One Year with Marley

Hey, guys, it's me! And this is kind of a special day because one year ago today, I was living with Peggy and my brothers and sisters and a bunch of other relatives and friends. It was noisy and smelly, and boy, were we loud and happy, but Peggy said we needed to get 'dopted, and so I would look at peoples who came to her house and wonder if they'd make good parents. Then Mom and Dad walked in, and they looked like they might love me, so I acted extra cute and gave them lots of kisses when they picked us up and held us, one by one. Then I heard Mom say, "We came for a female, but you know, I think I want this little male over here." And she was pointing at me!

It was a happy/sad time when they stuck me in the crate; I didn't have time to kiss my brothers and sisters goodbye, and then we got to my new house, and it smelled like a dog never even walked past it, and it was too big and a little scary, but I was brave and didn't cry the first night when they turned out the lights. Well, maybe a little but real quiet.

Mom eventually got a little better at taking pictures of me.

We had lots to teach one another, and believe me, the peeing thing was the worst! Peoples want everybody's pee-pee put in a special place, and they get all huffy when a guy forgets, but mostly we got along great.

They had the backyard fenced in just for me, and when peoples see it, they always say, "That's a big backyard!" But it's just right for me and Mom and Dad to play in.




Sometimes Mom gets ideas about dressing me up, but it never works. I'm not a dressin' up kinda guy, and I wiggle out of 'em real fast! When I had the operation, she did make me wear a stupid onesy for a few days.



I love all my toys, especially empty Perrier bottles and Dad's collectible golf balls. He has a lifetime supply, and he doesn't fuss too much when he notices I've been in his room to borrow another one. I get sorta nervous when Mom washes my cloth toys. I'll hang around the laundry room till they come out of the dryer.........actually, I like 'em better when they're a little grubby.



Dad didn't much want a dog, but he melted pretty fast and got to be my best play buddy. Mostly, though, I follow Mom around and help her paint, clean, pay bills, garden and watch TV. She says she doesn't know what she ever did without me.





Mostly, the peoples who come to see us are more fun than their dogs!





Things I have learned in 1 year:
1. Don't sniff your poop, no matter how interesting it looks. It makes grown-up peoples go nuts!
2. There's no use in trying to hide when it's time for a bath; Mom knows the house too well, and she'll find you behind Dad's chair every time.
3. Bugs taste better than dandelions, but if Mom is looking, go for the dandelions.

4. If you refuse to eat from your dish, Mom or Dad will hand-feed it to you.
5. Carpets are for wiping food off your face and for burying bones, but the bones disappear on Mom's house cleaning day.
6. Sleeping with Mom and Dad is funner than sleeping in my crate, but as soon as they lie down, they lose their sense of humor, so what's the use?
7. All peoples have feet, but Dads' feet (and socks and shoes) smell best.

8. Storms are scary, but they can't get you on Mom's lap. She has magical powers of protection.
9. Peoples toys like TVs, phones, and 'puters are stupid. They spend too much time playing with them when they could be playing on the floor with their dog.
10. Snow is awesome stuff, but it makes snowballs all over me, and I don't like the drying off with the hair dryer part.

Miss Sharon in Indiana says the boys and girls in her class enjoy reading about me. Y'all come see me any time, kids!!



Thanks for stopping by!
Love,
Cat & Marley

A New Direction, as Old as Time

This latest collage took a turn that's Southwestern or tribal or something; I've done a few of these o'er the years and attribute them to my Native American heritage. I'm not a Daughter of the American Revolution. No, we didn't come over on the Mayflower. We met the boat...... and paid dearly for our hospitality.......but I digress. I'll show you how this piece evolved over about 10 days.


I began by loosely painting a sanded birch board with gold, tan and beige thinned acrylics and then did the same on 4 small gallery wrapped canvases. Not sure at this point where we're heading, but collage always feels good when it's evolving.

With those dry, I pulled out a piece of cloth that I had painted a while back using bright acrylics. It's good to spend a day now and then just randomly painting, spattering, scribbling, and generally abusing cloth or papers for future use, and then it's like having your own specialty art store to browse in for beautiful collage media. I'll pull out a piece from long ago and say, "Oh wow! I wonder how I got that effect!"

As always, Marley was on the table beside me, helping, and the day I was working on the woven piece, made of strips I cut from handmade papers and later sprayed gold, my sister and I were talking on Skype with my netbook on the table as well. Obviously, my art doesn't require intense concentration.

Next came the white paper sculpture pieces, and I cut them out while watching TV with Marley on the recliner footrest. Each feather is one piece, and the big central, stringy piece is one sheet of paper. When Marley occasionally gets overcome with love and plops into my face for kisses, I try to incorporate whatever cuts result from the crash to make them look intentional, but his main contribution at this point is that he chewed up a whole cluster of feathers......That furry little critter is lucky I love him so much! It was his way of saying, "Mom, that feather cluster just wasn't working!" Good to have varied points of view.



Now the collage is taking shape, and I've got a clearer notion of what comes next. I pulled out the 3 found objects, that were pendants in another life, and thought they worked well.

I harvested the 5 sticks from the woods behind our house and varnished 3 of them, finally wrapping colored twine around the ends. The dark doorway on the third canvas is watercolor on heavy art paper.

Of course I made up a story about the meaning of my collage as I went, trying not to make the elements too blatantly symbolic or obvious in order to allow the viewer to create his or her own story about it.

Before attaching the papers, cloth, sticks and amulets, I glued the four canvases to the board, but it didn't feel stable, so Jim put in 8 long screws from the back for me. Now it's solid.

And that's our latest masterpiece. The flash makes it look a little glitzier than it actually is, but it's a chilly, gray, winter's day here. We're awfully glad you stopped by.
As ever,
cat & Marley