Cats A-Z: P (Pangur Bán)

"Pangur Bán" 
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 3" x 4" (image) 
Oil-based inks on white Subi paper 
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

Pangur Bán

The way the cat stands out in a dimly-lit room filled with dark objects reminds me of how the moon lights up the night sky. Though his coat is the purest white, he is always clean. That is the result of his most conscientious, daily grooming habits. He is quiet, but ever-present, and so I can concentrate on my own routines and never feel lonely.

Pangur Bán, a poem by an old Irish monk about his cat. Also the name of the white cat in the animated film The Secret of Kells. 

Cats A-Z: O (Oscar)

"Oscar" 
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 4" x 4" (image) 
Oil-based inks on heavyweight, white paper 
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

A jagged halo fires out from his silhouette like electricity as he keeps a jaunty pace. Hind limbs of metal and plastic fill the air with sound: tap tap tap tap tap. The accident that took those legs, horrible as it was, seems so much more dark and distant than the tangible now. Today is a happy day. 

Oscar the "Bionic Cat" gained fame for being fitted with prosthetic legs after a farming machinery accident. Read more about him here. 

Cats A-Z: N (Nora)

"Nora" 
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 4" x 4" (image) 
Oil-based inks on white Subi paper 
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

Nora

Why, these keys make lovely sounds when my paws press down! And even better, they attract an approving audience. What joy!

Nora the cat is famous for her odd behavior of daily piano playing, often in duets with humans. She became an Internet sensation when her owner uploaded a video of her piano playing to YouTube in 2007, and has since gained broader media fame. 

Cats A-Z: M (Maneki Neko)

"Maneki Neko"
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 3" x 4" (image)
Oil-based inks on white Subi paper
Artist's Proof
Available for purchase here.

Maneki Neko

A familiar-looking feline with large eyes, black and orange spots, and a red collar stands in a dark corner of the store. He waves, as if greeting the customers. These ceramic critters always appear friendly, often cute, but are not quite cuddly. There is something too formal, even stoic about their rigid stance. The stare from those big eyes is cold and far too resolute.

Maneki Neko is a good luck charm thought to bring prosperity. Typically they are depicted as Japanese bobtails who sit upright, beckoning with one raised paw. Here the writing on the cat's pendant is Japanese for "money."

Cats A-Z: K (Kirlee)

"Kirlee" 
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 4" x 3.75" (image) 
Oil-based inks on bright white printmaking paper 
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

Kirlee 

The cat's huge, glassy eyes bedeck a coat of coiled fur, tightly draped over an angular skull and bony, yet muscular figure. He obscures his gnarly body by standing in front of an equally-gnarled backdrop. His large ears are poised to received the softest sounds, and whiskers slither out in all directions to sense the very air all around. Make no mistake, though he is small and tame, he is still a hunter. 

A cat named "Kirlee" was the founding father of the Devon Rex breed of cat, known for their extremely short, curly coats of fur.

Cats A-Z: L (Leo)

"Leo" 
Woodcut
6" x 6.5" (paper) 4" x 3.5" (image) 
Oil-based inks on white Subi paper 
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

Leo 

The lion smiled just before he turned to walk away. What was that about? An inside joke? A pleasant memory? Perhaps he is just happy to be king. Even better yet to be immortal in the sky.

Leo is one of the constellations of the zodiac. According to myth, the constellation depicts the Nemean Lion who was slain by Hercules as the first of his Twelve Labours.

Cats A-Z: J (Jeoffry)

"Jeoffry" 
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 3.75" x 4" (image) 
Oil-based inks on bright white printmaking paper 
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

Jeoffry 

He sits serene on a puffy pedestal, and we are entranced. Dazzling stripes ripple out, mimicking both the cloud's softness and the stripes that radiate from his halo. What magic do cats possess when they sleep? How is it that through the mere act of dozing off, they transform into exalted beings?  

Jeoffry was the pet of Christopher Smart, a poet who immortalized the feline in his poem "Jubilate Agno." The poem is a religious work written while Smart was hospitalized for insanity. A large section of the work sings the praises of Jeoffry for his beauty, grace, and cleanliness, all of which Smart associated with the divine. 

