March 30, Peewee!

This is our beloved pet hamster, Peewee, who was with us for far too short of a time. She was Max's favorite ever, and was incredibly affectionate and fearless, riding contentedly around on his shoulder and hanging out with us on the kitchen table while we did homework or I painted. She'd nibble on a chunk of mandarin orange or a sunflower seed. She was blessed twice in the fall, once at the Blessing of the Animals at Breck, and again by our favorite Fr. Paul at my sister's house blessing. So I guess we should believe she is in hamster heaven~
Love those bright, bright eyes...

6x6 acrylic on wood

Max's Birthday Present

And I should mention that this mostly concludes my "30 Cats and Friends in 30 Days" project for March of 2018!  wahoo!  

Thanks for following!  And I've learned a lot again- I think I learned even more about mixing grey- especially above in Peewee, and from Simmie's black fur, and all the way back to those earlier paintings of this month.  I will be going back into a few of these paintings before I hang them all at Diamond's next weekend, for the exhibition.  Do please consider yourself invited to the "30 Cats & Friends" Celebration Party on Thursday April 12th!  6-8 pm at Diamond's Coffee Shoppe, 1618 Central Ave NE!

Oh and I'll also mention that I have Spring Painting Lessons starting the following week, with TWO possible times~ either on Thursday Evenings 6-8:30 (starts April 19th) OR Saturday mornings 9:30-noon starting April 21~

Click on this link for more info, or reply to this to ask any other questions!

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March 29, Beatrix Manx for Mina

SO this is a tricky one, and I'm not sure it's done, but it was fun to do!  My friend Mina sent this to me because it reminds her of a Beatrix Potter illustration!  I tried fitting it onto a 6x6 but no dice, so I've put it on an 8x10 because now I got it all on~
Here's what Mina said~

"The cat sleeping in the kitchen window, the little old lady, and the wheel barrel are my favorite parts :) 

The composition reminds me of Beatrix potter. Like - Peter is the main item, while Mr. McGreggor is hoeing in the background. 

 I know it's tricky - you do what you must. She is a tailless manx, called Kitty. Thank you Darling!"

SO I'm thinking it worked~

Maybe...

8x10 acrylic on guerrilla board

March 28, Simmie Kittie!

Thi s was another really fun one to paint! Those lovely dusky purplish greys suggest that pearlescent quality of a clean kitty's fur.
Simmie's owner sent me this link to share, about one man's adventure with adopting a shelter cat~  I thought it was pretty sweet!
And this is what she says about Simmie~

Like Darling Angelina, Simmie Kittie has been such a precious part of my healing: she shares her RNC duties with Darling Angelina, whom you painted last Autumn, to my great delight!

6x6 acrylic on wood

spoken for!

March 27, Romeo and Max!

I did have another photo in mind for today, but I just really loved this one!  These are our neighbor's kid's cats, and I believe they are those hairless ones, sleek and elegant. The gestures in this, nose pressed to cheek and paw reaching around, really moved me.
I love it!  Yay!
And I painted this one on Guerrilla Board, an archival card gessoed black that has been created to replicate the material impressionists painted on.  It isn't quite a brush-stroke-y as my smoother panels, but I like how this one turned out. It grabs the brush a bit~

Oh and we safely arrived home last night close to midnight, to the excited welcome of all our critters!  Now that I have this task completed for the day, I am going to go take a nap!  Whew!

8x10 acrylic on guerrilla board

$200

click here for purchase info!

March 26, Kitty!

This is a lovely tri-color little cat, named Kitty!
I played it the background a bit- it was warmer to start with and then if felt like it needed to be greener... I do love that high ear with the rich reds!
And we are packing to head home today!  I just painted a horseshoe crab and a gorgeous pine from Lincoln Park to use up some of my paint before I put away my pallet box, but they are still too wet to pack.  I'll post those later!

6x6 acrylic on wood

$100

click here for this sweetie!

March 25, the Wonderful Hyboni Joyi!

I'm hoping I've got the right names with the right guinea pigs here....  she was certainly a gas to paint, with that wonderful whale spout of hair!
And this is Magenta's story about her~

The long haired Black and white one is the Beautiful Hyboní Joyi Delilah Bloom. This little Guinea Kween came to me two years ago. She came from a horribly neglective home where she was hardly fed and never allowed to leave her Cage. I’m happy to say she has once made a Full and happy recovery. Her Homecoming date is October 20th 2016 this piggie is FULL of Sass.

