Kittens have been living in my studio for some time. Anyone with kittens will know that this makes working difficult. Anyone who has any contact at all with Bengal kittens will know just how hard. When they first arrived we made a painting together and auctioned it for The Snow Leopard Trust. At the last minute a bid was placed but in the wrong place, so I said to the bidder that if they were still interested I would work on another piece with the kittens and they could have first call on that one. So, today we made another piece between us and the Snow Leopard Trust has another donation heading its way.
The kittens and I are hoping to do an ink painting a month, for different charities, so keep an eye on the blog for further work.
Ink cat with paw prints.
Kitten inspects work to make sure the likeness is good and decides I need more help!
Tomorrow I need to begin serious settling down to work as I am now feeling much better and having been ill for a month am seriously behind with hare book. Easing myself back in to painting with a bear picture.
Mary Fedden’s Motley cat is watching the proceedings from the wall above my desk and thinking that the cats need to be drawn as well as painted. And I think as a mark of respect for Mary, who was a fine painter of cats, the next collaborative kitten painting will include a butterfly.
And soon I think it will be time to take the kittens for a walk.
I like the kitten inspecting the work!
Jackie, I take my hat off to you for such controlled dabs…all of my cats have always been quite uncooperative when asked to “sign” cards, etc. How do you manage to ink their feet?
(Of course, there have been occasions when I’ve had unwanted stamps across things…mud on clean sheets, soot on cushions…)
I don’t ink their feet. They ink their own because they like water and they like to see what I am doing as I grind the ink. They also dabbled in the paint water so got some good splashes. I wish I could let them walk in the gold sizing but don’t want them to get the glue on their feet, but gold paw prints would be wonderful.
That is just BEAUTIFUL! And gorgeous kitty cat
oh my! these collaborations are fabulous Jackie!
Just out of this world. What are their names???
The one in the painting and also the photograph is Genji. The other is called Spit or Spittifer or Spiticat, because she is rude to Elmo, but she is becoming a little ‘fascinated’ by him. Mostly we call them the boy one and the girl one and I wonder if they might remain nameless perhaps. They are very beautiful and people who have seen them in the ‘real’ say that the photos do not do them justice. They are like drawings of cats, or engravings. Monochrome beauties.
Oooh, aaah and thank you.
Such beautiful cats and a beautiful painting too, what a lovely idea doing a painting a month for different charities.
I think it may end up almost always being the Snow Leopard Trust.
Charming! I once had my big, huge malamute walk thru my oils…not good, lol. I was thinking that there is a gold powder made for stamping. I remember using it to make Christmas tags and cards one year. The idea is to stamp the paper, shake some of the gold powder on it and shake the rest off and the powder sticks to the wet parts of the spamped image. Then a heat gun is used to “melt” the powder. I’m still in the UK, but when I get back to Vancouver in a week or so I can send you the name of the powder. That may be a good way to make gold imprints while keeping the kitten’s paws safe from toxins.
I love the inspection also!
Jackie, sorry to tack a ‘random’ question in here but, having just had a look through your Gift Shop, I got to wondering about how you manage that more corporate-ish side of things. Do you enjoy it? Has it been a learning curve or something you’ve done before? Has it been difficult for you to get it all up and running, and even distracting to maintain alongside your creative self, or has it been a natural progression from your art?
All very interesting where one aspect of our life can lead us. Where being just an artist or author is not really about always just being an artist or an author.
The gift shop thing is all just cafe press, so self managed. I now don’t have to do anything. Brings in very little income but sometimes useful to buy things with the cash raised. Would like to get more things bought ‘on licence’ and marketed by others. Love the work of St Jude’s.
Beautiful kitties. Talking of names: I recently became the new owner of a cat who came free when I purchased an Airstream trailer (long story). Anyway, she seems to be a cat of no name. We started calling her ‘Trailer Kitty’ (for obvious reasons) and no other names have really materialized since. At night when I call her to come in, I call ‘Kitty, kitty’ or ‘Kitty Boo Boo’ so my 3 yr old daughter has assumed that is her name. Looks like she may indeed stay Kitty Boo Boo forever. Unless she is like the Aborigines, who change their names at various points throughout their lives to reflect their experience. We shall see!
Genji seems to have stuck, though I am happy with them having no names. It does make other people uncomfortable though.