Miss Willmott's Ghost~Macros

I've been admiring Deborah Kirby's garden photos on her blog. Beautiful floral closeups, Deb! My little Miss Willmott is growing up and in bloom and I finally figured out how to shoot in super macro mode with my new Canon PowerShot S5IS. Today I managed to snap a few decent shots despite the windy conditions. I'm surprised how many visitors to my blog are Googling for Miss Willmott. She's a popular lady!

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Be sure to click on the images to enlarge.

Study~The Cat, The Spider And The Moon

This study is in prep for my latest fantasy piece. I'm not sure what the final title will be. Maybe I'll just keep this one? The basic image has been in my head for years. I just added a cat. It occurred to me that this might explain how The Cat That Swallowed The Moon got up there in the first place! I think this will need some stars, which I seem to have forgotten about completely. Back to the drawing board...........

The Cat That Swallowed The Moon~ Is It Done Yet?

After my last post in April I fell into the worst 'funk' I've experienced in many years, not only regarding my creativity but life in general. I can't blame it on anything in particular. Possibly a build up of many small things that have happened recently. I lost all interest in pretty much everything and generally felt 'flat' for lack of a better term. After waiting for this to pass(which it usually does in a few days but this time it didn't) I tried everything in my arsenal to get myself back on track. I listened to music...everything from Enya to my old Led Zepplin tapes, I worked in my gardens, I paced the floor, hit the treadmill, baked myself a pan of brownies and ate them all...you name it.

I finally forced myself to ready some artwork for the summer season at the gallery. I spoke with Rachel Krino at Northbound Graphics in Central Lake, Michigan and am in the process of having a couple of my Catitude cats made into reproduction prints. I framed Miss Willmott's Ghost which, IMO looks great in it's brushed silver frame. I'm also planning on printing more notecards using my Catitudes if my printer ink ever arrives from Dell. I think they shipped it from China this time.

The only thing left on my easel was this poor cat waiting patiently to be completed. I've added pastel and colored pencil to this, completed the tail and tweeked the background. I considered adding a Luna moth clinging to the tree truck above the cat but thought it would make the piece too rightside 'heavy'. The image is dark as it's a cloudy day here so the colors are off but I felt the need to post something new. I'd love any input on this one. C&C welcome!

Who Am I? What Am I?

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

I'm Hanging In A Museum. Surprise!

Jeanette Jobson found the craziest website somewhere online and posted a link on her blog. I just had to try it out. Ever wish you could have a piece of your artwork hanging in a museum? C'mon...I know you have. Well, now you can...sorta.

*****

Go to Jeanette's blog(I have her on my blog roll), check her April 19th post and you too can be hanging in a museum. *grin*

Twinrocker Paper Samples Received

I just received my samples from Twinrocker Handmade Paper. They sent 81 samples(!) in all, each approx. 3"x 5". I wanted to post a few of my favorites but it was so hard to choose. This is just a small sample of the gorgeous papers they offer. Some are decorative tissues, others more substantial, some very textured and others quite smooth. They even included some crinkled metallics. Where the samples were cut from the edge of the main sheet you can see a deep feathery deckle which I love.

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The Cripple Creek, Willow Creek and Fifth Avenue samples have an almost flannel-like appearance. Heartland(which I didn't include in my post) is made with bits of corn husks added. It's very subtle and would work beautifully with watercolor. Even though the Midnight Bamboo would NOT work with watercolor this one blew me away. I love it!

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p.s. my scans don't do these samples justice.

WIP~The Cat That Swallowed The Moon

I've been hard at work trying to make the vision I have in my head for this piece come to life on paper. Nevermind that I have no real reference(this is from my imagination...scary, huh?), I'm working on HP watercolor paper which I'm not used to working on with a brush and I'm going for effects that a digital artist could probably whip out in no time flat. Ok...enough excuses. Whether this one turns out the way I'd like it to or not I can always try again with knowledge gained.

Starting from left to right, the first image is my grisaille, done with DS Moonglow over a very light wash of D/R permanent yellow. I've applied frisket film over that and I'm preparing for my washes on the background. I drew a circle with an 'F' pencil to indicate where the Moon used to be and added a few drops of Misket fluid to mask out the stars.

The second and third images are successive washes done with DaVinci Indigo and D/R ultramarine violet. I'm shooting for that 'night sky in the forest' look. Before I applied my washes I drew in my fireflies and used Prismacolor colored pencils for the fly's 'fire' and to act as a 'resist' for the paint. I still had to carefully dab out my fireflies with a tissue after each wash. I also gently scrubbed out my ferns after each wash.