6x6 acrylic on wood

$100

click here to own this!

And I thought you might like a peek at my traveling painting set up in Seattle! I'm at a lovely Airbnb right next door to my cousin's house, and I paint at the living room coffee table~ beautiful place!  So glad to be here, and today is the last full day~  home tomorrow~

March 24, Sammy Sosa for Carolyn's Mom

This is another ancestor cat, from an old photograph, and I may need to do some adjusting to it to fit what Carolyn sees, because it is tricky painting from blurs, though sometimes leaving a lot up to my imagination can actually be quite helpful!
It was a dark photo-  maybe I need to lighten up that nose?

8x8 acrylic on wood

Spoken For~

March 23, Sissy! or is it Cissy?

And today's kitty, painted in the luxury of an Airbnb in West Seattle, is Sissy kitty, for Robert who is also an artist.
Here's what he says about this lovely bundle of fur!

Sadly, Ari passed away August before last. Then my dearest sweet fluff lady Sissy came into my life, she's six now. She lost her human and I lost my Ari, a long year of courtship later she's my cat. She's a diva. She likes to sing, with a lovely high trilling ornamented meow like an opera singer. She's a full blood Maine Coon runt, only 12 pounds, tiny and dainty as Maine Coons go. She's fluffy. I didn't name her Sissy, but she does play Damsel in Distress and likes to be picked up and lifted to high shelves although if no one's there she jumps as lively as any cat. She just likes the attention. 

She also has this lovely dainty way of tapping your arm for attention with her soft fluffy paw, or waving her hand for attention if she's across the room. The most "femme" lady cat I have ever met. Her long fluffy tail, she gestures like mae west with a feather boa, swaying and curling it, thwapping me with it in passing, then looking back over her shoulder with big blue eyes.

I'm in love, what can I say!

And who wouldn't be!

6x6 acrylic on wood

spoken for!

March 22, Marky McGuire

Marky here is a painting for my dear friends, Carolyn and Brad, who are amazing collectors and lovers of animals and art! This was painted from an old photo that was a bit blurry and tricky to see, but I am pretty happy with it nontheless~  love those orangey-stripey cats~

8x8 acrylic on wood

Spoken For!

March 21, Bugsy!

This is another black cat, and this is the second version because the first one just didn't work right!  I am MUCH happier with this one- the shine on his coat reads better and the eyes look a bit less buggy!
And it is still a chilly spring in Minneapolis~  whew!  I'm heading out today to Seattle for the National Art Educators Convention and I'll be bringing my paints along, hanging out with other art teachers and local artists!  Should be a hoot!

6x6 acrylic on wood

Spoken for!

March 20, Røwena Ophira Frankincense Bloom

Happy first day of spring!  And it is snowing in Minneapolis, which tickles Max to no end~ pretty darn funny, he thinks!
This is another fun one!  Guinea pigs have such fun hair to paint!  Cowlicks all over the place~

The Peruvian Princess (Orange Hair) is Røwena Ophira Frankincense Bloom. She Came to me on November 20th 2017, Have Starved and almost dead. She didn’t make the time period to get sold at the pet store she was at, so she was off to be snake food. My friend thank God, saved her and brought her to me. I got her on a special diet and she seemed to be perking right up, until I noticed two very large tumors on her stomach. I thought for sure that was it for her. I scheduled an X-Ray, and then a Euthanasia. When the Results from the X-rays came back, it was relieve and Panic. My bean was Baking two beans of her own! I brought her home but by that time she was just 2 weeks away from Delivery. Adalaiyde and Tayō were born shortly after.  Due to the lack of care she was given in the early days of her pregnancy, Adalaiyde didn’t survive the night, and Tayō didn’t make the month. Needless to say my Ween was Broken. With lots of love and care shes on her way back to being her peppy wittle pig self. This Girl is happy, full of life and loves flowers.

6x6 acrylic on wood

$100

click here to snag this one!

March 19, Nekko!

