Meow

An exhibition of quirky cat drawings by Felicity Edwards

 A cat is a great companion in the studio and of course many artists and writers have used the cat as their subject matter. In the artist’s studio there is bound to be a sunny spot for them to curl up in, and if a distraction is needed, a crumpled piece of rejected art work can be shredded or pounced on. Cats make very good life drawing models when you need to hone your quick sketching skills, or may be just need to loosen up a bit before tackling your latest “masterpiece in progress”.

About a year ago two black cats began to dominate my life.  Xena the tiny young feral female cat turned up at my place and I watched her as she was trying to feed her four kittens on baby rabbits that were nearly as big as her. I began to put cat food out for  them and waited until the kittens were old enough to be weaned and eventually caught her first, and  then, the kittens one at a time. The RSPCA and The Hobart Cat Centre took three of the litter, however I decided to keep one of her kittens as my old cat Silas had passed away and I missed having a cat. I named him Marvin. Marvin was easily domesticated, although his mother Xena has been a long work in progress. I did not want to add to the feral cat population by allowing her to breed again so she spent many months in the stable with my horse Ami as her companion. I had a real dilemma.  I wanted to get Xena de-sexed however she wouldn’t let me touch her. After much patience and perseverance she finally allowed me to handle her. As soon as I could pick her up I organized the trip to the vet.

The Black and White father of the kittens is still visiting every day but he is too wary to be caught. He’s a lovely puss who looked after the kittens when they were separated from their mother. He doesn’t appear to have an appetite for the wild life other than rabbits and mice so he too has found a home.

 Xena and Marvin are now both de-sexed and live in the luxury of warm beds and comfy chairs to sleep on inside.

This previously feral family, have been the inspiration for many of my drawings. Anyone that has lived with cats will recognise their penchant for finding the most warm and comfortable place to sleep. This usually means on the bed or under the covers next to a warm human body. Trying to remove a cat from their favourite chair can also be quite intimidating. These are some of the themes I have used for this exhibition of my pastel drawings.

Felicity Edwards with cats

The artist with friends and cats

We hope you can come in to the gallery to see Felicity's fabulous cats or scroll down through our blog to see close up images of her works. The exhibition closes on 5 Feb 2014.