The last image is where I'm at now. I've started applying darker and darker washes to the tree and cat, indicating the cat fur, creating texture on the bark. etc. I've left the cat's tail for last for some reason. Maybe I will add some leaves tucked into the tail fur? Right now it's all fine tuning.

Twinrocker Handmade Paper

Recently Robin Neudorfer sent me a link to Twinrocker Handmade Paper. I've been interested in trying out different papers for ink and watercolor...particularily tinted papers. I like the look of certain ink and watercolor washes on antique-y(?) looking backgrounds. Twinrocker offers a variety of papers including watercolor paper and their prices are very reasonable. They also offer two different sample swatch sets for $15 and $30. I ordered the $30 set and can't wait to see what the possibilities are with these papers. I'll keep you posted.

Miss Willmott's Ghost~Revised, Reshot & Reframed

~~~ SOLD~~~

I revised Miss Willmott. The hard edge/line that ran diagonally from a shadow line on the viewer's left, through the center of the flower and connected with the vein line on the bract on the right bothered me a lot. I softened that and broke the connection by carefully scrubbing it down. I also softened the bottom of the flower center to read better with the light source...hopefully. I recropped to 21"x 13 1/2" and reframed her in a wider frame. I reshot my photo outside. Yes, it's sunny and fairly warm here today! Consequently the colors are much more accurate.

Miss Willmott~First Trial

Still fiddling with the composition on this! I also used the Fabriano Uno 140# paper. IMO, it's lousy for glazing but I managed to get some interesting effects in the background. I was slapping on paint, spraying it down with water, rolling my board and letting it do it's thing. I had water and paint everywhere. Man, it was fun! After cropping, this wound up approx. 18" x 13 1/2" and I 'virtually' framed it with a white mat and frosted pewter frame. My palette was primarily Daniel Smith Moonglow and Phthalo green(I think I got a little FUB in there somewhere for good measure).

Any and all opinions are welcome on this one. The photo isn't the best(it's yellow-y) but it's cloudy today so it's the best I can do for now. When we get some sun I'll repost this.

I Was Just Looking for Fellow Cat Painters......

I was curious what other cat artists were creating as I love painting cats myself. Not literally paint cats, of course. In the process of searching online I ran across the funniest website called,
'Why Paint Cats'

Burton Silver and Heather Busch published the book, Why Paint Cats featuring photos of elaborately painted real live cats. Apparently when the book hit the stores the reaction was everything from admiration to outrage. During further investigation I discovered the entire thing was an enormous(and profitable)hoax perpetrated by the writers and some clever digital manipulation. Why paint cats indeed. *grin*

Snopes~Painted Cats
Why Paint Cats on Amazon

Miss Willmott Comp~Revised

I've been playing a lot with the composition on this one. I wasn't happy at all with my first attempt. I thought it looked like a 'mugshot'. Something you'd see on a botany website...informative but no excitement whatsoever. It didn't do this plant justice at all. I decided to try working from another perspective. Looking down at a slight angle, this plant in full bloom looks to me like lots of white fireworks going off all at once.

This sketch is nothing more than quick scribbles but I'm liking it much better than the last one.

Workin' The Kinks Out

Inspiration strikes when I least expect it sometimes. Yesterday morning I was shlumping on the sofa in my PJs with Digby, my one and only male cat snoozing beside me, watching Saturday morning TV(which leaves something to be desired)and wondering what my next art project would be. A commercial came on and as always the volume on the TV increased considerably.

Before I could hit 'mute' Digby woke, hopped off the sofa and took a big looooong stretch(workin' the kinks out, I call it). As I watched him I suddenly thought, " Wow! What's more 'cat' than that?!" With no time to snap a photo I had to try and commit that moment to memory. I grabbed my pencils and paper and started sketching. After several tries I wound up with this.(see above) I'd like to refine it a bit more before I paint this so I've been keeping paper and pencil handy at all times waiting for him to stretch again. So far that hasn't happened but I'll be ready when it does. Right now my sketch doesn't look too bad as is but I'm still workin' the kinks out..........

Know The Value Of Your Colors

This was something I had to learn when I started working with color and I'm still learning. What range of values can be achieved by each color? Color can be so deceiving. The actual value of a certain color at maximum strength may look pretty darn dark to the eye but put it into greyscale and the results may amaze you. For instance Cobalt Blue Deep looks like it could go fairly dark but at full strength it really can't. Aureolin yellow at full strength barely makes the midtone range, if at all.

Some artist's like to work 'highkey' and produce very successful results. In other words, they keep their work in the midtone to light range. I'm not one of those artists. I like to use a full range of values to pack a punch, make a painting *pop*, give it pazzazz, whatever you may call it. Highkey artists may use complimentary colors to add drama. I do both. I'm such a drama queen.

Above I've done a greyscale of my painted palette along with a full color palette. I've added a greyscale chart for comparison. The results may surprise you.

Signs of Spring

