Flinging with Cats

 The Fling (formerly Garden Bloggers Fling) took place in Memphis, TN, this year. As usual, part of my time was spent prowling the tour gardens for cat sitings. 

The first one was at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens of this orange kitty scampering in the shade garden. He (she?) gave me that impish look right before disappearing down a drainage pipe. (If anyone at the Dixon knows anything more about this cat, please do share!)

Next was this faux cat in the private garden of a cat lover who also had an affection for all things blue. She not only had lots of blue garden decor, but also a few blue cats by her front door and a "cats rule" sign that I heartily agree with!

Finally, as I ran around the Cooper-Young neighborhood gardens on our last day of the Fling, this pretty gray boy ran up to me and insisted I stop and pet him. The owner of a nearby house came out and told me his name is Arthur and that he is fed by several households on that block, but not really ownd by any of them. I think Arthur is quite content with that arrangement.

Living in Kitty Paradise

I'm a big fan of surrealism so was pleased to come across this artist who depicts cats in a surreal way. This painting is "Cats Paradise" by Remedios Varo.

"Remedios Varo Uranga was one of the few acknowledged female surrealist painter," according to her WikiArts entry. "She combined mystical beings and utopic machines together to give birth to her unique and enchanting style. The artist adopted mysticism and the occult as her main theme, and dismissed Christian and religious symbolism"

Varo used cats and cat-like creatures in many of her paintings. What they symbolize is open to interpretation. To me, the cats are happy and relaxed in their own little world. The kittens are having a blast playing with the string toy and you just know that long tower ramp is a hit with all of them too.

What do you think? Does this painting speak to you? Or many your cats enjoys viewing it and can share their thoughts?

Image source: https://www.wikiart.org/en/remedios-varo/cats-paradise-1955

ChunkyMonkey by Amina Illustration

I'm so in awe of talented artists who can depict cats and gardens in all their glory.  
Amina is an illustrator who truly knows both of these topics and the Instagram Reel linked below shows her process in creating a commissioned piece of two internet-famous cats -- @kingchunky_spymonkey and @chunkytheclotho. I think my favorite part of the video is seeing her own orange cat watching her paint from a nearby windowsill full of plants.

In her bio, she says, "I am inspired by plants and nature as a whole, and try to inject it into my life and my art as much as I can ! My strengths lie in traditional art, portraiture, narrative illustration, and spoiling my cat."

BTW, postcards and prints of "ChunkyMonkey" are available from just $6! 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Amina Akhmadeeva (@amina.illustration)

Plant Lady is the NEW Cat Lady?

Scrolling through Amazon one night, I came across this "Plant Lady is the NEW Cat Lady" T-shirt design (see https://amzn.to/4aB3ssh*). This gave me pause, as I'm both -- as are many of us! I get the joke --  a play on the crazy cat lady stereotype - but I've been a "crazy plant lady" for as long as I've been a cat person. So I went searching and, sure enough, there IS a "Crazy Cat and Plant Lady" shirt (see https://amzn.to/4bxvciK*). Whoo-hoo! added that my wish list cart just now.

Amd while you are in the shirt-ordering mood, we previously shared this design perfect for Cats in Gardens lovers: "I Just Want To Work In My Garden And Hangout With Cats" (see https://amzn.to/3WWY1AH)

*These are Amazon affiliate links. We may earn a few pennies if you click on it, but it will not affect the price you pay for products there.  BTW, the shirts come in several color choices.

Lilac Cat

I came across this beautiful counted cross stitch pattern online and had to share it. It is a cat made up of "lilacs." It was created from artwork by Lena Faenkova and the pattern is by Tereena Clarke. The pattern is is available for order from: 

https://www.crosstitch.com/search?f=102lfllc14

Do you ever come across cat and flowers represented together in arts and crafts? If so, share them in the comments below.

RealSteel Garden Cat Art

 

This cute trio of garden cat art figures popped up in my Instagram feed this week. I think the algorithm knows that I like cats and gardening, I wonder how that happened? ;-).

Here is the product description: "Charismatic cats make visitors smile when they notice these delightful decorations in your yard or among the flowers. Our weather-resistant, powder-coated cat figures are available in five beautiful colors, expertly crafted for years of durability. Three sweet felines—an attentive mama with her two adorable kittens—offer unique charm for your treasured outdoor space."

You can order this set at - https://amzn.to/3Olzsa5 (Note that this is an affiliate link and we may receive a few cents from Amazon if you click and order them, but this won't impact 

The Garden Cats of Luis Wain

You may have seen the recent movie, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. It is a biographical film starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the British artist Louis Wain (1860-1939). Wain led an eccentric life (to say the least), but left a legacy of cat art that is collected today with great interest and fervor. His anthropomorphized cats reflect our human nature and foibles back at us. His cat is vibrant and unique. I've chosen a few of us pieces that combine cats and gardens or plants for you to enjoy here.

If you haven't seen the film yet, I highly recommend it. Their are both beautiful gardens and a charming cat named Peter. The story does take some liberties for the sake of dramatic effect, but in general is faithful to the facts and is quite moving in the end.

This one is "Cats Destroying a Garden"
 - perhaps they are actually haplessly trying to garden?

This one is "Cats Busy Working in the Garden" and the cats seem much better skilled.
Although I am not sure what the one with the slingshot on the hedge is doing. It is for sale at:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/232427741828?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28

These pieces below are from the latter part of his art career and show his obsession with electricity. You can see the energy fairly leaping off the images from both the colorful flowers and the feline subjects.

There are many, many more cats in garden portraits by Luis Wain.
I urge you to google a few and enjoy then along with a nice cup of Early Gray tea.

