I recently submitted work to a local gallery for a show that was cat oriented. My work was rejected, as it often is. The 2 pieces I submitted were cut paper collages:
The first collage I made earlier this month and it is (obviously) an homage to James Mason’s cat Sadie, affectionately known as Flower Face. I have a cat named Sadie, too. The title of this newsletter is also a reference to James and Pamela Mason’s book The Cats In Our Lives which I feel very lucky to own. The book alternates with James and Pamela Mason sharing personal cat stores and it is illustrated with drawings by James Mason of the many cats in their lives. You can see some of them here. The second collage I made in April 2020 after watching Vampire’s Kiss and listening to Neil Young’s Trans on repeat for a a few hours which energized me enough to make something for the first time in that peak pandemic period. It’s an emotional cat collage.
In the spirit of James Mason’s cat drawings, I’m also sharing some very recent drawings of the cats in my life below. I share my apartment with 3 cats - all of them are old timers aging 14 to 18 and I love them beyond the beyond. I am obsessed with them. As I type I have Lenny next to me and Sadie on my feet. Here are a few drawings of Sadie, Lenny and Spock from the last 2 weeks:
This me working on this newsletter: