Life With Cats and Art December 2024

To view previous newsletters click here 

Hope everyone is having a nice holiday season. Mine is always busy but I try to stay calm and concentrate on the important tasks first. On the business side, keeping track of orders and dealing with shipping, tracking and customer support is first priority. Next is promoting and engaging with social media, including occasional thank you posts for purchases and showing new work. There's a fine line between spam and promotion and not every group wants to see your links and sales info. It's a trial and error endeaver to learn which groups are ok to post to and which will get you rejected. Marketing is very time consuming but if you don't do it you don't get seen so I post to Facebook, Intsagram, Pinterest and X (Twitter was a much better name). 

I try to paint every day even if it's just a small part of a current painting or something I need to fix on another (this is dangerous territory).  I also do our community newsletter every month and this one every two months. I was so busy I didn't get a chance to promote the sales on here but most of you would have seen them on Etsy and/or Facebook. For those of you that made purchases, thanks for supporting my art. 

I didn't mention family but, of course, seeing family and friends are a given and I manage to fit my work around it most of the time.  As the sole caretaker for my husband, I take my laptop with me to Dr. appointments and get some work done in the waiting rooms. I also play team tennis and manage to play most mornings and in weekly league matches. 

The gallery exhibit I talked about last newsletter closed early, unfortunately, due to new construction issues, but I hope to find some more venues. I am looking into some online gallery sites. We'll see. 

This is my latest painting. Cats Playing Pool. Oil on stretched canvas. 12" x 16".  Momma cat, poppa cat and 7 kittens are seen climbing around and on the pool table and playing with the billiard balls. Momma tries to sleep on a nearby table but one kitten keeps bothering her. Poppa cat is no help. The large fish tank and windows showing the lush landscaping of flowers and greenery add to the playful indoor scene. 

When I get back to my "Anatomy of a Painting" I will show the steps to this one because it was similar to "Cats Playing Mahjong" and I had promised myself I woudn't do that again (will explain when we get to it).  

The cats are immune to holiday stress. As long as I am around they are happy.

Bella loves this spot (aside from being glued to me). I purchased some of my art on hand towels and they are the perfect size for the sofa. One for each cat. 

They are most happy when I am working on the computer. Then they have lots of comfy spots to settle in as I work on my laptop on the sofa. Red doesn't have his own towel. He prefers the top of the sofa or the table next to me. 

Simba loves his towel but is just as happy in the sink.

Here are some of my recent creations. If you see an original in my Etsy shop and would like that image on a product that I haven't listed just let me know and I will make a listing for it. Click for info on purchasing.

2025 Calendars For Gifting

Click for info on purchasing. 

Some Recent Sales

Click for info on purchasing