Cats A-Z: I (Iriomote Cat)

"Iriomote Cat" 
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 4" x 3.75" (image) 
Oil-based inks on bright white printmaking paper 
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

Iriomote Cat 

Year after year there are less places to live. Less places to hide. These developers, these dogs, these trucks, and traps intended for more menacing predators are eating the Iriomote Cat away. There is nowhere else to go. His home is, after all, an island. He will soon burn out like a star that is mourned only by the few astronomers. And like those stars that occasionally vanish from our view, his fate will have been set long before humans witnessed the last gasp.

The Iriomote Cat is a critically endangered sub-species of leopard. In 2007 it was estimated that only 100-107 are still left in the wild on the Japanese island of Iriomote. 

Cats A-Z: H (Himmy)

"Himmy" 
Woodcut
5.5" x 7.5" (paper) 3" x 4" (image) 
Oil-based inks on Rives BFK
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

Himmy 

Even though he weighed an extraordinary amount, his balloon-like shape and furriness made him appear more like a buoyant pillow. In such a tremendously obese state, even his stripes seemed more trendy than tigerish. Everyone loves a fat cat. 

Himmy was the last cat to be featured in the "heaviest cat" category in the Guinness Book of World Records. Himmy weighed 21.3kg or 46.8lbs and died at the age of 10 of respiratory failure. Guinness has since stopped featuring heaviest animal categories or accepting submissions in order to discourage owners from abusing animals in attempts to beat the records. 

Cats A-Z: G (Grimalkin)

"Grimalkin" 
Woodcut
6.5" x 8" (paper) 4" x 4" (image) 
Oil-based inks on bright white printmaking paper 
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

Grimalkin

Scratches mark all surfaces, and a buzzing sounds all around. The feline fiend has emerged from the shadows and sits perched like a gargoyle. Though her ears are back, she is not apprehensive. Her glare is impudent, her bat-wings outstretched, and one foot is poised to step forward.

The term "Grimalkin" was first recorded in the novel Beware the Cat by William Baldwin, which is both the first English novel and the first horror novel. It refers to an old, ugly, and devilish cat.

Cats A-Z: F (Freyja)

"Freyja" 
Woodcut
6.5" x 8" (paper) 4" x 4" (image) 
Oil-based inks on bright white printmaking paper 
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

Freyja 

Twin cats furiously leap and bound to pull Freyja's chariot. Though I cannot see her face, her stance is stalwart, one hand firm on the reins, the other gripping her staff. She has come to gather the souls of the fallen. From this view I cannot tell, are the twins as large as lions, or pint-sized and imbued with supernatural strength? Either way, the goddess will arrive.

Freyja is a prominent goddess in the pantheon of Norse mythology, ruling over the heavenly afterlife field of Fólkvangr.

Some Hand Coloring of Cats A-Z Prints

I tried some hand coloring of the first five of my Cats A-Z book prints. Here are the results. And of course they are all available for purchase on my Etsy Store. 

"Tigerfly"

Tigerfly
woodcut 5" x 27" (image) 10.5" x 31.5" (paper) 
Water-based inks on Rives BFK
Available for purchase here. 

I finally finished this print for my youngest daughter, Eulabee. The poor girl is going to have "bee" themed stuff probably her whole lifetime, so I hope she likes them. At least the bees aren't central here; they and the fireflies share second fiddle with the Tigerfly, a fantastic creature from my imagination. Coming up with the idea and drawing this was a lot of fun. My favorite aspect of this image is that I can't decide if the Tigerfly is tiny or if the other insects are huge.

Cats A-Z: E (Endangered)

"Lynx"
Woodcut
6.5" x 8" (paper) 4" x 4" (image)
Oil-based inks on bright white printmaking paper
Artist's Proof
Available for purchase here.

Endangered 

He confronts we who know his fate with large, watery eyes. Almost 900 recorded species of life have gone extinct since the year 1500, but it is estimated that 140,000 species actually go extinct every year. If the critically endangered Iberian Lynx were aware of this, how might he contemplate his status in the universe? If he knew that he is one of perhaps one hundred of his kind left, how might he look at we who hold his fate in our hands?

