So, we, like everyone else, are sheltering in place. This Coronavirus pandemic is something we’ve never experienced before and it is wicked. We’re feeling a bit cooped up but we’re doing our part to practice the rules about washing hands, remaining six feet apart, etc – Snuggie cats wanted you to know they are taking this serious as well. Stay in everyone. We need to flatten the curve to beat this beast.
Mod-Byzantine Cat encompasses a bit of art history, something I often indirectly feature in my work. For this piece, I used a faux gold background which I playfully link to Byzantine art because of the metallic gold backgrounds used some 600+ years ago in many mosaic compositions. This painting is another fun example of my playing around with different background treatments.
The cat holds a flower in keeping with my Otto Dix motif. I decided to paint the flower purple, which in this case represents nobility. I named the painting, “Mod-Byzantine Cat Holding a Purple Flower.” Juxtaposing the words Mod(ern) and Byzantine are exceptionally humorous in my mind.
On another note, during this time of uncertainty, stay safe and be well everyone.
“Tigger Earned His Wings,” 2019, was painted shortly after our beloved orange tabby crossed over the rainbow bridge. Like the title suggests, Tigger really did earn his wings with Michelle and me. He was both rambunctious and loving. And, strangely enjoyed eating corn on the cob—I had never witnessed at cat literally doing this until Tigger entered our lives. He was also known to have ferreted corn on the cob out of the trash so he could glean what remained. We adopted him from the Detroit Humane Society many moons ago. If he would have lived just a little longer (January 2020), he would have been in our lives for fifteen years. This painting will live with Michelle and me for as long as we live as a reminder of how special Tigger really was to us.
I have been remiss in not discussing, “Waving Snuggie Cat,” 2018. This idea morphed from an earlier painting entitled, “Happy Assassin,” which showed in the Scarab Club’s Gold Medal Exhibition a few years ago. “Happy Assassin” (a cat wearing a smiley-faced snuggie) was based off a sketch I made about twelve years ago shortly after I purchased a smiley-faced cookie jar at a rummage sale. That said, I thought the idea of a standing full-length black cat, wearing a snuggie, was pretty darn sardonic. After all, you have a brightly colored snuggie which lends itself to early childhood and innocence, and then you have a black menacing cat inside waving at its audience.
I am attracted to subjects like rocketships and space travel. That subject is popular with outsider artists and it has crept into my work also. At any rate, San Francisco artist Johnnie Botts really does an amazing job with rocketships and robots. About seven or eight years ago, I bought one of his small paintings and Michelle and I have enjoyed it ever since. Johnnie is also a really nice guy and Michelle and I have met him several times during gallery crawls. At some point when we have more normality in our lives, we might buy another work by his hand.
I am thrilled to announce my upcoming exhibition titled, “Cats Rule” at the Scarab Club in Detroit, Michigan. The opening is October 18 from 5-8pm and the exhibition runs through November 16. I’m honored that John Douglas Peters deemed my work worthy enough for a catalog which features 80 plus pages of my mischievous, playful CraneArt cats over the years along with whimsical quotes describing why cats really do rule. If you are in the area, please come to the opening (217 Farnsworth St.) Would love to see you.
My original Batman Cat painting was commissioned by a patron in Detroit however, I was pleased to recreate a second version inspired by a local story here in San Francisco. A young boy, in remission from cancer, had dreamed of being a superhero so the Make a Wish Foundation created an event that made this little guy Batkid for a day. My wife and I were on the streets of San Francisco last Fall to support his heroic efforts to save Gotham City (San Francisco). It's a day we'll never forget. I was able to deliver the second Batman Cat painting to the Make a Wish Foundation before his special day as a keepsake. I hope this painting reminds him everyday that he truly is a superhero.
