Old oil painting

1980s large canvas. Painted in oils, it was only a few years later that I started using acrylics instead. It’s about 5 ft by 4 ft or something like that. It depicts our old front room, in the house we used to live in. The cellar underneath the front room was starting to collapse, its vaulted ceiling held up with an acroprop. Why was I painting a giant cat? Because I love them, and patterns (wallpaper, clothes etc). The small cat in the corner is playing with a roll of wool. The box says Walsall Art supplies, where I came from. I’d call this a narrative painting.

Cat finds warm place

It’s warm on top of the armchair, now my radiator is fixed. And the new chair has a flat area at the top so the cat can happily fit. In the background is part of a large painting I did in our old house. It’s oil on a huge canvas. Like a lot of my art I forget it’s there sometimes. The little cat in the corner was one of the first we had when I moved there.

Old cat

Twelve years ago, another cat we took in as a stray. He wasn’t microchipped. He was going in a local shop and climbing on their shelves, they didn’t like it so we took him in…. He used to sit in the middle of the road waiting for me to come home. Sadly he was injured by a car and had to have an operation to save his leg. He recovered but a year later he was knocked over again. I was so sad to lose him. I think he was the silliest cat I ever met. I even used to draw cartoons of him having adventures. Climbing trees, balancing on fences, stealing steaks!

Metallic cat

Someone bought some metallic paints in to an art group I go to. I could have painted flowers but I did a ginger cat instead. I enjoyed using curving brush strokes. It only took a few minutes to paint but it cheered me up.

I have metallic paints somewhere in the house but I can’t find them. I intend to have a clear out so hopefully they will turn up.

Last night..

The cats slept but I didn’t.

Little snores kept me awake.

I don’t like the dark

Or the cold

Being on my own.

One cat gets under the covers

Claws out, poddling me

It’s sweet but

Then she gets too hot

Leaping out and away.

I tried reading

But I ached,

My mind raced

Too tired to sleep now.

Third night this week….

Cold

Brr it’s cold tonight, the wind is blowing and we might have some snow. The cats can open doors but don’t want to close them! That let’s the draughts through from the back door area. Our cat flap is old and loose through wear and tear. I’ll get up and shut the door, then a cat comes in and pushes the inner floor open and whoosh, cold air. The cats have warm fur so they aren’t bothered, but I’m shivering, brrrr

Fat cat

Drawn with an ink roller

When I got an ink roller to blot out the name and address on a letter I realised I could also draw with it. This is from 4 years ago and came up on Facebook memories. This was one of my experiments. Since the roller made quite a wide mark it turned into a fat cat! Some of it is using a fine line pen but if you use the roller edge you can also draw lines.