Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The Artist and Her Cat

Here I am dressed in dots with my surrogate cat. It is one of those awful fakes made of rabbit fur adorned with little pink felt ears. Back then I was denied a real one so I made do. Today I share my life with two wonderful live ones: Miss Pearl (age 12) and Mica (age 5). Last night I was talking with a new friend about cats and their energy and I tried to describe the painting by surrealist Remedios Varo (couldn't for the life of me recall her name!) called "Sympathy." I'd like to paint my own version of Varo's work (originally titled "The Madness of the Cat") picturing myself and Mica. A few years back, I did a collage of my grandmother Blanche and her cat Mickey (shown below). Poor cat probably hated me as a young child. I was always trying to get him to sit on my lap! For more about Varo, Into the Mystic - Surrealist Painter Remedios Varo is a lengthy article, originally published in the April 2001 issue of Art in America, that you can read online. And I recommend the book "Remedios Varo: Unexpected Journeys" by Janet A Kaplan for an in-depth story of her live and art. The illustrations are fantastic!

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