Spirit Bears and Kitten Distractions ~ SOLD

Spirit Bear - 5.5 x 7.5" - Watercolor on Yupo paper, matted to 8 x 10" 

This week just evaporated into thin air! I didn't get a whole lot accomplished, but I was able to do some sketching everyday and finished this one Spirit Bear painting from last week's sketchingeveryday drawing.

Friend and fellow artist, Lee Gates, booked a private watercolor session which lasted most of the day on Tuesday. ( Surprise - more bears!) We were both pleased with her end result.

The itty-bitty kitties currently living in my studio have been such a wonderful and fun distraction! It's totally amazing I've gotten any work done at all. I'm finding I need to take kitty breaks every couple of hours just to play with them and laugh. (Their momma is still at large, BTW. We caught two raccoons and one groundhog last night.) 

Today I had a brilliant idea (if I must say so) and I set up a kitty corral in one of the corners of the room, using two 6 foot folding tables. I put the kitties in a small cage and opened it up inside the enclosure.

Bold little Betty Boop was the first one out.

Little brother, Opie quickly followed her lead.

Then he had second thoughts and returned to the safety of the cage

with his sisters, Pye Pye (left) and Pixie (right).

Before long, all four of them were going wild, running in and out and all around the little cage. I sat on the floor right in the middle. They leaped and ran over my legs as we played with their favorite toy, the feather on a string. After about an hour, I fed them and moved their beds into the corner by the cage. They are all totally zonked out as I type. I think this will be a great new temporary home and a way to socialize them, without them hardly even noticing.

Jerry had me take a few shots of our flowers in the back of our house this morning. He wanted to show the guy at the garden center where he bought them. We don't have any in the front. It's very plain. We want them where we can see and enjoy them.

I love this brass planter with lion's heads that Jerry picked up for me at the scrap yard. The plant he later purchased fit into it perfectly. I think it makes a bold statement at the studio entrance. I'm so lucky to have a hubby that's always so supportive and constantly lavishes me with gifts!

I'd love to hear your thoughts about my art, kittens and life in general! Hearing from you is always greatly appreciated. Really!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

Wishing you joy and gratitude everyday, even for the little things in life!

Love and Hugs, 

"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back

and realize they were the big things."

~ Robert Brault

Howdy Hoo From Cat Man Do!

Sophie - sweet resident barn/shop cat

I said I'd fill you in the cat happenings here at "Cat Man Do", so here I go. It's complicated. Eva, the one year old recent drop off and fred's last fling has been vetted, treated, spayed and contained in a large cage in Jerry's shop since last Tuesday. She's been in the same room as Sophie and Ginger, our outside/inside, barn/shop cats. Sophie is a real doll, but Ginger is a an insecure, neurotic pterodactyl. (Wow, how do you like the spelling of that word?) The three cats seem to be accepting each other and I think we'll open Eva's door to the room with the two girls on Wednesday. I hope her and Sophie hit it off, because Ginger really annoys the Soph with her constant clinginess.

Ginger - Sweet, skittish and fat with various issues

The love triangle - Eva,  Ja Ja and Fred 

Eva -  tiny newbie 4.5 lbs.

Eva seems very docile and tame. Jerry's been sticking his hand in the cage and petting her, which she likes very much.

Ja Ja - teenage mother, 6 mo. old

As per my previous post, we caught Ja Ja,

only to find she was nursing kittens,

so brought her back untouched except for a rabies shot.

She loves the trap and we have caught her several times since. 

Freddie the Free Loader - Still at large

Fred's just too smart and continues to be an outlaw. We set the trap. He sniffs it, sprays it and walks away. He's been around the block a few too many times and we're afraid he is going to be a difficult one to catch.

Princess has her good days and bad. She's 17 now and often seems grouchy. She has been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. We have her on transdermal medication which is helping her have more good days. She now has a better appetite and is starting to put some weight on. 

Tigger is our big, lovable guy. He is spending more and more time with me in the studio, much to Princess' dismay. He's usually very good and tolerant of her and her space, but every once in a while he has to be a bad boy and get right in her face. This of course sets her off and gets her all riled up. He's young and playful and does it just for the fun of it and because it really annoys her.

Lately, Tigger's been taking all of the big soft balls out of his toy basket. Then, he walks around with them in his mouth. He carries it like it was a kitten, all the time crying in a loud, pitiful way until he finds a good spot to lay it down. Then he goes and gets another one and repeats the process. Saturday morning, we woke to find all four of them arranged in a neat, evenly spaced row. He continued observing and guarding them throughout the day until later that evening, when he started adding smaller sparkly balls to his arrangement. Then he seemed to loose interest. I think he wants to be an artist.

Leah - resident outside feral

Ziggy and Leah seem to be staying to themselves, mostly hanging out on the shed roof during the day where they occupy the penthouse suite.

Ziggy - Tigger's brother, resident outside feral

Snowflake  - spring 2011

They are not alone up there in their roof top abode anymore though. For the past couple of weeks, a raccoon has been coming out of their apartment and joining them for their evening meal. We don't think it's Snowflake, because it's shy and runs when it see's Jerry, but it could be one of the babies from last year. Anyway, they all seem to be getting along at the moment. Most likely, Ziggy and Leah don't have a choice and are just trying to hang on to their prime real estate. 

"Psychologists now recognize that the need in some people to have a dozen cats is really a sublimated desire to have two dozen cats."  ~ Robert Brault