Monday, March 18, 2013

"Red and Orange Cows" by Alisha Houtchens

Image posted with the permission of the artist. Alisha Houtchens is a printmaker and student in Colorado. More of her work can be viewed and purchased on her Etsy store. I was most moved by this color piece, but she also has some gorgeous black and white prints. For those who enjoy black and white imagery of animals, definitely check out Serene Lion and African Grey.

In the waning sunlight, that time between day and night, swathes of color exhibit strange behavior. Patches of white fur in the foreground vanish and become windows to an eerily blue-green sky. Shadows and dark splotches recede even further, turning deep crimson. Clouds seem more like spills of paint, and where the clouds and sky end and the cows begin, I can no longer say. What's close might seem near, and vice versa. Scratches across the surface strengthen the form of the front plane of the closest cow's face - his is a face which comes forth clear from the chaos, the portion of the apparition that emerges distinctly from the ghostly mist for but a moment. The rest of the scratches serve to further collapse the near with the far. What's the big deal, you might ask? It's just cows. Cows in a pack. Cows looking out at the viewer. Curious? Anticipating? These cows are more than cows. They are a burning forest fire - and are those the antlers of a poor moose whose been caught in the flames? They are will-o'-the-wisps and cackling jack-o-lanterns, floating mustaches, and small strips of black and red yarn drifiting toward the ground.


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

"T is the Tiger" by Christopher Wormell

Since I finished the prints for my own alphabet book, I decided to write about a print from another artist's alphabet book. Christopher Wormell, a highly prolific English printmaker, published numerous books, several of which were made up of a series of small prints featuring animals. Such titles include The Alphabet of Animals, Teeth, Tails and Tentacles, and Mice, Morals, and Monkey Business.

Orange stripes slither out of the darkness like ribbons of ominous light. A honey-colored puddle wriggles under the steady pace of the tiger's steps. All that is lit is of a bright and cheerful hue, but that really only serves to heighten the drama of the darkness and all the possible danger hidden in those shadows. Danger, such as eyes focused on prey, and sharp teeth and claws, poised to emerge.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Cats A-Z: Z (Zombi)

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

Zombi 

The Zombi's wide eyes glisten and look past the inanimate occupants of the cellar. His gaze is fixed on some horrible memory. The agonized scream he let out in the still dark hours of that fateful morning has long faded to silence. And yet, that scream was like a drop that plunged into the pool of his mind, making ripples that now encircle his entire sense of being. Before the incident, he enjoyed being a black cat, slinking from one shadow to the next as he stalked pigeons and rats. Now he cowers in the dark of his underground lair, afraid of the Beast. His form has lost substance. His black cloak is a bottle of ink being poured into the sea. 

The Zombi was the name of a cat owned by the English poet Richard Southey. He named the cat after the Chief of the Palmares. Southey wrote an elaborate letter about the Zombi to Grosvenor Bedford. In that letter he describes how he took in an all-black tom cat because it had become a nuisance to its previous owner (it killed birds in the pigeon house.) Southey hoped it would solve his rat problem. One night the Zombi let out a anguished scream, but was discovered alone and unharmed. Southey wrote to Bedford asking what he thought caused the scream, and suggests the cat saw and/or had been tormented by the devil. 

Cats A-Z: Y (Yowl)

"Yowl" 
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. 

Yowl 

Yowl, as in the sound these nocturnal creatures commonly make in the middle of the night, often to the dismay of us humans who are trying to sleep. This scraggly fellow seems to think he can drown out even the light of the moon with his screams. 

Friday, March 8, 2013

Cats A-Z: X (Xandy)

"Xandy" 
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 4" x 3.5" (image) 
Oil-based inks on white Subi paper 
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

Xandy

Xandy, as in "X and Y", isn't a famous cat in history or myth. He is a fictional cat invented by me. The genes that determine the color of a cat's coat are located on the X chromosome, and so almost all Calico cats are female. However, about one in every 3,000 Calicos manages to get a Y chromosome (in addition to the necessary two Xs), and is therefore born male. Xandy is a male Calico, and as such, he is almost as rare as four leaf clovers or words that start with the letter X.

Cats A-Z: W (Were-jaguar)

"Were-jaguar" 
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. 