It seems this winter has been dragging on forever. We still have lots of snow and very cold temps. I found a photo I took last Spring of a cluster of white crocuses in my garden and decided to paint it in hopes it would give me that Spring feeling. I used the Uno paper and a few new (to me) techniques. Lots of wet into wet painting, mixing at lot of the colors on the paper instead of my palette, using paper towels and my fingers for texture, etc. I also tried out a few new colors...Warm Sepia and Neutral Tint. This painting is much looser than my usual style and I quite enjoyed it! I may redo this one and try other colors and go for something even more loose.

CATITUDE 5~Surprise!(?)

This one has been a long time coming. I started over 4 times before getting anything I felt was decent enough to post. I'm still not satisfied with it.

I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't the new paper I'm using. The paint is just not behaving for me the way I'd like. I got a great 'going-out-of-stock' deal on Fabriano Uno paper...five full sheets for $10. Before ordering I did a little research on it and found information stating it was the same as Fabriano Artistico(which I love!) only they had changed the name. When it arrived I noticed the surface texture was quite different from the Artistico. It had a pressed linen-like texture and was a bit shiny. I also noticed it tends to buckle easily with heavy washes. Another thing...when glazing over dry washes the paint lifted. I'm going to order my favorite Fabriano Artistico and re-do this painting....again(!) and compare the results. I'll be painting this cat in my dreams.

Anyone who owns or even knows a cat also knows they don't like surprises. Neither do I. Especially if they aren't 'good' surprises.

Online Matting & Framing Services

I've noticed over time that a few of the visitors to my blog are Googling for matting and framing services which leads them to one of my older posts regarding this subject. In that post I refer to online or 'virtual' matting and framing. Unfortunately I never left a link to the site I use which has provided very good service to me...both in products, speed of delivery and their virtual matting/framing feature. I'd like to recommend
American Frame to anyone interested.

Miss Willmott~ Line Drawing & Color Study

I managed to complete a line sketch and have been working on creating a palette for this painting. I'd love to keep the colors on the cool side because I plan to put the completed painting in a silver metal frame. After experimenting with several colors I wound up using Phthalo green & Indigo on this thumbnail along with a little Cobalt Blue Deep and Ultramarine Violet to liven things up. Sorry for the sloppy looking thumbnail. It's approx. 4" X 6" and I just don't have the brush sizes for this small of a task. I was still able to get an idea of how this particular palette will work....or not.

*I think this needs more violet*

Although it really doesn't show in the photo I added some colored pencil to the background...Prismacolor's Black Grape, Ultramarine Blue and Cerulean Blue. I've always wanted to explore mixing other mediums with my watercolors. I'm sure I'll be doing much more of that in the future.

Painting Miss Willmott~Comp Study

I plan to paint Miss Willmott eventually. I hope to do her proud. I've been playing with a few comps and I like this one the best, so far. The movement appeals to me. It started as a rectangular format but I had too much 'dead space' in the lower left corner. I could've filled it with hazy background foliage but instead think I may try to create a border using artist's tape and let the lower right bract extend past that. I've even been toying with the idea of working some silver leaf into this one. It's just a thought for now. The main flower is pretty much dead center of the comp right now. I probably should shift it a bit one way or the other. Still playing.........

Eryngium Giganteum, Miss Willmott's Ghost

The name of this plant sounds like something from a horror movie and it does have a slightly ferocious look about it. Actually the common name comes out of the story of a gardener, Miss Willmott, secretly scattering Eryngium giganteum seeds around in gardens she visited. The plants would show up as if from nowhere with their ghostly flowers, thus the name Miss Willmott’s ghost. I first saw it in White Flower Farm's nursery catalogue many years ago and knew I had to have it. The cost was high for my budget but I was seduced by the photo. It was shown blooming with white liatris(gayfeather) and Stargazer lilies. What a combo! Grabbing my credit card I ordered one plant.

When it came it wasn't much to look at but I promptly planted it in my moon garden where I thought it would serve as a feature plant when it matured. There it languished for two years, doing nothing. I thought it had died. The third summer I was ill and couldn't get out to the garden to water as much as usual. All my flower beds looked pretty sad that year, dried out or drooping in the summer heat. And then it happened. Miss Willmott must have liked those conditions because she took off like a rocket, grew to about 3 feet tall and bloomed her head off. I managed to snap a photo of her with my old 35mm camera and I'm glad I did because after blooming she died but the old girl had put on quite a show before her demise.

A few years later I noticed these tiny little plants popping up all through the moongarden. I thought they were weeds but when I tried to pull them I found they had an extremely mean taproot that was almost impossible to dig up. I finally gave up and let them have the run of the place. I mentioned these strange plants on a garden forum and someone told me they sounded like little Miss Willmotts. I isolated a few to a holding bed and to my delight that's what they were! Last summer one made it far enough to maturity to actually produce a few blooms. Apparently Miss Willmott had left me a present.

