A painting, an award—life is good

It seems we have disappeared once again and it is not al his fault. With the weather being so cold and because we have had also a lot of rain, I have been hibernating like some bear in a cave up in the high Sierra’s, only my cave is a fur house. It has not only been keeping warm, it has me sleeping in their at time for more than ten hours at a time, only coming out for some nibbles of food and you know, sandbox business. 

Are you aware that I am turning eighteen this month and as we get older, we are no longer into playing games or much of any other activities, so I cannot blame dad, even though he too contributed to our absence.

Some of you may know that dad is an artist and because last year most of his time was spent in cardiovascular rehabilitation, he has not painted, that is for almost two years. For him art is his life, it is what he lives for and though things are still a daily struggle, he had a surge of creativity that just needed to be harnessed.

Canvas size: 36x48” inches

So here you see dad is painting in the kitchen that is his make-shift studio. He is applying a gesso ground to the surface of the canvas, so that it can receive various white and buff colored acrylic paint, which was then followed with oil paints. 

White on White

You may be wondering what it is to represent or what the materials are. Dad has been working on a photographic series since 2005, in which he photographed telephone poles in the city of Berkeley, California. Poles that were covered with thick layers of fliers and staples, which had been torn off before new ones were being added, a process that has taken years. Dad’s last two posts at his other blog, The Artist Within Us, shows images from the series he has named “Typography Graveyard.” 

As for the materials, well to recreate on a large scale these torn little pieces of paper, dad used grocery paper shopping bags. Their stronger construction made it an ideal choice and once several layers of medium gel had been applied to both sides and then painted, the forms took on a more solid state of form. Dad’s been happy with the results, especially with the soft variations of whites.

Recently we were the recipients of an award from Mumsy, Chancy and Co. and earlier this evening we wrote our apologies to Mumsy for having taken so long to acknowledge their gracious gift. We hope you can forgive us.

Now Mumsy, Chancy and Co. became followers of our blog this year and though one might say we are new friends, a visit to their blog will have you feeling very quickly like old comfortable friends one has known for years. So won’t you drop in on them if and make a new friend.

Now the award comes with two request, to share seven things you may not know about me, Miss Kitty that is and to pass the award along to fifteen others. Now by now you know that dad restricts new recipients to three, so that there is some elevation of pride with the award. So here is our list to whom we wish to bestow the ward to:

• Katnip Lounge and their baker dozen of felines in their cabana. Many of you already know Tricia and her many adoring feline companies who live a life of luxury. Her photographs are just wonderful and earlier this year, one of her cats graced our calendar bookmarks.

• Clooney’s Num-Num Fund is another sight that one just cannot get enough of. Her writings are hilarious and the accompanying pictures a riot. You have got to stop on by.

• Gwundergarten, Alexandra’s bilingual blog, so you have no excuse not to visit. Her cat Noah makes several appearance but also shares the site for other very interesting things and right now Alexandra is showing some beautiful photographs of flowers while Noah (who also appeared on out bookmark calendars) is supervising her.

Seven things you may not know about me. Let see now, what can I share that is not embarrassing or a sworn secrete.

• I have my birthday is coming up this month, even though we do not know the exact date, we all settled on the 15th
• I am patient but persistent, especially when I am hungry and it is not dinner time
• When big sister is away at USC, I really miss her and cannot wait for her return
• Getting use to strangers, especially when they are friends of big brother and sister
• When it comes to food, I am very picky
• In the morning, while I lay on the bed and dad gives me belly rubs, I am in heaven
• Watching television while being on dad’s lap is being the center of attention

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It is that time of year again

As we bring this post to a close, a quick reminder that there is still some time left to enter our calendar bookmark photo competition and if you can help spread the word among your friends that would be great—just keep in mind the guidelines & requirements. We greatly appreciate the assistance.

Second Quarter Photo Competition

It is that time of year again in which Miss Kitty will select the next set of winners for  the second quarter calendar bookmarks. So you have thirty days to get your images to us, so you will have plenty of time to get that image which becomes totally irresistible.

The winners for the first quarter

The previous photo competition went very well and now we are back to fill the slots for month April, May and June. Since I would like everyone to participate, especially the shy ones, please read my suggestions in order to improve your changes. I have also reposted the finalists of the first quarter to serve as a guide in what was selected from those that I felt made the cut. Above all, keep in mind the format that the winning images are being inserted to.

