A Friend In Need... of your Auction Bid!

Cat Lady Ann belongs to that special breed of pet lovers afflicted with what she laughingly calls OCCPSD, known as "Obsessive-Compulsive Cat Photoshop Disorder".

One visit to her blog Zoolatry will tell you why: She's just having too much darn fun to stop!! This sweetheart has been creating graphic art for fellow animal lovers, free of charge, for years now. 

 And those who love her know that Ann and her husband have been dealing with some tough challenges with grace and optimism over the past few years as her husband has faced some serious health issues.

So the Furriends of The Cat Blogosphere are holding an auction to raise funds to help cover medical costs and veterinary bills.  

And Cat Lady Linda and her Ozark Mountain Cats have donated a grab bag of my goodies to the auction!

It will be an assortment of kitty-related art, jewelry, and handcrafts from my Etsy shop that will be valued at $150!!  I promise you won't be disappointed! If you would like to bid on it, you'll find more info here: 

Susan Faye Grab Bag

Bidding ends this Sunday, so get your bid in now!

There are tons of other great items to bid on-- click here for a complete list:

Cat Blogosphere Auction

You may also make an outright donation if you wish.

Thanks for your support!

What's Old Is New Again...Again!

As some of you may already know, I operated a ceramic arts studio for 15-16 years before turning to watercolor painting.

My mainstay during those many years was designing porcelain jewelry,  like the cat lady brooch pictured here. Back in March, I discovered close to 40 of these pins that had been stashed away since my last move six years ago. I decided to offer them for sale in my Etsy shop and have been delighted to find new homes for a majority of them!

And guess what?

I recently found a forgotten stash of a dozen or so porcelain pendants! And I've just listed them in my Etsy shop.

Each is one-of-a kind and once they're gone, they're gone!

I am offering them for $22.00 each. They are artist-signed on the back, and measure approx. 2" x 1-1/2".  

 

I am modelling one here, to give you a sense of the size. I have used my new favorite Photoshop tool, "diffuse".  It's a miracle-- just click, and 2/3 of  your wrinkles magically disappear.  

I highly recommend it!

 

 

Click here to see the entire collection: 

Porcelain Jewelry

Enjoy!

Collecting Cats and Dogs

Look at what I found at an estate sale this weekend for $3! 

It's a framed vintage Buzza motto and I love the sentiment and the fitting artwork: a faithful friend awaiting a loved one's return.

According to the Hennigan County Library in Minnesota, "George Buzza founded the Buzza Company [in Minneapolis] in 1907. The company started out by selling college advertising posters and posters for retail clothing stores. When the market for these disappeared, he decided to manufacture greeting cards".  Framed mottos like this one were added and by 1927 sales reached $2.5 million. The Buzza Company continued in business until 1942.

Although the little gem pictured above is a "keeper" for my own collection,  I do have quite a few more cat and dog treasures available for adoption right now in my other Etsy shop, CurioCabinet.  Here are just a few to wet your whistle:

Scotty Dog Tie Clip

A classic retro tie clip or money clip for your favorite Scotty Dog Dude...This unique Art Deco piece features a reverse painted image of a Scotty Dog under convex glass set on goldtone metal.

I have black cats on the brain, thanks to the recent arrival of our little foundling, Inka, so I am particularly fond of this little glass plate: 

Black cat glass plate

This is a vintage bent glass dish or ash tray by Houze featuring a black cat and the words "Have a purrfect birthday . The L. J. Houze Convex Glass Company was formed in Point Marion, Pennsylvania in 1914 by Leon J. Houze and his son, Roger J. Houze. In 1952 the company developed the ‘smoked glass’ product line of screen printed trays, souvenir items, and even a line of formal dinnerware under the ‘Houze Art’ trade name. 

Here's the perfect something to help organize the desk in a pampered poodle home:

Poodle Pen Holder

 This vintage faithful friend will keep your vintage pen at hand whenever you need it (pen not included..It doesn't write anymore anyway).

Check out all of my treasures currently for sale here:  CurioCabinet.

Thanks for visiting!

What Should I Paint Next? (Plus a Work in Progress... )

The Art Harvest Studio Tour is just six weeks away so it's time to go into high gear and paint, paint paint!  At any given time I like to have several paintings in progress so that I can let one "rest" while I work on another one.  

I need your help! 

What should I paint next?  

