Inspired by cats and songs by The Cure, these paintings derive from personal experience and photos shared by friends and art enthusiasts. It is a joy to paint and spend time with cats and show their different personalities and relationships with people. Each painting has a story and celebrates this feline furry friend!
The culmination of this exhibit is the production of a 2025 Cat Calendar with each month featuring a different painting. Visit my shop to check it out!
Minkerton McKnight, or Minkie for short, is our neighbor Kelle's cat. We were over for a baked potato picnic and found her scurrying up a tree in the garden.
"I'm coming to find you if it takes me all night - Can't stand here like this anymore - For always and ever is always for you - I want it to be perfect like before"
[A story of wild cats]
This grey fellow is a stray tomcat, with jowls and all. We call him Tom because he looks like the cat from Tom and Jerry. Turns out, our neighbor Karen feeds the
neighborhood strays, and she calls him Tommy. I saw him in the backyard on a sunny day in Spring,
basking amongst all the construction bits and paint buckets, and he was all peace and contentment.
[A story of troublemakers]
Siddhartha, or Sid for short, looks hilarious in this photo. He gets in trouble sometimes, and he's clumsy and adorable.
"And I remember she used to fall down a lot - That girl was always falling - Again and again - And I used to sometimes try to
catch her - But never even caught her name"
[A story of nighttime cats]
This is one of my favorite songs, and one of my favorite pictures of Cookie and Chris. I wonder what she's doing...
"I've waited hours for this I've made myself so sick I wish I'd stayed Asleep today"
[A story of helpful cats]
Cookie always "helps" take out recycling on garbage day.
"I'll tell them anything at all - I know I'll give the world and more - They think I'm on my hands and head -
This time, they're much too slow"
[A story of family cats]
Goop Eye and Danielle have a special bond, they have been together through thick and thin. Sometimes Goop looks like an intense cat from hell, sometimes she
looks like a queen, so regal and baddass. Either way, she's always got some goop in her eye.
[A story of scaredy cats]
Slobberpuss, or Bob, didn't love us. A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away, we got to pet him. But he remembers once being picked up and hugged,
and yah, he didn't like that, and he has a very good memory. I hear he's very cuddly and sweet, but it's just hearsay at this point.
[A story of cats shared]
I told one of my art camp students about doing a Cat Art Exhibit and they shared a picture of their beautiful Siberian kitty, Cassiopeia. I immediately felt an
overwhelming sense of bliss exude from this fluff of a cat. Cass was a joy to paint!
[A story of needy cats]
I love the reverence of Deo holding Chips. The cat looks so funny with his feet sticking straight up, being carried like a baby, like this is perfectly normal.
"Let me take your hands - I'm shaking like milk - Turning, turning blue - All over the windows and the floors - Fires outside in the sky - Look as perfect as cats"
[A story of independent cats]
A fellow artist named Sue shared pics with me and I loved the simplicity and catness of this guy. Montgomery, or Gummies for short, is chill as fuck.
"I've never been so - Colourfully-see-through-head before - I've never been so - Wonderfully-me-you-want-some-more - And all I want is to keep it like this"
[A story of my cat]
An ode to our first cat Meow Meow, or Meowsers, I lay beside him as he was passing on, and I'll never forget how he waited for me to come home from work so I
could say goodbye. In his final moments, I heard this dry, rasping wind, so loud and sharp, and felt and heard his breath leave his body. It was profound and
humbling.
[A story of mother and daughter]
Yumi, brown and orange, is the full bengal mama and Kiki is the grey bengal bombay. Although they are so cute, don't let them fool you. Troublemakers they are.
A little trouble always comes with love.
"We move like cagey tigers - Oh, we couldn't get closer than this - The way we walk, the way we talk - The way we stalk, the way we kiss"
[A story of adopted cats]
This orange tabby was a stray who kept coming around when Louie worked in the backyard. And he kept coming around. So he called him Jefferson, from the show,
The Jeffersons, "Moving on up..." Jefferson was his boy, followed him around and loved those foot massages.
[A story of deep connections]
Alice Clair keeping vigil for his beloved Whitney at the very end. It is touching to connect with a perfect stranger, drawn together by cats
and death and love. Read the full story here.
"Kiss me goodbye" - Pushing out before I sleep - Can't you see I try? - Swimming the same deep water as you is hard"
[A story of the cats in our hearts]
This painting was inspired by a figure drawing. I collaborated with friends to create a place and story, adding personalized components to the painting.
"It was the sweetness of your skin - It was the hope of all we might have been - That fills me with the hope to wish - Impossible things"
[A story of the best spot]
A journey of self discovery in a barn. A profound spot, as discovered by grey kitty long ago.
"I am paralyzed by the blood of Christ - Though it clouds my eyes - I can never stop - never stop."
Featured Artist at New Zone Gallery, Eugene October 2024
