to restrategize..... when I turned back I saw all the guys (blankets, handicrafts (and hippo) and all) had vanished. I walked on, being a bit sad... but only seconds later “my guy” appeared again... following me, carrying the hippo under his arm and a huge smile...... This would happen a few times more. A daily cat and mouse game with the police. I do not know whether they were illegal immigrants or they did not have a permit to sell things. It took me 3 hours, see him vanish about 5 times and 2 times walking away myself, to eventually pay around 60 USD. During the remainder of my holiday I had to carry this very heavy hippo around, showing it the rest of Rome and Ostia Antica, but I was so happy! I decided to name my new hippo after the Colosseum: Colosseo. I have to admit, Colossal crossed my mind. Not referring to the size, but to the colossal bargaining mistake! I am getting better at casually asking the price of a hippo... but pretending to be not interested at all? I am not sure I will ever manage to do that.

Mother of all Hippo-Mugs

At the moment, my hippo-mug collection counts six, and this is the first. I forgot where and when I bought it, but I do remember falling in love with it, the moment I saw it. Who would not become happy of sipping hot coffee from a yellow/orange mug, decorated with light-blue-floating-around-hippos? For a very long time, an unwritten rule existed in our house: Nobody else drinks from the hippo-mug (very very very silly..... I know....). Except for 1 time, our upstairs-neighbor made himself a cup of coffee, enjoying it on our garden bench, until we came home….. Me staring at him, and my husband only saying: Oh oh! I still can see the look on his face: totally oblivious of his “crime”….  I do not use it any more. I became too scared it will break. When I see a hippo-mug nowadays, I make it a habit to buy 2, 1 to use, and 1 for the collection. I still regret not having bought a “spare” one of my first mug. BBB, I know you still remember “tot-aan-de-bolletjes” and “pijnboompitjes”, but don’t forget you are the only person, other than me, to have used the Mother of all Hippo-Mugs!