Beautiful and endlessly fascinating, cats are a gift to the artist. The intricately crisscrossing whiskers that beg to be drawn with an Art Nouveau approach. The striking stripes and spots that evoke the majesty of cats in the wild. The soulful eyes occasionally back lit with a flash of jade. All these are great reasons to create pictures of cats, and they are among the reasons that I do. In this post, however, I am going to concentrate on a few other things that inspire me to create pictures of cats.
"RESCUED IS MY FAVORITE BREED"
I create pictures of cats because I care about animal welfare and animal rescue. In doing so, I choose to concentrate on the positive. Among my heroes are those luminaries who use their celebrity platforms to bring to light horrific abuses against animals. Other heroes of mine work endlessly to reform our animal shelters, so that one day the word "shelter" will no longer be a cruel joke. Bringing the suffering of animals to people's awareness is vital and must never stop. However, in my artwork, I choose to depict animals not as victims but in a way that will convince people that animals are greatly to be valued, infinitely conscious, and deeply soulful. This aligns with the New Thought principle of not resisting the negative but instead directing the mind toward what you want. As Wallace D. Wattles said, and which to a limited degree I believe, "Things are not brought into being by thinking about their opposites. Health is never to be attained by studying disease and thinking about disease; righteousness is not to be promoted by studying sin and thinking about sin; and no one ever got rich by studying poverty and thinking about poverty." Again, I am emphatically NOT saying that people should "think positive" and ignore the suffering of animals. I am only referring to how I choose to depict animals in my artwork. Through the artwork that I create, I want to bring into people's consciousness the truth that every animal has dignity and a soul. (To learn more about my feelings and thoughts about animal welfare in connection with the teachings of the Positive Thinking Movement please see my essays "Are Animals a Part of 'Everyone'?" and "5 Steps to Honor our Oneness with the Animal Kingdom" at Harv Bishop's great blog "Re-envisioning Spirituality.") I live with rescue cats, and I work with and support the wonderful Independent Animal Rescue in Durham, N.C. (And I have donated artwork to their awesome Painted Chair auctions.) I know that TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) absolutely works, I know from experience that community cats can be rescued and adopted and be wonderful companions and have wonderful lives, and I stand up for community cats everywhere and for all time.
LIFE WITH KITTIES
On a lighter note, I also find cats to be fun and entertaining, a side of them I explore in my cartoon series "Life with Kitties." Anyone who lives with cats will attest to their lovable personalities and endlessly surprising and charming quirkiness. In a multiple-cat household, they have a society of their own.
BEAUTIFUL AND FASCINATING
I began this post by talking about how beautiful and fascinating cats are. Along with the other reasons I have outlined in this post, I attempt to capture these qualities as well, combined with expressing the emotional bonds with we share with our kitty companions. Conveying my wonder at their beauty and fascination, inspiring others to see their value and deep souls, and expressing my emotional bond with them as well my appreciation of their lively, individual personalities--these are among the reasons "I Create Pictures of Cats."
Here is a mini-gallery of three recent images I've created.
