(Photo: Daniel Maurer)
Bedford Avenue gets its share of characters – the dapper dude who’ll write you a poem on a vintage typewriter, for starters. But this one is new to us: Bedford, NY artist Thomas Kingstone-Hunt is currently posted up on Bedford Avenue with his 13-month-old Vietnamese potbellied pig. Who sings Christmas carols.
Lured in by strains of jazz and a sandwich board’s invitation to “Meet Pinky the Famous Singing Pig,” we stepped into the tiny wooden shack on wheels that Tom built a few months ago so that it could serve as a mobile gallery for his paintings. There, the artist’s wife, choreographer Liz Piccoli, told us the story of Pinky.
Liz and the art cart.
She and Tom met some three years ago in Hawaii, where he was living at the time. After visiting Liz’s mom, who grew up on a farm, and admiring her pig knick-knacks, “Tom got the pig vibe, I guess,” Liz said. One day, after answering an ad for free potbellied piglets on Craigslist, Tom met Liz at a bar and surprised her with 10-pound Pinky. “I was with friends,” she said. “He comes in with this pig and it starts oinking and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I have a pig!’”
Tom feeds the piggie bank.
Since then, they’ve taught Pinky to sit and lie down, and they’ve also potty trained him – though they eventually gave up on trying to raise (and hide) a pig in their Upper West Side apartment (hence the move to Westchester).
They’ve also managed to turn Pinky into a cash cow (or, cash pig). He’s been everywhere from Times Square (where TMZ dubbed him the “Christmas Caroling Ham”) to various towns around Westchester (where he earned a tweet from Martha Stewart). Tom first parked on Bedford Avenue a few weeks ago, and has been back a few times since then. (In case you’re wondering, he has yet to be hassled by the, er, police officers.)
Tonight, plenty of commuters just off the L train approached the art cart to take a photo with Pinky, feed him some corn, and put a few bucks in the piggy bank. Dare we say they squealed with delight?
One woman asked if Tom and Liz eat pork (they do).
People give anywhere from $5 to $20 to hear Pinky sing “Happy Birthday” or “Jingle Bells,” Liz said. “He works for his corn.” To prompt Pinky’s staccato quacks, Tom gives him some loving squeezes. But according to Liz, the ululating undulate is perfectly capable of singing on his own. “We were listening to music and his oinks change pitch to it,” he said. “He’s very verbal.”
So has Pinky sat for a portrait? Not yet, though Tom did recently paint his first animal, a somewhat psychedelic lion – so it seems only a matter of time. For now, Pinky serves as the artist’s companion as he paints sunsets and ethereal landscapes. “He’s a really good friend and a really good muse,” said Liz.
Watch the video to hear Pinky’s attempt at “Jingle Bells.” If you want to hear “Happy Birthday,” the dirt-sniffing diva will be on Bedford Avenue all night (well, till 10:30 or 11pm, anyway). Plus, Tom will be live painting. Or did you think he was going to let Pinky hog the spotlight?