The previous finalists

When you judge your own photographs prior to submission, I would like to to look at them with a critical eye, checking for good lighting, that there are no highlights that are not without detail and that the feline pictured is engaging with the photographer. Of greatest importance is lighting and inmost cases I prefer indirect daylight since shadows are softer. A lamp creates a harsh shadow, an area with virtually no detail. Apart from lighting, consider also the composition of the photo, as it can be the difference of making it into the finals or not.

Requirements to qualify

1: you can submit up to 5 digital images

2: Image orientation: vertical preferred 

    (if our photo is horizontal we need to be able to crop it vertical

3: Formats accepted: JPG (extra fine setting-highest resolution), TIFF or RAW

4: PLease do not crop your picture

5: Image size: 2000 x 3000 pixels (5 MB plus) preferred

6: Last day to submit: Midnight on March 22, 2011

7: Be a follower of this blog

Do not forget to include

1: Your name and the name of your feline

2: A link to your blog

3: Please place Photo Competition in the subject line of the email

Now let us not forget the legal matters

By submitting your images, you allow the winning entries to used by a Cats Golden Years 'one time only' for the sole purpose they were intended, the Miss Kitty 2011 Calendar Bookmarks, otherwise the photographer retains all other rights.

You also allow us crop the image and to use any Photoshop enhancements tools as we see fit.

Availability of the calendar bookmarks

The final design with the winning images will be made available in the last week of March for download from our Picasa album via a link so that it can be printed out on your colour printer in full resolution onto 8 .5 x 11 inches card stock.

For submissions or any questions, please click here

Wishing you all good luck!

Huggs and kisses

Wishing all my furry friends and their humans

a wonderful Happy Valentine Day

Huggs and kisses

Ms K

(^..^)

♥

An Egyptian bronze cat

Some of you may know that I have a number of other blogs dealing with art and almost on a daily bases spending time researching the various news sources for interesting articles to share on Twitter. Since Miss K has her own Twitter account (MsKittyvanDyck), I have started recently researching ‘cats in the news,’ when I came across the following story about an Egyptian bronze cat that I would like to share with you. 

The article appeared in ARTdaily and is copied in full without changes:

This charming hollow cast bronze cat is shown alert, sitting upright with the tail curled to the right side. Estimate: £15,000 to £20,000. Photo: Bonhams.

LONDON.- Bonhams sale of Antiquities on April 13 includes a beautiful but inscrutable Egyptian cat cast in bronze, with gold earrings, that dates from circa 664-32BC estimated to sell for £15,000 to £20,000. 

This charming hollow cast bronze cat is shown alert, sitting upright with the tail curled to the right side, the body with stippled surface, wearing a Bes-headed pectoral suspended on a cord and original gold earrings. It has beautiful well-defined features with recessed eyes and incised whiskers. The feline comes from a private Swiss collection. Bought in New York in 1958. With copies of accompanying collection notes. 

Photo: Bonhams.

Such cats are images of the cat goddess Bastet and were often placed on the top of bronze boxes containing mummified cats. 

Madeleine Perridge, Head of Antiquities at Bonhams comments: “This is a wonderfully striking cat with beautifully defined features, particularly the finely incised detail of the fur and the delightful original gold earrings. Considering that it is more than 2,000 years old, it is in excellent condition. In fact you could say that this cat for all its great age, has still not outlived its nine lives.” 

Praised for controlling vermin which could be a threat to the harvest, Egyptian nobles of the New Kingdom period would also take cats on bird-hunting expeditions. By the Graeco-Roman period, cats as the personification of the goddess Bastet, were deemed to be sacred animals and it was forbidden to remove them from Egypt. 

The cat goddess Bastet eventually replaced the cult of Mafdet, a lion-headed goddess. Bastet's image softened over time and she became the deity representing protection, fertility and motherhood. 

As a revered animal important to Egyptian society and religion, cats like humans, were also mummified. Mummified cats were given as an offering to Bastet. In 1888, an Egyptian farmer uncovered a large tomb with mummified cats and kittens. This discovery outside the town of Beni Hasan had eighty-thousand cat mummies, dating to 1000-2000 BCE. 

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If you have enjoyed this or the one on our previous post, then please check out tweets on the sidebar as we regularly post to Tweeter with any interesting news about felines on a variety of subject matter. If you have a Tweeter account, you may also wish to follow Miss Kitty. 