Now, this is a black cat, with a sweet little white chin and bib~ love him!  And I meant to paint this much earlier in the day, but I got distracted by trying to re-seat our favorite living room chair.  We have older furniture, and our couches are all futon-style, but our favorite is the "love-seat" one, that all three of us can sit in sometimes, and our lovely dog Teddy seems to be incontinent and it has been peed on WAY too often, despite my attempts at waterproofing it. So we are throwing out that poor old mattress, and I found two larger memory foam dog beds that fit on our chair perfectly, and NOW it smells GREAT!  Whew! And it looks just the same, because the dog beds fit into the original cover, and now we have a waterproof dog pad to lay on it!
Ha!

12x12 acrylic on wood

spoken for!

March 18, Simon, Crystal, and Trixie!

Ha!  I painted THREE cats today! Though now as I am posting this, I am realizing I have completely forgotten to paint their WHISKERS!  Hmmm....

These three cats are my friend Lynda's neighbors' kitties, and rather than paint each individually, I loved this photo of all of them cuddled up together and asked if I could paint it instead.  Usually for these 30 in 30 projects, I wouldn't attempt something quite this complex, but I am really pleased with it!  Yay!

12x12 acrylic on cradled wood panel

$410

click here to purchase!

March 17, Tori for Kelly!

And this is Tori, for St Patrick's Day, because of her green watermelon house and her green eyes...
Here's what Kelly says about her!

Tori Tallulah: Tori is my foster fail. She’s a rescue who had to leave her first home because she bullied the three big dogs there. Tori is very round and loves to plant her 13 pounds right on my stomach to knead my left breast, or drape herself over my neck in bed so I can hardly breathe. She’s a fierce, affectionate girl, who’s not afraid of anything.

6x6 acrylic on wood

Spoken For!

March 16, Greta!

And, yes, I am aware that this is NOT a cat, but really, it is cats and friends, right?  So here is Greta!  Besides, she has enough whiskers to almost look cat-like....

Hee!

8x8 acrylic on cradled panel

Spoken For!

March 15, Peanut!

And this is the tiny sweet rescue, named appropriately and demurely, Peanut!

So here are some pics of our beloved foster-rescue Peanut the Stray who moved in and took over our home in every sense of the word for three weeks. If you choose to paint Peanut as a March Model, I'd like to give it to darling Karma Daughter Nikki who found Peanut and brought him home...and into our hearts! Oh dear little Peanut!

 I just loved this photo of him, peeping over the edge of the blanket- with those huge glowing eyes!

6x6 acrylic on wood

Spoken for!

March 14, Estrella for Joe

Ah what a lovely face this one has! Big luminous eyes, and the gray/black/white stripey fluff...

Estrella is a lovely name for such a lovely creature~

6x6 acrylic on wood

Spoken For!

March 13, Bonnie Blue for Sandy!

And this incredible face belongs to Bonnie Blue!  I love Siamese cats~  did I mention that before? And I just posted my info about my next Painting Sessions starting in April!  You can learn more and sign up HERE!

And here is Bonnie's story~

Our Siamese cat Samantha lived to a ripe old age of 21 ½  years old.  She was my cat when I was single and when we married she actually became Patrick’s cat.  So when she died at home on Christmas eve, our hearts were broken but especially my husband's.  Since he was unemployed at the time he made it clear that I was not to be looking for another kitten until he had a job.  But I can be hard of hearing on a few selective subjects…like kittens.  So on his birthday in February I purchased another apple-headed Siamese girl to bring home and hoping that her sweet little face would woo him over.  Well she poured out the charm and won him over.  Her name is Bonnie Blue.  She was born on Christmas eve so we like to think that Samantha kissed her on the forehead in heaven and gave Bonnie Blue her assignment to mend a broken heart or two.

Awwww, I love a happy story!

6x6 acrylic on wood

Spoken For!

March 12, Noah, for Kathy's Sweetie~

This is Noah, who came into Kathy's life with a lovely story~ she relates it here~

"Here are several pix of our 17-year-old dapper dude.  Noah has a great Origin story:  he belonged to Mark’s kid’s grandpa, who couldn’t take care of him anymore and had an appointment to have him put down.  The kids heard about this, panicked, called Mark, and Mark agreed to go get him.  I’m mildly allergic to cats, which was always my excuse when Mark talked about getting a pet.  Well, Noah walked into my kitchen one day (yeah, Mark didn’t include me in the kids’ discussion, and I didn’t know anything about a cat until that cat walked into my life) and he stole our hearts."