Artist's Block

Brick walls can be built with artist's blocks. Did you know that? Well, I have been beating my head against this particular brick wall way too long. I've done three paintings that have hit the trash can since my last post. It was getting a little depressing. The more I forced myself to work through it, the worse it got. *ack* Finally I decided maybe I needed to head in a brand new direction for awhile in hopes I could come back with fresh eyes and renewed inspiration.

I was chatting last week with a friend and it got me thinking. Maybe it would be a good idea to really step out of my usual 'thing' and do something I've never done before....

#1 A self portrait

#2 Do it in charcoal, which I rarely work with.

#3 Work from life, which I never do. I always work from photos.

The results were mixed(it kinda looks like me)but it felt good to just be doing something. It turned out to be a real challenge. I was working without my specs(glasses)in low light. All I could see were just basic shapes, highlights and dark areas. When I finally called this one done I had added some 2B pencil, white charcoal and a little sanguine for a blush to make myself look a bit more healthy. Tada!

Update~My New Camera!

Well, it turns out that the bug I caught got into just about everything on my computer. My son had to dump and reload the entire system so I now have a brand new computer...sorta. I've spent the last fews days re-downloading my photo editors, Java, etc. We did manage to save my pictures and documents. *phew* I now have much better security which I WILL update & use faithfully. That's my New Years resolution for 2008, 2009, etc.

For Christmas I had asked for a tripod. My thinking? I plan to photograph and copy my artwork onto a disc. I'll then have my prints made from the disc so I can mat and frame the originals without wondering if I've had enough printed beforehand. I already had a little Kodak Easyshare CX6445 which has been very good to me. I've had the best luck photographing rather than scanning my work. The images just seem to be better. I did get my tripod along with a brand new Canon Powershot S5 IS from my boys and WOWZERS! According to the manuals(of which there are several) this thing can do everything but the dishes. I'm still studying and playing with my new toy so it'll be a little while before I'll be posting any shots.

'Tis The Season

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sorry for the lack of recent updates on my blog. I caught a 'bug' online and even though I managed to remove the infection I was left with some glitches. It takes a month of Sundays for my homepage to load these days. It was a small miracle two nights ago my computer didn't wind up in a snow bank. *cuss* Help is on the way from my oldest son but he works long hours and is hard to corral. With any luck things will be back to normal before Christmas and I can upload some new work.

P.S. I can't take credit for the image on this post although I wish I could. I love it! Be sure to click on the Christmas cat to see him twinkle.

Creating From Imagination

Still working out the background details and lighting on this one. It's been slow going. I tweak and look, tweak and look. Gradually this is coming along to my satisfaction. I may leave this and just look at it for weeks, especially in different light. Many times there's an *Ah Ha!* moment and I'll notice something that was missing or needs adjusting.

Right now I'm working with charcoal and soft pastel on tracing paper. Why tracing paper? It's cheap, it works well with several mediums, erases well and I can put different colored papers behind it to get different effects.

I'm keeping the background fairly simple to keep the focus on my main subject...the cat. I've 'suggested' a few ferns, added the trunk of a tree for the cat to lean against and maybe a few fireflies will get in there somewhere. I want this one to be all about the cat and the lighting. Of course the moon or lack thereof is important also. I've decided to create a hole in the sky where the moon had been with a dark night sky and a few stars peeking through. I've abandoned my references completely now and I'm moving on, using only my imagination. I have the concept in my head. Now the challenge is to get it on paper.

Getting Creative to Create

I was browsing Flickr for interesting cat photos when I stumbled onto Peek-Peek. I fell in love with this kitty immediately! He's a chubby Persian belonging to Bokeh. One pose caught my attention because I've had an idea in my head for a painting called 'The Cat That Swallowed The Moon'. I contacted Bokeh who graciously agreed to let me use her photo. Now the fun began.

I had the vision in my head but I knew I needed lighting references to bring this idea to life. Necessity truly is the mother of invention. Grabbing my Crayola Teddy Bear and an old frosted globe light diffuser I set up a mockup still life. I nestled the teddy bear into my rocking chair, set the globe in it's lap and stuck a mini flashlight into the globe to create the 'moonglow'. I duct taped the bear's paws to the globe and set a potted plant arrangement next to my 'still life' and let the light fall where it may. I played in Irfanview to pinpoint where the majority of the light/shadow fell on my subjects.

There's still background details to work out so this project is still in the sketch phase. It'll be awhile until I'm satisfied enough to start painting. If all goes well it should be a fun new cat to add to my series. Thanks again, Bokeh and Peek-Peek!

Mission Accomplished!