Enjoy your Sunday and don’t forget

the calendar photo contest is coming up

A Stylish Award

Angel and 6 Garden Cottage Cats masthead

Several days ago we received a Stylish Blogger Award from Angel who’s blog 6 Garden Cottage Cats is one you should see, as it is filled with wonderful graphics and a lovely soundtrack in the background, making you want to stay and not leave. Thank you so very much for this award.

We understand the award comes with certain requirements and that we need to tell you seven things about us and then pass it along. Since we had established with our first award to cut the number of new recipients, we will do so again, thereby restoring value and honor to the award by limiting the nominees. We decided to keep it to three, like in the Olympics.

So we are bestowing this award to:

Animal Shelter Volunteer Life blog reflects so going on’s at PAWS, a privately funded, non-profit, no-kill shelter located in Norwalk, CT. The volunteers work very hard taking care of felines and trying to find forever homes. Please do drop in as they also have wonderful news to share today.

Our other winner is Cats of Wildcat Woods, who have a farmhouse in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina and when they moved in, they also inherited a number of feral cats. Since then they have been very involved with the community, reusing cats and helping them find forever homes.

We thought of presenting you, the reader with a blog that was a bit different, Chocolate and Marmalade Tea is just that. Now Michelle, the writer of the blog not only shares some stories of her cats Mocha and Emma—who are darlings and one cannot help but fall in love with them—but  she is an old fashioned girl trying to keep up with the modern world. Between blogging, creating some art and also going horseback riding, she keeps very busy baking and sharing those wonderful recipes with us and who cannot have enough recipes in their book, so do drop in and make friends.

Now the Stylish Blogger Award asks the receiver to share seven things with my followers, seven things they may not be aware of.

1: Miss Kitty’s name originally was Painted Lady, but family members called her simply kitty. So when this blog was created we agreed her name would be Miss Kitty van Dyck.

2: Though I get pampered by dad, I have scratched him a few times, now he wears several scars to remind him of me. When I did this, I was much younger.

3: While on the subject of age, I am seventeen years and ten months old. Because I was a very young feral, only a few weeks old we can only guess that it was either February or March that I was born, but I have been with the family since May of the same year.

4: I used to be a very good mouse catcher and when I ate my catch, I always left behind the liver. Do any of you felines do this?

5: Two years ago I was attacked by a dog and since then I no longer go outside alone. So whenever dad goes to work in the garden he takes me out and we keep each other company.

6: Here are two things about dad; he had an industrial accident in 2002, which took four and a half years to recover, has survived cancer in 2004 and open-heart triple by-pass surgery in 2006. Unfortunately one of the grafts failed eighteen months later and this has effected how much and what he can do in a day. Unfortunately he remains unemployed since 2003 and the economy is not helping.

7: Dad was a graphic designer and commercial advertising photographer and in 2000 decided it is time for a vacation, never having on in those twenty-seven years. So he decided to follow his childhood dream and start painting. 

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Before bringing this post to a close I wish to share this article I found on-line from NewsTeam, UK yesterday that was posted at NewsLite.TV that I wish to share with you. Instead of rewriting it, I am copying over the text as it appeared.

Pamela Cole with some of her collection (photo: L Looi/NewsTeam UK)

Feline fanatic collects thousands of ceramic cats

February 2, 2011 3:00 PM - News Team UK

A feline fanatic has spent the last 60 years amassing a bizarre collection of over 2,000 ceramic cats… and she won't stop until it's purr-fect.

Pamela Cole, 60, from Birmingham, England, has been collecting the cats since the late 1940s, after her mother gave her a replica of a beloved kitten. The collection, is thought to be worth over £50,000 ($68,000 US Dollar), contains ornaments worth anything from 10p to over £1,000 ($1,300) and she even has one cat dating back to 600BC. 

Pam, who now has a staggering 2,222 cats of varying shapes and sizes, says she keeps them in her spare bedroom and has stopped anyone sleeping in there. But despite already being short of space to display them, she said she can't wait to get her paws on more.

Speaking of her collection Pamela said: "I really do have them from all over the world, and I've bought them in china shops, toy shops, antiques shops, at craft fairs, antiques fairs and on eBay.  

"I try to get them as different as possible, and I have them from every continent."

Enjoy the weekend and

don’t forget the calendar bookmark photo contest is coming up.