Cat Nap Art

Afternoon Nap by Marilyn Barkhouse

This sweet art print of a garden cat is available to order from UrbanLoftArt.com. If you check out Marilyn Barkhouse's portfolio on their site, you'll see she has many other garden cats in her collection, along with dogs and butterflies and lots of flowers.

Her artist bio says she "is an award-winning artist who was born in the Canadian Maritimes on Prince Edward Island. Marilyn is inspired by the wildlife that she can see from her studio window, including deer, coyote, bald eagles and fox. She works from her studio located near the Cape Blomidon provincial park - a very popular park in Nova Scotia. She enjoys the serenity and quietness of a pastoral, rural life along with an extensive menagerie of pets, all previously abandoned or abused animals to which she has given a loving and warm home."

Georgetown Cats

Back in May, I attended the Georgetown Garden Tour and kept camera in hand throughout in hopes of capturing some garden felines on film. While no living kitties crossed my path, I saw these fun cat representations along the way.

and then there was this kitty sleeping in a basement window well 

- won't you come out to play with me I called - to no avail...

Taffy's Toby

Taffy Turner of Silver Spring, MD, shared: "We got Toby (pictured here) and his brother Jasper from the Montgomery County Animal Shelter about 2 years ago. They were found together and were only adoptable together. We think they are about 3. Toby is very mischievous, always into things he shouldn't be. He likes to chew plastic, sit in open windows, harass his brother, and occasionally drink from the toilet. He gets up on Jim's very cluttered desk and stomps around on all the junk demanding attention. He's a very cute kitty."

Toby is a great garden companion as you can see by these photos. Taffy also has many other feline garden companions in art forms scattered around her garden. Here are a few examples.

Sunset Kitty

I recently bought this unusual cat image painted by Michelle Bailey of Takoma Park, MD. I asked her to share a bit about how she selected the subject.

Michelle wrote, "We often see our neighbors' cat, Belle, sitting in the front flower box of their house when we walk along Sherman Avenue. This particular fall day, the light from the setting sun onto the house was spectacular; especially the softly focused spot of light right around Belle. As a realist painter using mostly my own reference photos, I always have my camera ready. I instantly knew I would paint this."

You can view and purchase more paintings, including other cats, at her Etsy shop here: http://www.michellebaileyfineart.com/paintings-2/

Headturner

This ad from Proven Winners ColorChoice Flowering Shrubs shows a Cat in a Garden -- yet, it doesn't. How is that? Through the magic of Photoshop, says Mark Osgerby, Marketing & Public Relations at Spring Meadow Nursery, Inc. "It was stock photography that we took at the nursery and the project was largely photoshopped," he explained. We wish it was a real cat-in-garden image, but we appreciate the effort and nod to discriminating garden felines.

Have a Seat

If you can't have live felines in your garden, how about painted ones? These two Adirondack chairs at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA, are the cat's meow!

Faerie Friends

I found this illustration from an old children's book and added my own caption. Then I started to research the relationship between cats and faeries. I just knew there had to be one as they both are such friends to gardeners everywhere.

On the RavensShire blog, it states: "The Celts believed that cats had their own fairy court, and their own magical powers. In other words, in their fairy tales, cats were often a type of fairy, rather than simply another animal." What a wonderful concept! Those of us who live with cats have all glimpsed these faerie-like powers and attributes including hoarding treasures (must often cat toys) and dancing in the moonlight. 

Learn more about cats and fairy tales from this terrific blog post here.

The Very Curious Kitten

I stumbled upon this garden cat statue in a neighbor's yard in Takoma Park, MD, while out running errands. I just adore the expression on this very curious kitten and find it very life-like. What do you think?

Cat Door

I saw this sweet little piece of useful cat art last weekend when I was on a local garden tour in Washington, DC. This house was not on the tour itself, but that little iron cat caught my eye. It appears to be a boot-scrape and is very striking in its simplicity.

Cat Landscaping

Cat Landscaping was shared on Stray Cat Alliance's Facebook page and various Pinterest feeds with no link, credit, or sourcing. After much online sleuthing, I kept hitting a dead-end.

Thanks to Beverly Carragher, I now know the source: it is Rich Saunders who posted it to Flickr.

Rich says, "The huge topiary at this stately home in Beaconsfield suggested a sleeping animal, so I comped in a photograph of our cat Tolly, taken especially to match the shape of the bushes."

Check out his Flickr page to see the original planting without the cat overlay.

Milo and Friends

Milo is the garden cat of Taffy Turner in Silver Spring, MD. He is 15 years old, but does not act a day over 5. Taffy says, "Milo is my garden helper as he is always out in the garden with me and follows me around as I work." His home garden is also filled with many cat icons to keep him company when Taffy is busy elsewhere.

'

Quebec Trek

 I'm just back from touring public and private gardens in and around Quebec City in Canada with the Garden Writers Assocation. Every garden I went to I looked for felines to photograph. Alas, none. (Plenty of dogs though, go figure.) On the last day, we stopped at a village on the I'lle-d'Orleans (the island of Orleans just outside the city in the St. Lawrence river). There, we visited a wonderful store full of garden statuary called L'Art au Jardins. The inside and out of the shop was stuffed full of garden art pieces. Here are a few cat representations I saw there.

And finally, this one just HAD to come home in my suitcase with me. It is by a Toronto artist and I just love that head-on silhouette. The artist also makes the classic side cat silhouettes and other creatures like Cardinals and Woodpeckers for your garden and tree decor.

A Cat in Monet's Garden at Giverny

Flickr user
snap713 shared this photo. She said it is from a collection of postcards published by Pomegranate. The back of the card reads:

"Pink cosmos and golden sunflowers tower above Fifi, the calico cat who resides in Monet's garden, as she strolls down a gravel path in the silver mist of dawn. Photograph by Elizabeth Murray c 1990."
.