Sunday, July 29, 2012

Why, hello there...

helloMrCat4

A few weeks ago a customer requested a custom portrait of her cat, printed on a pillow. I won't share that for at least a week (just in case the recipient stumbles upon it before he receives it... as unlikely as that might be). I did carve a block based on a photo of her cat (who shall remain nameless to avoid discovery). I chose the photo of said cat in this improbably comfortable possition, because how could I resist? Is this cat not trying to seduce the viewer? Perhaps not as much as the Bloggess' cat Ferris Mewler who thinks he's Eric Northman, but still. I wanted to make a print with some sort of text. I keep seeing this and first thing that came to mind was "I just me you, and this is crazy, but here's my belly, rub it maybe" but I refuse to carve a joke which would be stale before I could print it. I settled on, "Why, hello there..." which is open to interpretation, so the viewer can decide for him or herself. I enjoyed designing the cursive text and I like the combination of grey and yellow (not to mention his little pink nose). RJH's response what that the print was somehow risqué, but I'm going to take that as meaning it's not just me who things this cat is making eyes at you.

(A propos of nothing, the CBC radio documentary series Twilight of the Gods, about the history of the music recording industry is EXCELLENT and you should listen to the whole 5-part series. I really enjoyed it.)

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