Thursday, August 19, 2010

Two Cats And A Frog

I was very amused at an incident at our local large supermarket today. I set off the alarm as I entered the store and was stopped by the security guard. I told him that I hadn't bought anything yet and he laughed. He wanted to know if I had a new jacket on. I was wearing one about a year old and had often visited the shop in it in the past. It turned out that it had a magnetic strip carefully hidden inside the washing instruction label. I wasn't even aware that it was there but he must have had experience of exactly that. It is the kind of tiny magnetic strip shops use on all sorts of "expensive" items like DVD's, pricey cosmetics etc. The shop where I bought my jacket should have removed it when I purchased it. He told me that the store had upgraded their security system and it was much more sensitive now, hence it recognised my magnetic strip whereas before it had ignored it. I went home and removed another one that I had in a similar jacket just in case. I bet the security guards were kept busy removing those strips from customers clothing since the upgrade.

This is The Gardener's Cat and took quite a while to draw. Not too sure about the text at the bottom though. I may change it to another font as I think it looks a bit messy and I think it would show up more if it were black.


I couldn't resist taking this photograph on a visit to Studham church recently. I have seen many, many churches in my time but never one with roses around the porch.


This is the beautiful monument that I had been meaning to photograph for some time. It is in Waterperry Church and is a dedication to a young mother who died aged 27 and left behind her less than 6 month old child. I think it is the most poignant and lovely sculpture and you get a real feeling for the grief of the bereaved husband. I took the photo by natural daylight because it gives a lovely glow to the marble.


If you love dogs and textiles you will love Sue Britton's website "Dogs in Stitches" here. Sue is a UK textile designer who creates beautiful and quirky studies of dogs getting up to all sort of mischief. She uses her own three dogs as inspiration and loves to include patterns and embellishment. Her website is a delight to browse and the dogs are irresistible.

Countryside Capers (detail)


Bundle Of Fun


Whilst cat sitting the other week I noticed Abby peering at something in the grass.


It turned out to be a frog who had been jumping around near the pond. It very obligingly kept still whilst I took its photo. Unfortunately Abby was intent on making the frog's very close aquaintance and I had to use one hand to fend her off and the other to photograph the frog. Eventually it returned to the pond and safety.


Poppy was paying absolutely no attention whatsoever, being more interested in a little laid back grooming.


The lovely ceramics below were made by UK ceramic artist Adele Thurstan. Her designs on the ceramics are very illustrative in nature and are produced from her pen and ink drawings which are screen printed using ceramic enamels on to the item. You can find more of Adele's work here at New Ashgate Gallery and here at Cambridge Contemporary Crafts.





I love Joe McLaren's illustrations. He has such a talent in whatever medium he happens to be working in. I think these Christmas cards below are a touch of genius and I wish I had thought of them. He knows exactly which colours to put together. You can find lots of his work if you do a google search for his name but otherwise he can be found here on his Flickr page.

Christmas Card 2


Christmas Card


Three Chickens On An Overcast Day


Three Chickens And Oast House


UK artist Jenny Holm's paintings are quite magical. They have a wonderful movement and rhythm and a lot of my favourite subjects. Her ladies are quite beautiful with their clothes and long hair flowing and her landscapes and trees are mystical and mysterious. Jenny sets the scene with colour and mood and leaves the viewer to decide on the narrative. She is based in Northumberland and you can find lots more lovely artworks here at The Biscuit Factory and here at her Axis site.

Hurrying Home


A New Day Dawning


With The Wind In Her Hair


Feeding The Birds

22 comments:

Lynn Cohen said...

Wow, you share so much. YOur story of jacket is hysterical. Well, very very funny anyway.
I'm glad you were not accused of stealing it from the grocery store parking lot.

Your Gardener's Cat is incrediable!
would make a wonderful poster for something? Cat's in gardens? I don't know. It is just SO GOOD.

Love your kitties!

And thanks for sharing all the other artists good works.

Aarti Badamikar said...

Love the cat and the patterns below!!
Very nice!!!
and superb colors..

andamento said...

Hi Cathy,
I like your "Gardener's Cat" best this week. Everything else still very interesting though too (as usual!)

Crafty Green Poet said...

what a lovely selection as ever, your Gardener's Cat is very beautiful, what a lovely design

bunnits said...

I love "The Gardner's Cat" and the photos of your kitties.

Gillian said...

Hi Cathy - bet you don't mind catsitting those gorgeous cats! Your new work is amazing - the cat looks a bit like Louis! G

Cathy said...

Hi Lynn. Thanks for the lovely comments. That cat took me soooo long to draw. I haven't recovered yet..haha. The jacket episode was funny and I had a good laugh about it. I bet it happens quite a lot these days.

Cathy said...

Thank you Aarti. I love patterns and colours together. I spend time trying to come up with different combinations.

Cathy said...

Thanks Anne. I only had time for that one drawing this week as it took so long to do.

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Juliet. Glad you like it. I think it would look quite good as a linocut too.

Cathy said...

Hi Melissa. They are my brother and his partner's cats really but I think I take more photos of them than they do.

Cathy said...

Hi Gillian. Love those kitties even though they often run away when they see me. They are all very photogenic though.

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

Lovely post Cathy, from the Gardener's cat and the Church porch festooned with roses to the paintings of Jenny Holm and everything in between, I have enjoyed it all. x

Caroline said...

Hi Cathy. I really like the colours you've used in your Gardener's Cat and would love to see it as a lino print too if you ever try that! How lovely to have such beautiful subjects to sit - adorable shots you've got of them. I'm looking forward to exploring the Dogs in Stitches site later. Thanks for sharing all these goodies!

Cathy said...

That is good to hear Lesley. Have a good weekend.

Cathy said...

You are very welcome Caroline. The Dogs In Stitches site is great fun. I wasn't too sure about the palette for Gardener's Cat. I hummed and haared a bit before deciding on that one. I think it has turned out quite well.

Acornmoon said...

I have bookmarked this post for a more leisurely read on my return. As usual you have found much noteworthy art.

I love the gardeners cat too. My little dog loves to go frog hunting, he sniffs them out and I have to rescue them before he kills them. He is far worse than a cat in that respect I am ashamed to say.

Cathy said...

Hi Valerie. I must say one of our late cats was a naughty frog killer. I was saw him marching down our path with two frog back legs hanging out of his mouth.

Butterfly Works said...

I love your blog...I have had so much fun visiting with you.....

Your drawing is fantastic....I love cats too..

The jacket incident is so funny....

I'll definitely be back....

Cathy said...

Thanks very much for your kind comments Nancy. My jackets are both able to sally forth into the supermarket noiselessly now I am glad to say...lol

ArtPropelled said...

That has happened to me a few times (usually in the bookshop when the shop assistant hasn't de-activated the strip) and I always feel like such a criminal. My daughter gets the giggles because she knows how mortified I'll be.

Your Gardener's Cat is gorgeous! The colour combinations superb! Sue Britton's work is such fun. Off to see her website....

Cathy said...

I know exactly how you feel Robyn. Guilty but innocent. We don't have the strips on books over here to my knowledge though. They are usually on clothes and expensive cosmetics and computer stuff etc.

Pleased you like The Gardener's Cat. I really enjoyed working in layers. I love Sue Britton's dogs too. Such characterisation.