8x8 acrylic on wood.

Spoken For!

March 11, Phonteschan the Guinea Pig

Magenta sent me these wonderful guinea pigs, and this is the first one I'm painting- Max chose the photo I painted this from because it was so CUUUUUUUTE!!!!!

The Short haired Pig-Piggie is the Wonderful Phonteschan Dé-Jüniper St.Star Bloom. On a trip  to St. Cloud I absolutely fell in love with him at shelter.  He had been in that same shelter for the past six months have been separated from his bonded pair. He has Since took quite a liking to Weena. We love getting to know him. His homecoming date is December 20 2017. He is very Curious and Smart.

6x6 acrylic on wood

$100

click here to nab it!

March 10, Minnie and Mabel

These two were pretty fun to paint, though obviously it took me a lot longer than usual!  I also forgot my phone at home and didn't bring it to the studio, and so I was a bit crippled in my tech availability! SO here I am at home again, posting these two sweet kitties~
I love the light on them, though now looking at it, I'm seeing some spots I will probably go back into.  This is why I usually only do portraits of pet's faces for these projects because the light and color on an entire body can take quite a bit more futzing than just a face~  for me, anyway!
We'll see~

8x10 acrylic on canvas

$200

click here for purchase info!

March 9,Mogli! For Andre~

Hmmm....  this is one of those tricky ones, because Mogli is so flipping adorable, and the photo shows that so well, and I'm not sure I've quite gotten those sweet huge eyes with enough light in them... and I may go back into this again.  Tell me if you see something that is off, because somethings bothering me and I can't figure out what it is!

Maybe his eyes aren't big enough?

Hmmm....

8x8 acrylic on wood

Spoken For!

March 8, Bear!

This is a silly painting, of a serious looking cat...  this is Bear, painted for Avi, who patiently lives in the lower half of my sister's house in St Paul.  I don't believe I've ever painted a cat wearing a bow-tie before...
I kinda like it.  It looks like it suits his personality...

6x6 acrylic on wood

spoken for!

March 7, Jojo!

A sweet kitty with a complicated expression~ sent in by my friend Paul, who explains her below~

"The cat’s name is JoJo, female. She was given to me about six years ago. She’s very skittish, a true “fraidy cat”, but over the years she has become somewhat more calm. She gets anxious over little things, like unusual noises, quick movement, or most any activity in a room. So she’s taught me to move more slowly throughout my own home. Her sanctuary is the wild, wild world of the great outdoors in warmer months, and maybe the pillow above the radiator in winter."

10x10 acrylic on wood

Spoken for!

March 6, Audobon, the Lovebird~

This little sweetie was Martha's bird, and she says she was his 3rd owner~ in her own words~

"This is Audubon, a pale- colored lovebird. I was Audie’s 3rd owner, and while he was never hand-trained he had the run of the house and loved joining me at breakfast. We lost him to a respiratory infection last year. Still miss his constant cheerful chatter. "

Isn't he just adorable?

6x6 acrylic on wood

$100 

click HERE to make this YOURS!

ain't he just the cutest?

That's a lot of toast for such a small bird...

The Official List Again!

Hi kids!
I've had a couple changes to the list, so here it is again!  and there are still a couple more changes that may happen, so do stay tuned!

1- Gingersnap for Alison and Weston!

2- Pokey for Avi (Beaner)

3-  Moma Cat for Terri B

4- Naldo for Joe L

5 –Rocket for Kris

6- Audobon the lovebird for Martha!

7 -Jojo for Paul H- 

8- Bear for Avi's mom

9- Mogli for Andre 

10- Minnie and Mabel for Karen S

11- Hyboni Joyi Delilah Bloom for Magenta

12- Noah for Kathy R (Mark’s B-day!) 

13- Bonnie Blue for Sandy

14- Estrella for Joe L

15- Peanut for Nikki

16- Greta for the Bruns~

17- Tori for Kelly E 

18- Simon, Crystal and Trixie for Lynda

19- Nekko!

