Tag Archives: gold leaf

As an artist, I’ve often been asked over the years, where do you get your ideas?  This is a tough question because you can’t just go to the store and pick some ideas up.  Well, maybe depending upon which direction you feel like moving.

For me, ideas can come from a variety of sources.  Something I see, read about, even from dreams.  Sometimes I think I want to explore a certain idea but end up going in an entirely new direction.  That is what happened to me recently.

I was contemplating a series of local scenes.  Landscapes, cityscapes.  Just a variety of ideas have been strolling through my brain.  Then I found myself noodling around with some sketches of my cat, in fact, various cats that I’ve owned throughout the years.  (Not forgetting all the dogs, birds, lizards, and a variety of other pets we’ve had over the years.)  No, I am not a crazy cat lady.  I like cats and it seems as if I’ve had one around nearly all my life. 

So I started with some sketches of my little buddy Leo the cat. He seems to manage to find so many different ways to sleep that he’s almost acrobatic.  One particular pose leads to another.  Then I removed his ratty old blanket and put him on an Oriental carpet.  And this lead me to think, Why not really jazz it up with some gold?! 

Anyway, Leo was the first victim, er uh, volunteer.  Then came Tom, my dad’s cat.  Then Princess who is just too too glam.  Adding backgrounds of oriental carpets and some real 23K gold or silver leaf.  I have never done anything with gold leaf before but, hey, it’s always good to try new things.

Then I realized that I was running out of cat subjects.  Even photos of my old cats. 

So with the help of a friend who volunteers, I went to the local humane society.  BINGO!  Back in business.  They have lots of cats.  Every time the volunteer was telling me that this cat was shy or standoffish, it would come and climb all over me, waiting for its ears to be scratched or belly rubbed.  Such a beautiful variety.  These people do such good work, especially with the help of many volunteers.

But what really broke my heart was seeing the older cats who appeared in good shape but had been turned into the humane society because their owners died or who were no longer able to take care of them.  How confused they must be. They looked so sweet and loving.

Anyway, I’ll be making more trips back there in the coming months.  If you have a humane society near you, check it out next time you need a new pet, or just another pet.  They definitely get high marks on my list.

Meanwhile, check out my Etsy shop KitMiracleArt to keep track of the new golden cats. 

Dubois County Humane Society if you need to adopt a pet.