Why Cats?

Oliver. 8 x 8 X 1/2

acrylic on recycled canvas. Painted last night.

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Why cats? Or more specifically, why do I paint cats when I live with six Chihuahuas?  At first, it seemed easier to paint cats. Simple, whimsical black cats with expressive eyes. I was told once that everyone relates to cats, black cats, tabby cats, all cats.. But dog lovers are more breed specific with only wanting their type of dog in a painting.

A lifetime ago it seems, before I met my husband, I had two cats. Momcat and Sparkles. Momcat ruled and when Sparkles joined my little family, he had to wait for Momcat to accept him. Sparkles came from a broken home and I answered an ad for him. DIVORCE. And the mother couldn't keep her child's cat in their new apartment. So Sparkles came to live with me and (side benefit) I started dating the dad. Long story short. I kept the cat and the wife got her husband back. They never asked me for Sparkles. I was happy for that but sad for their little girl who missed her pet.

Then I met my husband who was allergic to cats. I stayed with him and rented the upstairs of my house to a local filmmaker who would feed Momcat and Sparkles as part of his rent. I had daily visiting rights and being the helicopter type of pet owner I am, I sat with Momcat and Sparkles every day. I even sang to them, putting a favorite record on and wailing off-tune with Al Jarreau's "We're In This Love Together.".They lived happily with our arrangement. Until time took them as time does with us all.

I went dog crazy after I lost my husband. No one to say "no" to my desire to have dogs, lots of dogs. I adopted five in nine months and along with Foxy Barth, my old girl that was still with me. Hence the title "Writer With Dogs" and my favorite slogan, "I love my Margaritas but live with a six-pack at home." I still have a six-pack, only minis.

I'd love to have a cat own me again. But cats and dogs together are more than I can handle. So painting them seemed so right. After all, visions of cats roaming the garden, peeking through cottage flowers, purring wildly while curled up on a lap, still held my heart. So cats crept into my paintings on their little paws and I became cat crazy on canvas.

As Ernest Hemingway said, "One cat leads to another." That seems to be my art story.

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Some earlier cat paintings! These have sold. The Christmas card was from 2020 and will be in my Christmas booth at the Monroe-Walton Center for the Arts Christmas gift shop next month.