Were-jaguar

Spots and stripes blur the line between flora and fauna. The cat's goblin-like face floats over jungle shrubs. Such concealment is cause for alarm since he seems poised to punch. Though he stands upright, his black, cavernous eyes reveal no soul. He hangs his sharp tongue out like a Maori warrior, as if to say, "You look tasty." All lines and shapes lead to his ample tummy in the center. That is where we are meant to end up.

The were-jaguar is a supernatural creature from the Olmec culture featured often in stone artwork. 

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Cats A-Z: V (Vaccination)

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

Feline vaccination protocols have saved countless cats from suffering diseases such as panleukopenia, herpesvirus, calicivirus (FVRCP), and rabies. For animals, just as for humans, vaccinations are the single most effective method for the prevention of infectious disease. It is counterintuitive, however, that an action which causes fear and pain is done out of concern and love. Don't worry, Tiger, in a few minutes you'll be back to your long life of milk, yarn, and long naps on sun-drenched windowsills. 

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Cats A-Z: U (Unsinkable Sam)

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

Unsinkable Sam

He is surrounded by waves, patiently bobbing in the aftermath of the Ark Royal's fatal plunge. Only a tiny raft of debris stand between him and a choking, wet death under the black abyss. And yet, his expression is calm. He looks out at the viewer as if casually greeting us. Of course his attitude is relaxed. After surviving the sinking of the Bismark and Cossack, he has grown confident that he truly does possess nine lives.


Unsinkable Sam was a German ship's cat named Oscar who famously survived the sinking of three military vessels in World War II. It is possible that his inspiring story is a myth, but whether true or not, he is a symbol if good fortune despite perilous circumstances. 

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Cats A-Z: T (Ta-Miaut)


"Ta-Miaut"
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 3.5" x 4" (image)
Oil-based inks on white Subi paper
Artist's Proof
Available for purchase here.

Ta-Miaut

The Egyptian Mau breed of cat lends itself to being carved out of stone and immortalized through mummification. These are not forgettable house cats. They are elegant creatures made mysterious by their shimmery camouflage and fearsome by their tempered prowl. Certainly a breed to inspire tales of celestial wonders.

The term Ta-Miaut means simply "she-cat". The most famous she-cat of ancient Egypt was buried in her own coffin in the tomb of the Egyptian Prince Thutmose.

Cats A-Z: S (Schrodinger's Cat)

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

The unbroken bottle stands firm in the puddle of poison and shattered remains of its smashed counterpart. The cat orbits around, chained to his fate. The laws of the physical world yield no escape. His two possible, equally probable states of living and dead blend into each other at the ends to complete one solid form. He has become a symbol of uncertainty. The most common, yet mysterious of household pets reminding us that there are outcomes we just can't know until the hammer falls. 

"Schrodinger's Cat" refers to a famous thought experiment in physics postulated by Erwin Schrodinger. According to quantum mechanics, physical systems have multiple states simultaneously and only take on one particular state when observed. To illustrate the paradox and conflict this poses with common sense, Schrodinger described a hypothetical experiment where a devise would smash a vial of poison (thus killing a living cat inside), or not, depending on whether one of the atoms inside decayed or not. According to quantum mechanics, after an hour the cat inside would end up somehow in equal parts both dead and alive.   

Friday, March 1, 2013

Cats A-Z: R (Raton)

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

Raton 

The fire illuminates Raton's face, warming him more than he'd like. His eyes fix on one of the plump and glistening chestnuts. He reaches into the pan and braces himself for the burn. Hot! Hot! He flicks the nut out of the pan toward Bertrand. Raton winces and holds his paw up to let the tender pads cool. This is a tedious, painful task, but he thinks of the tasty pile of chestnuts that he and Bertrand have agreed to divide, and reaches in again. 

Raton is a character from from an old fable "The Monkey and the Cat." In it, the conniving monkey Bertrand persuades the cat Raton into fishing hot, roasting chestnuts out of a fire. Bertrand tells Raton that they will share the bounty, but then gobbles down each chestnut as Raton fishes them out. 



Cats A-Z: Q (Queen)

"Queen"
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 4" x 3.5" (image)
Oil-based inks on white Subi paper
Artist's Proof
Available for purchase here. 

Queen 

The Queen sits carefully composed on her modest throne, chin up and eyes bright. She is proud of her neatly-groomed coat and likes to show it off. Though she is a small house cat, inside she feels like a lioness, lounging in the shade of a full and fruiting tree.

Female cats that are "whole" (not spayed) are referred to as "Queens" by breeders.