The Iberian Lynx is one of the most endangered wild cats on earth. If the Iberian lynx were to become extinct, it would be the first big cat species to do in 10,000 years. Human destruction of the biosphere is widely believed to be causing a mass "Holocene Extinction". Critically endangered species such as this teeter on the edge of either going the way of the dodo, or recovering thanks to targeted conservation efforts.

Cats A-Z: D (Diana)

"Diana"
Woodcut
5" x 7" (paper) 3" x 4" (image)
Oil-based inks on Rives BFK
Artist's Proof
Available for purchase here.

Diana 

The leopard, a fierce and stealthy hunter, consumes any creatures it can kill. The big cat was ubiquitous in the Old World, thriving in desserts and rain forests alike. Appropriately, the divine huntress Diana wears a leopard's skin. What other garb could be a more fearsome sign of her dominance over all that creep and crawl, slither and scamp?

In Roman mythology, Diana is the goddess of hunting and fertility, associated with wild animals and the moon.

"Finches and Gumblossom" by Ethleen Palmer

As Darwin Day draws to a close, I acknowledge - through this lovely, little linocut by Ethleen Palmer - the species of bird that flourished through diversification on the Galapagos Islands, and thus helped Charles Darwin develop his earth-shattering Theory of Evolution.

So small, so cute, I can hardly believe them to be the descendants of dinosaurs. But then, if we go back far enough, I am the descendant of goo. Still, so impish and quick, delicate and petite, I want to gently cup one of these birds in my two hands, feel its tiny claws dance on my palms, and closely observe its rapid turns.

These three seem to have convened to discuss the chandelier of a bouquet that hangs just above their heads. It is a quiet, still day, with not a cloud in the sky; there is time to dawdle. I do not know what they want with these flowers, but I swear I recognize a mustard-colored light bulb above the left-most bird. So I suppose he at least has some idea.

"Marine Iguana"

"Marine Iguana"
Woodcut (4 layer reduction)
3.5" x 2.5" 
Water-based inks on Rives BFK 
Limited edition of 6

Another little print in celebration of Darwin Day (February 12th) - a colorful, little marine iguana art card. For sale on my Etsy store here. 

Finches for Darwin Day

Both of these prints are 2.5" x 3.5", 4 layer reduction woodcuts. I decided to do a few ACEOs of animals discovered by Darwin during his voyage to the Galapagos Islands in celebration of Darwin Day, coming up this Tuesday. Up next: marine iguanas!

"Masked Owl" (ACEO)

Woodcut, 4 layer reduction
Water-based inks on Rives BFK
2.5" x 3.5"

I plan to make a lot of these little art cards. Probably mostly reductions in editions of six. I'm using the Blick brand water based block printing ink, and the stuff dries so fast and gets so tacky. It is usually very annoying to use (I only use it for small projects such as this, normally I use oil based inks) but at least it offers interesting effects such as happened in the background sky of this image. 

"Purple Dove" ACEO

Woodcut, 4 layer reduction
Water-based inks on Rives BFK
2.5" x 3.5"

I've decided to try making ACEOs again. (Click here if you want to know what those are.) I did a few while in graduate schools years ago, but then I got busy with school and distracted by bigger projects. After that I sort of forgot about them. Right now is sort of a perfect time in my life to make them since I only get small spurts of time to work on my art, and my schedule is unpredictable.

So... apparently some doves are purple .

"Large Blueberries" by Amanda Lilleston

Image posted with the permission of the artist. Find out more about Amanda Lilleston and check out the portfolios of her amazing woodcuts at her website.

Yes, I know they are berries, but I still imagine them as a collection of whole worlds. Watery blue and green spheres teeming with life in a tight-knit solar system. Economies of scale. Bigger is better. Who was ever satisfied with a single mouthful of blueberries? These berries are giant. Berries you could live in and on, like James's fabled Peach. An exotic, blue city at which to purchase a summer home. A place to escape, hide in the shaded folds of gigantic, luscious leaves, and quietly ponder the mysterious eyes and veins that look out from and creep around the curves of massive fruits.