20- Røwena Ophira Frankincense Bloom for Magenta

21- Bugsy for Kelly E

22 – Marky MgGuire for Carolyn and Brad 8x8

23- Sissy for Robert Sloan 6x6

24- Sammy  Sosa for  Carolyn and Brad 8x8

25- Wonderful Phonteschan Dé-Jüniper St.Star Bloom for Magenta

26- Kitty for Joanne W

27- Max and Maddy

28- Simmie for Deborah

29- Beatrix Potter for Mina

30- PeeWee

March 5th, Rocket!

SO I have already changed the list a bit, you may have noticed~  I was going to paint Duane's kitty Maddie today, since it's his birthday, but I've already painted Maddie, and I've never painted Rocket, and I just had to do him instead because, hey!  Look at those eyes!
I gotta ask Kris if one eye really is green and one yellow, or if it was just the lighting in this photo~  but I think you'll agree this is one crazy kitty!

8x8 acrylic on wood

Spoken for!

March 4, Naldo!

And here is the sweetly shy Naldo (short for Renaldo)~ from Joe up North! I've always loved Siamese looking kitties~ maybe it was from those naughty cats in "The Lady and The Tramp"-  so funny!

6x6 acrylic on wood

spoken for!

March 3, Momma Cat

This one belongs to Terri!  Sometimes it is really fun to re-crop an image.  Terri sent me a larger photo, and for this project I often crop in close to the face of the cat because I can paint a head quicker than a whole body arrangement, so I chose to rearrange the composition.  I like it this way, off center~  and those eyes!

And thanks everyone who came to our Art4Shelter Painting Party last night!  That was GREAT!  And if anyone is interested in meeting me today at Groveland Gallery to see the last day of Mike Lynch's show, I'll be there at 1pm!

Wahoo!

6x6 acrylic on wood

$100

click HERE to love those eyes!

March 2, Avi's Kitty

And here is the second kitty of the month!  Wahoo!  So far so good... though I have yet to send an e-mail to all the participants to let them know they've been included!  Ach!  Just so many hours in a day, especially when I've matured to the point of realizing that if I don't get 8 hours of sleep, I can't do everything I want to do... quite a switch from my younger years, I must add.
This is a request kitty from my sis, for her lovely and generous tenants, so I don't know that much about him or her, but I did enjoy painting the reflected light on that fluffy, squinchy-eyed face...

6x6 acrylic on wood

spoken for!

March 1, Gingersnap and THE OFFICIAL LIST!

YAY!  This is Gingersnap, our friend who lives in Todmorden, UK with our friends Alison and Weston!  They don't know I've painted him, I don't think, but he's one of those wonderfully dog-like cats who is calm and persistent and comfortable with himself.  Can't you tell?

The OFFICIAL LIST is below!
Yay!  Still a couple spaces left, and I reserve the right to shuffle things as necessary!

6x6 acrylic on wood

$100 

click here to purchase!

THE OFFICIAL 30 Cats and Friends in 30 Days, March 2018 Project!

Please follow along as I paint a cat or other small critter every day for the month of March!  If you were expecting to see your name or your pet's name on here, do send me a note!

Thank you for your haranguing and comments!

1- Gingersnap for Alison and Weston!

2- Cat 1 for Avi (Beaner)

3-  Moma Cat for Terri B

4- Naldo for Joe L

5 –Miss Maddie for Duane

6- Audobon the lovebird for Martha

7 -Jojo for Paul H

8- Cat 2 for Avi (Beaner)

9- Mowgli for Andre 

10- Minnie and Mabel for Karen S

11- Hyboni Joyi Delilah Bloom for Magenta

12- Noah for Kathy R

13- Crystal for Lynda

14- Naldo for Joe L

15- Peanut for Deborah

16-  

17- Tori for Kelly E 

18- Simon for Lynda

19- Trixie for Lynda

20- Røwena Ophira Frankincense Bloom for Magenta

21- Bugsy for Kelly E

22 – Marky MgGuire for Carolyn's mom

23- Sissy for Robert S

24- Sammy  Sosa for Brad

25- Wonderful Phonteschan Dé-Jüniper St.Star Bloom for Magenta

26- Kitty for Joanne W

27- Max and Maddy

28- Simmie for Deb

29- Beatrix Potter for Mina

30-