Why did the kitty cross the road?

Cat Crossing

6" x 6" x .75"

Oil with a palette knife on cradled board
SOLD

When I started this painting, I realized my lines and perspective weren't quite right, so I scraped it off and then turned the reference photo and my canvas board upside down. This really helped me to see that the lines in the road weren't really curved as I originally thought, they were straight. I continued to paint the entire painting upside down, just capturing the abstract shapes and colors that I saw. It was an interesting exercise in how your mind can play tricks on you and in "painting what you see and not what you know."

So why did the kitty cross the road? Probably to find a a nice, quiet place to nap.

Just a couple of crazy cats

Crazy Cat

Approx 4" by 4"

Oil with a palette knife on canvas paper
SOLD

Window Perch

Approx 5" by 6"

Oil with a palette knife on canvas paper

Just a couple a quick crazy cat painting done during class last week. Have a nice day everyone. Now go hug your cat.

Wild Things on exhibit

Saturday evening was the opening reception for "Wild Things". The caliber of art work was really impressive, the Cotuit Center for the Arts venue was so enjoyable, and the organizers of the show did an amazing job. Here I am with my trio of "wild thing."

Each piece had a write up from the artist as well as QR codes that take you to the artist's websites and galleries. Cool.

When you walk into the center, it's open and bright with real sails hanging from the ceiling. Cool again.

It's fun to see your name so big:

On the other side of the center, they had a performance by a local drummers and dancers. Wonderful.

Below are some of my and Polo's favorite pieces from the show. Looking at them now, I see that we really gravitated towards the more dimentional pieces. I've been having an urge to try some new materials and these pieces provided me with lots of inspiration:

This last piece is called Contemplating Freedom. A beautiful painting.

And a great evening all around.

Wild Things: I'm on a roll!

Purr...meow...roar!

This trio was just juried into a show called "Wild Things" at the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod. The show will be at the Cotuit Center for the Arts in Cotuit MA from January 6-February 10. I thought this was and interesting twist:

Keeping younger patrons in mind, art work will be displayed at a lower height throughout the exhibit - right at children’s eye level. A series of child-friendly events are scheduled over the course of the month. School groups will be welcomed to the exhibit for free for the duration of the show, and will be given docent-led tours and art instruction customized to the age level of the children.

Fun stuff.

Herding Cats

Or should I say hoarding?

Starting today, and all next month at Custom Art Framing & Gallery 9, I was invited to participate in a show called Six Pack. There are 6 artists, each showing 6 paintings that are all 6" by 6". Clever, right? I submitted this assortment of kitty cat faces, but wait, is that a dog in there? How did that happen? Well, I guess there has to be a dog in every bunch. "One of these things is not like the others..."

I am pricing these cuties at $100 each. If you can't make it to the show in person, but are interested in purchasing one, you can contact Julie at Gallery 9 in Norwood by clicking here.

And these are all 100% allergy free.

Feed the kitty

Curious

6" x 6"

Oil with a palette knife on cradled board
$100 unframed

I do so love orange and white cats. Probably because I had one for 17 years, Skippy. Or should I say he owned me? Once, my neighbor's son said to his mother when he saw me "Is that who Skippy owns?" I just loved that.

My reference for this painting wasn't actually an orange and white cat, but I chose to make him so. Artistic license at work. I am a card carrying member!

Releasing your inner lion

Inner Lion

6" by 6"

Oil with a palette knife on cradled artist board

Another new kitty face to add my collection. This cat looks so regal and lionlike to me. And like he wants to be fed some meat!

As I was painting, I stopped to take this photo of the painting partially completed. I thought it had a striking look about it.

Meow.
Or should I say ROAR?!

Tumbles

Tumbles

6" by 6"

Oil with a palette knife on cradled board
SOLD

Cindy asked me to paint this kitty portrait in memory of her family's dearly departed friend, Tumbles. He was a member of their family for many years and had a long and happy life. This was really fun to paint and Cindy said that I captured his personality. That is the greatest compliment of all-Tumbles approval!

Catman has found a home

One of my collectors just purchased "Catman" and sent me this photo of him in his new home. Isn't it fun to see paintings in their environment? He looks pretty happy to be there overseeing all the goings on in the living room.

Who is that masked kitty?

Catman

6" x 6"

Oil with a palette knife on cradled board
SOLD

I think that black and white cats often look like they are wearing a mask. Their bright eyes pearing out of the darkness. Just like Batman.

Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty
6" x 6"
Oil with a palette knife on panel
$100 unframed

I once wrote on Facebook that if I wasn't so allergic, I'm pretty sure I'd be one of those cat ladies. I've always loved cats and it's so not fair that they make me sneeze and wheeze so much. I think that painting all these cat faces has been a good substitute for me. And I don't need the inhaler.

Fur Person

Fur Person
6" x 6"
Oil with a palette knife on panel
SOLD

When I was a teenager and obsessed with cats, my mother gave me a book for my birthday called The Fur Person by May Sarton. I still have the book and this cat reminds me of the cat shown on the cover. It is a wonderful story told through the eyes of a cat about life with humans. I don't remember all the details about the book except that I LOVED it at the time. I should probably go back and read it again to see what my teenage brain was so obsessed with.

In Your Face

Cirque du Kitty
6" x 6"
Oil with a palette knife on board
NFS

The colors of this painting got a little crazy, like circus crazy. But I'm liking how it came out. This cat's eyes reminded me of the poster for the musical Cats-so striking! He has a very regal, wild, tigerlike face, don't you think? I am enjoying doing these really tight close ups of the animal faces. If you have a cat yourself, you have probably seen this in your face at about 5 am checking to see if you are awake. Isn't it time to eat?

How much is that kitty in the window?

Le chat dans la fenêtre

8" x 10"

Oil with a palette knife on board
SOLD

There was something about the reference photo I was using for this painting that looked French to me. For my blog readers that know French (Martine-Alison, Tony, Kim) you can tell me if google translated the title correctly from The Cat In The Window.

I started this painting a few months ago and was never happy with how the curtains came out. Very difficult to get that feel of sheer doile, laceyness with a palette knife. I ended up painting a light color on top of the dark color and then scraping some away to get the effect I wanted.

Wide-eyed kitten face

Wide-eyed Kitten Face

6" x 6"

Oil with a palette knife on board
SOLD

This is Gadjo. He is Rumi's little brother. This painting was done from a photo of him when he was just a kitten. He is now a young man and fitting right in with the rest of the critters. Check him out on Jala Pfaff's blog and while you are there, take a look at her new beautiful pastels. Quite a treat.

Here's lookin' at you, kitty

Here's Lookin' at you, Kitty
6" x 6"
Oil with a palette knife on board
SOLD

I was captivated by the cute pose of this sweet white kitty. His name is Rumi and he is deaf which is ironic because the pink color of his ears was one of things that first attracted me to this picture. He has grown up to be quite the character and I have been following his antics on a blog by a fellow artist, Jala Pfaff. You can check in on Rumi and her other furry creatures by clicking here. The photo was used as reference with her permission.

Warm cat, cool cat...

Green cat, blue cat.

I painted this cat in the last few minutes of class a few weeks ago really trying to keep the colors warm. I till see some cool colors still trying to creep in, but I think I did a better job capturing the original. You can see our painting class in action by visiting Kim Morin Weineck's blog post here.