Domesticated Felines
Exploring the Furry Faces of Felineness
The Voice of Breath
Lays down and rolls;
Stripes expand, belly flattens
Eyes glow
Feet scatter.
Cat
Navigation
Perched
Perched was one of the first cat profiles I decided to explore. The base feline is a Main Coon. This picture was a main discovery process for the perceptual association I had with cats and things of the sinister sort. This particular version is featured in the Story of Apu and Lamb.
Being Familiar
This exploration is me towing with the witchcraft perceptual notion in my head. The title is a place on “familiar” as in the witch’s familiar. This cat is walking on its hindlegs being…well familiar. I continued to work with the black cat motif here since it was suitable for Halloween.
Full Moon Gaze
Full moon gaze is an investigative illustration from my journaling universe. It plays out on the nocturnal, mysterious nature of the feline along with the cats association with the dark and the occult [e.g. Halloween in the USA]. This is a combo photograph drawing.
The Sweet Gaze
The Sweet Gaze is nostalgic for me and serves the base of my cat perception; that of pet. It’s the idyllic version of the cat sitting in the window waiting for me to come home with a kitten comfy enough to daze. Of course, cats just don’t stay here in this sweet posture.
When We Venerate
This take on the furry feline is from antiquity, particularly from the times of Ancient Egypt and the cult of Bast. While cats have been vilified, they have also been worshiped and made sacred. This picture dives on the veneration, which also involved ritual sacrifice of cats.
Pancake: What a Clown
This exploration is a play on the name “pancake.” The white face is the pancake makeup that is used for circus clowns and the theater. This involves the theater I’ve made around cats [along with society] and how that theater has involved giving felines a black eye. There is a writing quill on the nose linking the portrayal of cats to literature and storytelling as well.
Feline Anew
Learning to see cats as they are instead of through folklore, myth, or stereotypes. Feline Anew has a special place in my journal exploratory journal. This is the more serious beginning of seeing cats as they are but also as part of an ecological system which includes domestication and other human involvement.
I See You
This is one of the first cats I ever tried to figure out. The eyes have a particular reflection to them. At this point, I was playing around with the spiritual nature of animals as part of the creation which is why the eyes are blue. It’s one of my favorites.