~~~This was my solution for Caterwauling. Since the format was square(and I didn't want a little square image in the middle of a white rectangle) I used an image that I'd framed online. I cropped it to fit the notecard. It looks a little lopsided here but it's really not. ~~~

Yes...mission accomplished. At least for now. The mission? To create simple notecards from my Catitude series. My Kodak Easyshare printing program experienced a glitch so I was forced to abandon it as an option. *cuss* I spent the entire past week researching other editing programs, trying free downloads and even giving Microsoft Publisher a test drive. Yup, Microsoft actually offers test drives for several of their editing programs. A test drive means you don't have to download a darn thing. I'm not entirely sure how it works but it gives the user a chance to see the program and sample the capabilites/features it offers.

Using a thirty day free trial of Photoshop Elements I managed to print out fifteen cards...five cards each using three of my Catitude cats...Gingerbruiser, Caterwauling and Undercover Kitty. For some reason Nosey Rosie defied printing. Even with a lot of fiddling with lighting, sharpness and color correction what was on my screen would not translate to the printed card. I haven't given up, though. I just need a break. *sigh*

After trying the programs I'll most likely go with Publisher. It's more straight forward and easier for me to understand. The cost is roughly the same as Elements.

I ordered the card bags from Clearbags. Since I planned to sell the cards singly with an envelope I chose bag size #B45. This size will hold one notecard and one 4 3/8" X 5 3/4" invitation envelope.

As luck would have it when I delivered my notecards to the gallery I ran into another artist who also runs a printing service nearby called Northbound Publications & Graphics. They do giclees, rack cards, etc. She gave me her business card and we spent some time going over prices and just chatting. I've been considering switching to giclees rather than having my prints made at Office Max so I felt this was one of those happy coincidences that life sometimes throws our way.

I've Been Tagged!

Here goes..........

1. I was born on Friday the 13th. The only time I remember the #13 being unusually lucky for me (other than being the date I was born)I was at a local carnival and played the fortune wheel. I even think I was 13 years old at the time. I played #13 four times in a row and it came up all four times. The guy running the wheel was visibly upset by this and all I got for my lucky streak was a small stuffed animal and the bum's rush.

2. I'm adopted.

3. When I was 20 three of my friends and I got together enough money to fly to Scotland for three weeks and backpack the countryside. We spent one night on the shores of Loch Ness looking for Nessie. He/she never made an appearance.

4. My dentist when I was a preteen was a local character named Doc Hoffman. He told me I had a bite like Ford gears. Looking back I take that as a compliment. He always drove antique Ford cars.

5. When I was about 12 I entered my first art contest. The participants had to produce a poster depicting the evils of littering. It was called The Litterbug Contest. I won! My first and only art award to date. I got my picture in the local paper and a free soda at Joe William's Cigar store. The Cigar Store had a soda fountain in case you're wondering.

6. I've been known to stay in PJ's for days without ever getting dressed.

7. I absolutely HATE going out shopping...for anything! God bless the internet.

Here's my list of tag-ies:

Valchina612
http://valdevriesartblog.blogspot.com/

Celeste Vaught
http://celestevaughtart.blogspot.com/

Lisa Ober
http://lisaober.blogspot.com/

Pilan/Mary
http://abstractionincolor.blogspot.com/

Ron Morrison
http://watercolourproductions.blogspot.com/

http://watercolourworks.blogspot.com/

Tracey Costescu

http://www.stateofartportraits.com/blog.htm

Note Cards

I've been working on a new project the last week or so. I'd like to produce a line of note cards using my Catitude series. Note cards seem to sell well at the gallery and many of the artists are taking advantage of this fact. I've never produced a card of any kind before and mentioned this to my good friend and fellow artist, Robin Neudorfer. She suggested I contact Diane Wright, a wonderful graphite artist and a very gracious woman who recently started a printing service on her website. Diane was an enormous help and gave me very useful guidence.

