New paintings and regular art updates.
I took this photo of Lily cat and altered it in instagram and pics art…because she looked so cute!
It’s alternative wording is, watch out there’s a Lily about!
I’ve never created my own Meme before if that’s what it’s called. I’m saying its my copyright as I created it. Is that correct?
Anyway if you have to explain it, it spoils the fun!
Cats are said to be Familiars, aloof but linked to their owners, and disdainful of fuss from anyone else. My experience is that I can make friends with most of them, if I can work out what sort of sound they like.
Years of being owned by cats teaches you that they respond to different noises or looks from the person trying to befriend them.
Noises: churring, purring, chuch-chuch sounds seem popular with cats, I’ve practiced making purring noises since we first had a cat. Then miaow, or prrup sounds, with kittens or shy cats I try and sound like a little cat crying, it’s sometimes difficult to get high pitched enough. But hit the right note (quietly) and a shy kitten may become more friendly.
Looks: If the cat stares at you don’t stare back. slow eye blinks are the thing, close your eyes and keep them shut for a second. Cats do the same thing and it makes them feel less threatend.
Gestures: If you want to stroke a cat just offer it the back of your hand or a finger to sniff, dont try and stroke it unless it starts to rub its head against your hand. Don’t lunge at it or try and pick it up. Cats are small animals and can feel intimidated.
Also try not to make loud noises which will startle the cat.
If you see your cats tail wagging/waving it might be getting annoyed or excited and wanting to play, just be careful, a paw may take a swipe at you and cats have sharp claws! Also be wary of the tooth and claw situation…..ow!
Cats like fusses, being stroked, if they are enjoying it they may start kneading you with their front paws, but beware a cat having its stomach stroked or tickled might kick out with its back legs while grabbing you with its front paws and biting ….
I’ve learnt from experience that you have to move your hand away carefully, pull I away and you can end up badly scratched.
Do: treat a cat with respect, try and make friends, enjoy the love a cat can share with you.
Don’t: shout at it, pull its tail, insist on picking it up if it doesn’t want you to.
Sisters cat is so neat,
sisters cat is so sweet,
Sisters cat has cheerful purrs,
Sisters cat has kneading paws,
Sisters cat is still a kitten,
sister’s cat chases a mitten….
Sisters cat is all black,
Sisters cat is called Jack.
Sisters cat chases his tail,
Sisters cat, he likes gales.
When purring, pawing, kitten plays
You see him running through the days,
Now sisters cat is getting older,
And as the year will soon get colder,
On sister’s chair Jack cat will sleep,
Warm and snug, then wake and leap,
Down to the hearth to drink and eat.
Then off outside his friends will meet.
Hmm I didn’t know how to finish that…Sisters cat is actually female, but Jack sounds better. Anyway she is sweet and neat and purrs !
Some people don’t like black cats, but I do. I had two of them over the last few years. A female who was very sweet and tiny, and a big male who would sit and guard the cat flap at night.
My only worry with black cats is that they are difficult to see at night so I always put reflective collars on them. That goes for black and white cats to as they tend to have black bodies and the white parts are underneath or on their legs.
Black cats are supposed to be lucky in the UK where in other parts of the world they are meant to be unlucky. They have a history of being thought to be witches familiars, but I think if a lonely old lady wants a cat to keep her company she should not be persecuted for it. If a black cat walks in front of me I try to stroke it!
Cats were worshipped in Egypt and thought to be related to gods. I think the Egyptian cat God was Bast? however I may be wrong? Cats have lived with humans for thousands of years and caught mice and rats which eat grain, so they were well liked on farms.
Ideas for Black cat names? Sooty, Blackie, Beauty, Smudge, Molly, Lady, Archie, Night, Moonbeam…….
Does anyone remember the kaleidiscopes you could get as a child? A cardboard tube, brightly coloured, with an eye hole at one end and a plastic cover at the other end. You could see little plastic blocks inside the cover which was slightly transparent. As you looked through the eye hole the little coloured blocks would turn and move and because there was a mirrored surface inside you got a symmetrical pattern which was so beautiful.
As you turned the tube the pattern would change, you could hear the little plastic bits move and rattle as the image changed. The pattern was never the same, and because the blocks were different colours it was like looking at a moving stained glass window.
Today it’s all changed, you can create patterns using digital apps but they don’t seem to stir the same feelings of creativity in me. I would play with my kaleidiscope for hours.
Nowadays we have computer games, and video games, but where are the simple toys? I feel nostalgic about spirographs and etch-a-sketch toys too. I was very lucky to get things like that as Christmas presents. I wonder how children would react to them today?
I know we should use less plastic, but maybe they could be made with recyclable materials….
I wanted to paint Jupiter a couple of years ago, but my technique with acrylics does not quite work. I think I don’t blend colours as well as I could, still I had a go…..to me thus almost looks knitted…
What would Jupiter think if he was an ancient God?
You knitted me? That can’t be right,
I am great Jupiter, not a wooly jumper?
In all my days of pomp and might,
I was never treated rougher.
My power is great, my influence strong,
I never wore a cardie…
My orbit is extremely long,
And I am very hardy.
My storms last centuries you know,
They do not soon unravel,
So take your woollen paint and go,
As I through space do travel!
I had fun today doing some mono printing, which means one print. Basically you rolling onto a clean flat surface, then you can use objects to scratch through it, or add different colours. You can do one print then add a different colour and as long as you line the paper up in the same place you can get different effects.
I chose to draw a cat into the rolled ink. Then you gently lay the paper on top, press down with your hands, not to heavily, then carefully pull the paper off. Of course the image is reversed from what you drew, so if you add text it needs writing in reverse.
The ink we used was really thick, so I actually managed to get 3 or 4 pictures from each ink drawing. I added some black pen drawing I top of a couple of them, I don’t have photos of them as they are not finished yet. Thanks to another member of Etruria Artists for these photos.
Take a picture and twist it,
Mix it,
Turn it round and bend it,
Don’t mend it.
Shake it up,
Blend it.
Shape that space,
No disgrace to fix it.
Give it Grace,
Make a place,
New is ace.
Change its face.
There’s no race,
Just keep up your pace.
Spin that pic,
Twin that pic,
Win that pic.
Love that pic.
That pic is sick!
(A possible Rap) x
Shapes, colours, cats,
Plants, horses, hats,
Fish, glass, clay,
Books, art, day,
Night, stars, planets,
Water, sea, trumpets.
And breathe….
Heart, Head, sky,
Dance, song, joy,
Reading, writing, play,
Sewing, knitting, yay!
Green, red, blue,
Yellow, Orange too…
Purple, green and mauve,
Silver, copper and gold.
And breathe, just breathe….
So much is inspiring,
Medicine, painting, lightening
So much to rejoice in,
Happiness is enticing.
What else can I say?
Just “may you enjoy your day”!
I went to a model train show last year and while my partner was looking at the model trains I decided to draw a Morris Minor that was parked outside. There were a few of them there and I had a chat with one of the owners. It turned out the people were from the Potteries Morris Minor owners club. They love their cars and the Morris I drew was beautifully presented.
I decided to do the sketch before I realised I had not got anything to sketch with, I had a tiny sketch pad but no pencils… so I used what came to hand which was a black biro. The drawing was going well, but the biro ran out. Thats why part of it is blue. I could pretend it was reflected sky, but that is a lucky result if running out of ink!
Morris Minor cars are iconic. Thet are beautiful. They are classic cars, their shape is streamlined in that old fashioned way. They came in different shapes, my favourite is the Morris traveller. It looks different because it has wooden spacers between the metal panels. I wish I knew more about them!
Mallaband-Brown