"Chessie"

"Chessie"
4" x 4" (block)
Woodcut

A long, metal Goliath sliced through the flat stillness of the horizon. The zooming barrier suddenly separated the cloudless blue sky and the dull green field. The children watched with ears perked to the growing, rumbling hum. He thought of waking her up to see the train speed by, but noticing how she slept with a gentle smile on her face, decided against it. Being irretrievable, good dreams are too precious to waste. 

Chessie the Railroad Kitten was a highly popular corporate mascot for the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad. Art depicting Chessie debuted in 1933 and was most popular throughout the 30's, eventually expanding to include a whole family of cute cats. The original image of Chessie came from an etching by Guido Grunewald. It was in an ad for a passenger train and showed Chessie sleeping peacefully juxtaposed with the slogan "Sleep like a kitten and arrive fresh as a daisy!" While Chessie hasn't appeared in advertising in recent decades, she is technically still the mascot of what is now the CSX Corporation.

This print of Chessie with her mate "Peake" and their two kittens is a sort of addendum to the series of woodcuts I made for Cats A-Z back in 2013, and published as part of the launch of Words On Woodcuts Press in 2015. This print was a request from a collector who is fond of my cat prints. Reading about and looking art artwork of Chessie was a delight, and I was happy to learn about the character and create this image.

Cats A-Z Is Now For Sale!

Announcing the release of Cats A-Z!

In this cat-themed alphabet book for mature readers, light humor blends with sardonic wit and serious philosophical musings. This is not just another cute cat book. It is a cat book for the more deeply contemplative cat lover.

The book is 8" x 8" hardcover, cloth with embossing, Smyth sewn bound, 56 pages plus printed end sheets. First edition of 500.

Get a signed copy by contacting me directly at marfknox (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject line "Cats A-Z."

Or purchase it online through my Etsy Shop (cheaper US shipping) or my Amazon Store.

Or buy it in these stores:
Wagner Free Institute for Science's gift shop
The Open Book in Elkins Park




From the Reviews: 
Besides being an intriguing mix of stories, the book is also beautiful, and would make an excellent gift for the animal lover in your life. My own copy has a prized place on my coffee table where it has become a conversation piece.

-Miss Riki, Nov. 1, 2015


...most of the time the cat books I’m offered are either annoyingly humourous (sorry but I’m not into Lol cats or “I haz” cats) or too mawkish. Of course, I love my cats and think they are cute but they are far more than that. They are interesting, fascinating and complex. Something told me that Martha’s book would be quite different. I was right.

-Beauty Is A Sleeping Cat, Oct. 30, 2015

This is the woodcut created for the end pages as it appears
in the front of the book. In the back is its mirror image.

Three Cats A-Z Prints With Trippy Colors

My cousin Gail is visiting and while coloring with our kids she created some psychedelic versions of three Cats A-Z proofs I had lying around. Thought I'd share the fun.

"Sleeping Tabby" (Cats A-Z End Pages)

18" x 9" (image), 22" x 14" (paper) oil-based ink on Stonehenge paper.

I created this print to be for the end pages of Cats A-Z. This image will appear in the front end pages, and its mirror image will appear in the back end pages.

Time for the final push! Cats A-Z will definitely be published this summer thanks to the success in meeting my initial fundraising goals. My Indiegogo fundraising campaign has less than a week left. If I reach $4,000, it will guarantee the publication of the second book, Owl and Cat In Love, this fall. If you can help support this campaign by sharing, please do! This is the link to share: igg.me/at/wordsonwoodcuts

Thanks!

Indiegogo Campaign Art Card #7: Sphinx in Sweater

2.5" x 3.5" art card
Oil-based ink on cream-colored, 90" smooth paper
Open edition

This is the sixth of 8 original woodcut art cards being created during my Indiegogo fundraising campaign. These will be thank-you gifts for all funders who contribute $20 or more. Funders will get to choose their preferred design to receive.

This card depicts a hairless cat wearing a sweater. Enough said. 

Help Me Launch Words On Woodcuts Press!

Two weeks ago I announced that I'm launching Words On Woodcuts Press to publish beautifully-crafted books which will feature my woodcuts.

Today, the fundraising begins!

Check out my Indiegogo campaign here. There are all kinds of goodies, including original woodcuts from my studio and signed copies of the books if you can donate.

Keep checking up with this blog. Over the 42 days of the campaign, I'll create 8 original art card woodcuts to give as additional thank-you gifts for donors.

If you can't contribute funds, that's fine. Just help me spread the word. Thanks!

Cats A-Z: L (Lolcat)

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

I'm going for ironic pop culture reference here. For those who don't know, a lolcat, or cat meme, is normally a photographic image of a cat combined with text for the purpose of humor. 

Cats A-Z: O (Oscar)

"Oscar (Death Cat)" 
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 4" x 3" (image) 
Oil-based inks on white Subi paper 
Artist's Proof 

This is the new entry for "O": Oscar, known also as the "Death Cat" for his ability to predict when residents at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center were going to die. He was a resident therapy cat who would stay with patients who died hours later. It is suspected that the key to Oscar's ability to know patients were dying is his smelling ketones, or chemicals which are released by dying cells. 

Cats A-Z: C (Chase No Face)

I am revising some of my Cats A-Z selections. Here we have a new entry for "C."

"Chase No Face" 
Woodcut
6" x 8" (paper) 3" x 4" (image) 
Oil-based inks on white Subi paper 
Artist's Proof 
Available for purchase here. 

Chase was badly injured in an accident as a kitten. Though she is now a perfectly healthy cat living a normal life, her face is still seriously disfigured. Chase's owners maintain a blog and facebook page where they post photos and stories of Chase's daily life. She has attracted a considerable following on the Internet and has become an inspiration to many people who are also seriously disfigured. 

Cats A-Z (Cover)

"Kitty, Cat" 
6" x 8" (paper) 4" x 4" (image) 
Available for purchase here. 

For the cover of my Cats A-Z book I definitely didn't want to have a cute cat. So thinking it through for a while, I came up with this image. The model for the cat peering up from behind the table is my own pet cat Horatio (also known by his nickname "Oshie.") He is named after Hamlet's foil, because Oshie was acquired to be a friend and amusing contrast to my older cat Aubrey. Perhaps the best-known scene in the play Hamlet is when Hamlet picks up the skull of Yorick, and says to Horatio:

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hathborne me on his back a thousand times; and now, howabhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rims atit. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I knownot how oft. Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment,that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen? Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, lether paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.   

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.