Diane made me realize I could probably print my own note cards at home for very little expense so I started to scan my photo editors for features that would be useful. Lo and behold my Kodak Easyshare program has a note card feature with many templates to choose from! Taking Diane's advice I purchased some nice 90# card stock and invitation envelopes at Office Max. I also splurged on a Fiskars 12" rotary cutter to make card cutting a breeze.

My next challenge was to create templates for the back of the cards. I wanted to show the name/number of the series, the title and of course my name/copyright mark. This I did using Irfanview, a free online photo editor I normally use for resizing my images. If anyone who reads this post would like to know more about Irfanview please let me know and I'll be glad to advise you. It has many useful features.

Now this all sounds easy...right? Not entirely. The card face has to be printed first, the card folded and then trimmed. Next the back must be printed. This can get tricky, especially with my printer. Running a folded card through a printer can cause paper jams(which it has)and the card can get hooked on something and the print can turn out cockeyed, etc. If I knew a better way I'd surely use it. I did perservere and got a few examples to show for it which I've posted above.

Now I'm considering text for the card face. I plan to leave some plain but would like to add text to others. Did I call myself clever? Well, apparently I'm not as clever as I thought. The text is still eluding me. I'll come up with something but I'm always open to suggestions. *hint hint*

CATITUDE 4~'Undercover Kitty'

I had to include this one in the series in part due to the nature of Gizmo, my youngest female cat. She's always been a bit high strung. Well, a LOT high strung actually. She also has overly large ears for her small face and huge 'headlamp' eyes. Little Mo' as we nicknamed her also is shy around strangers and typically hides under the covers on my bed when company comes. When I had workers come to redo my bathroom a few years ago Gizmo spent the entire five days undercover, coming out only to eat and use the litterbox. I know the workmen wondered what that lump was in my bed.

This one's for you, Little Mo'. Love ya!

Me in a Nutshell

Your Personality is Very Rare (INTP)

Your personality type is goofy, imaginative, relaxed, and brilliant. Only about 4% of all people have your personality, including 2% of all women and 6% of all men You are Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

i REALLY like the 'brilliant' part! HAHA!

CATITUDE 3~'Nosey Rosie'

Meet Nosey Rosie. Cats are naturally curious creatures and Rosie is certainly no exception as you can see. I experimented with a circular mat on this one. I 'd love to hear some feedback/opinions regarding the circular mat. Does it work? Does it not? I'm curious.........

RAVEN

1994-2007

This past June Raven, my beloved studio assistant was diagnosed with cancer. Early this morning she passed away quietly under the head of my bed. She was the first cat I ever fell in love with. She changed my entire attitude toward cats in general and talk about attitude? Trust me, this gal had it in spades.

She was always my faithful helper especially in the kitchen. She loved to watch me prepare food and she loved to eat. Her tastes ran the gamut from tacos to spaghetti and the list goes on. I could call her just by opening the refrigerator door. She knew that sound well and was always 'tuned' to it.

A funny story...When she was just a little kitten she scared me almost to death. It was nighttime and I couldn't find her anywhere. I was frantic! I looked everywhere in house but no Raven. Finally I tried to calm down and retrace my steps. They brought me to the refrigerator. Noooo..she couldn't be...she was...in the frig. I thought she'd be traumatized by the experience but not her. She was busy working on a piece of Polish sausage and when I opened the door she looked at me like, "What do you want?" That was my gal.

CATITUDE 2~'Gingerbruiser'

I finally completed all those miserable little leaves to a somewhat satisfactory conclusion. Not wanting them to be a feature per se I didn't want them to be too detailed. However my first attempts were not good. I fiddled until I have what I think is a nice balance.

So here's Gingerbruiser, the neighborhood bully on the lookout for his next victim.

Cat in Progress

This is the next installment in my Catitude series. This big fella is taking me longer than I anticipated. I paint a little, look at it, paint a little more, look at it..........still no where near done.

I'm finding I hate painting lotsa little leaves, too. Unfortunately there's many more to go.