 A cottontail bunny, Buttonwillow's pretty face, a plow-horse team, or my streptocarpus flowers?  Please vote in the comments section of this post.

In the mean time, here is what I am working on now.  The working title is "Teamwork".

First I've sketched in the horses and used masking fluid to block off areas that I want to stay white (it will be rubbed off later on ). 

Next, I've done an "underpainting" to give everything a nice glow.

  Working very wet, I've done a wash of blues, greens and amber for the field, dropping in a sprinkling of salt to give it some speckling.

 Next, I've added a wishy washy atmospheric treeline on the horizon, again working very wet, this time with more neutral colors to give a sense of distance.

 It's time to work on the subject matter...

After painting the torsos, I've removed the masking from the legs to reveal the bright white of the paper...

 Now it's time to work on the top half of the team, and when the paint is dry, I remove the masking.

 

Now I need to do some detail work and fix some problems.  The horses look like they are "floating" in the field, so I will set the painting aside for awhile and let my subconscious mull it over.  When I look at the painting again, I will hopefully have some answers.

So now I'm ready to start a new painting! Be sure to put in your two cents worth on what I should start next, by voting in the comments section of this post.  Thanks for your help!

4000 Likers to Love! [And a Gift Just For You...]

I enjoy milestones, and this is a biggie for me! Sometime during the night, my Facebook page passed the 4000 "likers" mark! Here is why this is a meaningful milestone for me:

A few years ago, shortly after I started my Facebook page for my fledgling internet business (back when it was a "fan page" and you were all "fans" instead of "likers"), I excitedly sent a message to my son. I was bragging that I had finally reached 50 fans. He teasingly wrote back, "You can do better than that. Get back to me when you reach 1000." I thought he was crazy. I had worked so hard to get 50 people to look at my page, I couldn't even imagine reaching another 50, let alone 950! But I loved my son's optimism, and decided to work just a little harder at it.

So you can imagine the thrill it was for me to wake up and see that I passed the 4000 mark some time in the night.

I hope you can also imagine how GRATEFUL I am for EACH and EVERY ONE of my "likers", Cat Ladies, Nature Lovers, family and friends, and fans who visit, support, and contribute to this blog and to my "Susan Faye Art for Feline Fanatics and Nature Lovers" page! It is such a joy to be able to share my creative process with you!

So I have a little gift for you:  

It's a printable mini-poster that should print up nicely on an 8.5 x 11" piece of paper to put on your refrigerator or office bulletin board. First click on the image so that you can see the whole thing at full size. Then right-click and "save image" to your computer. You should be able to print it from there. [these are directions for a PC-- if anyone has MAC directions, please post in comments]. All I ask is that you use this image for personal enjoyment and use only; please do not use for any commercial or business purposes or for resale. 

Thanks a million for your support! 

And thanks, Chris, for the little "kick in the butt" when I needed it. Moms need that too, once in a while.. ;-) 

Play Time

Little Inka has discovered the joys of the Great Indoors.

The forecast calls for feline frivolity and hijinks.

Inka has also discovered Buttonwillow's stash of cat toys.

Buttonwillow is only mildly amused, 

but sharing nicely.

Black and White and Loved All Over

Did you know that Friday was Black Cat Appreciation Day? Lucky for our household, we had one show up on our patio two weeks ago, so we were able to participate with great appreciation.
 

Much to Buttonwillow's surprise, however, no one has come forward to claim our little foundling.  So The-World's-Cutest-Black-Kitten-Known-To-Man-Woman-Or-Patio has now been dubbed with an official name, which I'm pretty sure means she is officially ours. Her new name is Inka.  

This means that everyday around here will be Black Cat Appreciation Day.  Not to mention Bicolor Cat Appreciation Day.

What color of Cat Appreciation Day is it today in your household?

  

**********

If it's White Cat Appreciation Day, you might enjoy the newest addition to my "I Heart Cats" designs.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/103727180/white-cat-personalized-glass-pendant

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/106911071/white-cat-glass-earrings-wearable-art

  I've added white cat glass pendants (they can be personalized with a pet's name on the back, and dangle glass earrings with sterling silver earwires.

 You'll find them, plus many more colorful cats, in my Etsy Shop...

Thanks for visiting!

