my apologies to…

…Raphael

My interpretation of the Sistine Madonna (detailed view of the angels).

I think I captured their facial expressions…the colors were hard to match up using watercolor.



I know I’ve been absent a bit lately. There is so much going on here. I’m having family come next week for Thanksgiving so I’ve been doing a bit of extra cleaning!

On top of that, I’ve been let go from my company. I still have a few weeks to work but mostly that will entail cleaning up stuff and archiving files to servers. Ugh.

It’s bittersweet. There has been talk of layoffs for a few months, so I thought long and hard and decided to raise my hand to be one of those to leave. After 31 years of working there, it’s really sad to leave. It was the one time in my life that I had a job that I loved…great people, fun projects, ideal work conditions.

So why am I leaving?

I don’t know for sure. It just felt like the time was right. The severance package is great…so I’m going to enjoy some time off before I look for something else.

I’m calling it a sabbatical. A time to rest and learn and just think about “what’s next.”

You’ll be seeing lots more art from me. That’s top of my list!!

my apologies to…

…Paul Cezanne

My interpretation of The Card Players showing cats in famous artwork.

I exaggerated the colors but if you look at Cezanne’s painting, there is a rainbow of colors in his, too. It’s just beautiful!

my apologies to…

Edgar Degas

My kitty version of Absinthe.

my apologies to…

Gustav Klimt

I haven’t done a “cats in art” painting for a while. When I was in Vienna last month, I got to see The Kiss up close and personal.

So…for inktober…here is the ink sketch:

And here is the finished piece:

Happy Friday…

my apologies to…

…Villemot

I haven't done one of these in a while.

my apologies to...

…Alexej von Jawlensky

This is based (very, very loosely) on his painting titled “Portrait of the Dancer Alexander Sakharov.”

It’s ok. You can laugh. You won’t hurt my feelings. If you Google the original painting, it will make you smile, too.

my apologies to…

...Monet.

Here is “Cat with Parasol.”

I spent most of the weekend working on pieces for Year of the Fairy tale. This month’s assignment is to do collage pieces. I’m having a heck of a time. They aren’t coming together like they look inside my head!

Ugh.

So for now…just a quick doodle with a cat. What else?

some silly paintings

In my search for fine pieces of art to mimic in the series I call “my apologies to…”, I came across this photo and couldn’t resist.

Here is Carmen Miranda. She was a little before my time but I do remember seeing her in a few old movies.

Here is Kitty Miranda … just as pretty ... but not as famous as her sister ☺

And I have to thank Tracey Fletcher King for the inspiration behind this drawing. I saw this Dude on her blog a few weeks ago and just had to get one for myself.


On the package, it says “Fred” and “Mr. Tea.” I just call him Fred. I find myself saying “Good Morning Fred” to my tea every morning. Is this crazy or what?



Linking to Paint Party Friday … a great place to visit. It usually takes me all weekend to get through the blogs listed each week. Thanks to EVA and Kristen for keeping this going.

my apologies to…chagall

In times past, students would copy the Masters to enhance their artistic skills.

Yeah, same here. When I can’t think of anything to paint, I copy from the Masters. Only with cats.

I haven’t done this in a while so thought I’d pick on Chagall today. I present…Printemps (avec chat).

my apologies to...

…Robert Indiana


This one is sort of cheating, huh? Well, Love and Cats are the same thing to me ☺

my apologies to...

I did a series called “My Apologies to…” back in October 2012. It was a fun way to take a different look at some classic pieces of art. I’m working on a couple new paintings this weekend.

...Johannes Vermeer.

Here is Cat with Pearl Earring.

my apologies to...

…Joan Miró

I have always enjoyed the work of Joan Miró…it’s so playful.

This painting was really fun to paint using his style. It is based on a painting called “The Singing Fish.”

I think it’s my favorite of all.

my apologies to...

…Roy Lichtenstein

This little painting is based on one titled “Thinking of Him.”

I’m starting to wind down on this theme. I’ve run out of ideas. For now.

Actually, I have many of these little cat paintings that I have filed away in the “Ugh” folder…you’ll never see them, they are pretty awful!

my apologies to...

…Rene Magritte

Ok, this drawing was fun to do.

Based on Magritte’s “Son of Man,” I knew that I had to keep the bowler hat but that would hide the cat’s ears. So all I kept from the cat was the nose and whiskers.

On my first attempt, I changed the apple to a ball but then I thought “hmm, cats aren’t that crazy about balls. Not like dogs are anyway.” So….after giving it some thought, voila…a ball of yarn!

Hope everyone has/had a wonderful Friday. The weather has finally turned a bit chilly here so I’m planning on hibernating in the studio! So many ideas, so little time!

my apologies to...

…Edgar Degas

You have to admit, cats are quite nimble on their feet! I’m sure they would be excellent ballerinas if they would only practice a bit more.

my apologies to...

…Henri Matisse

I couldn’t resist this one….it was just too easy to see a cat in this pose!!

my apologies to...

…Amedeo Modigliani

My grandson came to visit over the weekend. I did some painting…but mostly on pumpkins!!

I did have time to squeeze in one cat though. So here is Cat in Large Hat.

my apologies to...

…Salvador Dali

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! I plan to take in some of this beautiful fall weather before it’s all gone!

my apologies to...

…Grant Wood

I replaced the pitchfork with something more cat-like…a litter scoop.

If only cats could use the scoop themselves. I have that wish every morning.

my apologies to...

…Marc Chagall

This is based on Chagall’s painting “The Promenade.”

The original shows Chagall and his wife, Bella, who is floating in the air. I think it’s supposed to symbolize their love…that floating/flying feeling that you only get from true love!

In my painting, love is a big, bright, pink, floating cat.