Mom, Is That You?

can you believe it?

it's bad enough that this homeless waif has made her way into the house and is playing with my toys.  

let me tell you about the other cat.

this one showed up months ago, when we moved into the new house.  art lady told me some kind of malarkey that this was my mother.  she said that when she moved into the old house, this cat lived out by the creek and had two kittens under the house and one of them was me.  

(I'm the one in the back).  

art lady said that she took in the two kittens, but the alleged "mom" was too "wild" and wanted to stay outside and live by the creek.  art lady says she was able to get the alleged "mom" to the doctor for some kind of operation.  i think i had the same operation.  it was not fun.

art lady found a nice home for my brother and but she kept me because i had a "z" in the end of my tail and that made me extra special. not to mention my sparkling personality.

so when we moved to the new house, art lady said she couldn't leave the alleged "mom" behind at the creek.  so the alleged "mom" came to live in our garage.

then the alleged "mom" decided that she really liked living the good life and came to live inside and started cozying up to art lady.  art lady calls her "sweet pea".

i ask you.  just look at  this intruder.

 how could she possibly be my mom?

we all know that art lady is my mom. 

right?

Art Harvest Studio Tour of Yamhill County

 As many of you know, I spent several years painting custom portraits of cat ladies and pet lovers, but last year I made a really tough decision and stopped taking commissions.  Although I loved painting these portraits, I came to the startling realization that my creative time, energy and inspiration were finite.  Who knew? When painting 2-3 portraits a week I found that I had nothing left over for my first love-- "serious watercolors".

 Which leads to this very exciting announcement :

I am pleased as punch and tickled pink to let you know that I have been juried into the Art Harvest Studio Tour of Yamhill County here in Oregon!

The tour takes place in October, and along with 30+ other NW artists, I will be opening up my home studio, sharing my latest artwork, and doing some demonstrations. In the coming weeks I'll be giving you a sneak peek at some of the artwork I am getting ready for the show. 

Here is a large watercolor on canvas painting that I started a while back and never finished.  I think it's time to finish it! 

This one is a little "study" that I did for a painting that is a tribute to the harvest activity of the Willamette Valley (harvest season is in full swing right now, but you'll only see teams like this at our local history museum's "Farm Fest").  I'll be showing more of this work-in-progress soon...

Here are the particulars about the tour: 

The Art Harvest Studio Tour is a self-guided tour through scenic Yamhill County, Oregon, and is a presentation of the Arts Alliance of Yamhill County.  More that 30 member-artists will be on this year's self-guided tour. The goal is to "spark your interest in visual arts, the creative process and the unique studio environment of the working artist".

2012 Tour Dates
Friday, Saturday and Sunday
October 5, 6, 7 and 12, 13, 14
10-6pm

To start the tour, just visit any of the participating studios and purchase a collectible Tour Admission Button. It's your ticket to as many studios as you wish to visit, all six days.
Adults: $7

18 and younger:FREE! 

For more information,and to see a list of participating artists and maps, visit our website:

ART HARVEST STUDIO TOUR

New Shadow Box Art!

As I've mentioned before, I had a beautiful love affair with shoebox dioramas in grade school.  I was equally in love with the fancy sugar eggs at Easter that had peepholes and charming miniature tableaux inside. So it should be no surprise that I take childlike delight in making my shadow box magnets and desktop dioramas...

Here is my work table with several in progress.  I print my artwork onto high quality heavy paper stock and begin to snip snip snip, then glue glue glue: 

Here are the newest designs that I recently came up with using elements from some of my illustrations (all recently added to my Etsy shop):

A ginger-orange tuxedo tabby mom and kitten magnet..

https://www.etsy.com/listing/104999366/orange-tuxedo-tabby-cat-and-kitten

A longhair ginger-orange tabby cat mom and kitten magnet...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/104999111/orange-tabby-cat-and-ginger-kitten

A Maine Coon tabby cat mom and kitten magnet...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/104998610/maine-coon-tabby-cat-and-kitten-shadow

And a Desktop Diorama featuring cats Gardner and Flora from my Garden Shed illustration..

https://www.etsy.com/listing/106697972/shadow-box-3-d-cat-art-garden-shed

To see my tutorial on making a Desktop Dioriama, click here:

Make a Desktop Diorama

 To see my full line of 3-D shadowbox/ diorama/ shrine/ tableaux, visit this link to my Etsy shop section:

Susan Faye Shadow Box Art  

 

Thanks for visiting!