Friday, March 29, 2024
black catscat photographsdaily photojelly beanmr. sunshine

Daily Photo: I Was Here First

"I was here first."
“I was here first.”

Sunshine and Jelly Bean have been killing me with extreme cute in this basket. I cleaned up the place a bit and put all the zebra cat beds into the basket, knowing it would be THE BEST CAT BED ever. Every day since then, almost two weeks, Mr. Sunshine and Jelly Bean arrive there after breakfast, one takes the basket, the other invades, they bathe each other, wrestle and throw each other out, then I look over and they are wrapped around each other, fast asleep.

Tucked into each other.
Tucked into each other.

. . . . . . .

Vintage Photo: Dinnertime for Nine, 1994

 

My household of nine cats enjoying dinner.
My household of nine cats enjoying dinner.

My entire household of nine resident cats—and one is just out of range of this photo but you’ll see her below—enjoying dinner on the kitchen floor in February 1994.

From the top right, the tabby cat with white paws is Stanley, 12.

To the left of him the gray tabby is Moses, 7.

Directly below Moses the long-haired tabby and white is Sophie, 4.

To the right of Sophie the orange and white cat is Allegro, 8.

To the left of Sophie the long-haired white cat is Sally, 11.

Directly below Sally the black cat is Kublai, 13.

To the left of Kublai’s tail the tortie is Cookie, 2 (2!).

To the right of Kublai’s tail the torbie is Fawn, 6.

In the photo below, the dilute tortie at the very top of the photo, on top of the half-wall, is Nikka, 6. Fawn and Nikka were sisters, but Nikka had been adopted and had just come back to my household the previous year.

nine cats eating dinner
The group with Nikka, up on the divider.

We all photograph our cats while they’re eating don’t we? I have always loved to feed my cats, plan their meals, hand out their food and watch them eat, it makes me happy that they are happy. I wanted to record that moment and that memory. They chose their spots and stood waiting for me to put the dish down, just as they do today. My kitchen had once been two small rooms, a kitchen and dining room. When I moved in here in 1990 someone had removed the upper part of the walls leaving half walls on either side of what had been the doorway. Nine cats were just too crowded in that small space and I could not convince anyone to move on the other side of the wall.

This group of nine cats, my first rescues, were my treasures. They were who I came home to after some work days at my day job that were 16 to 18 hours long, and kept me going through my part-time weekend jobs at the same time. We rarely had a chance to sleep in until I started seriously freelancing, and then they were there to stay up all night with me while I got design jobs done and worked on paintings—paintings of them, at this point in time, and just beginning to seriously photograph them and look around for art exhibits. We fostered plenty of homeless adult cats and socialized a lot of kittens too.

Below, Sally wonders what the heck I’m doing creeping around with that big black thing. Some things never change.

cats eating food
Sally looks at me as I’m creeping around with my camera.

. . . . . . .

See other Vintage Photos of my household of cats from days gone by, and taken on film with my Pentax K-1000.

. . . . . . .

Daily Photo: Surely You Remember? 2015
black cats on green sink
Surely you remember?

How could I resist those eyes?

Even after months of not having access to their favorite “drinking fountain”, Mr. Sunshine and Giuseppe are right back up there each morning, along with Bean. Three or four of them gather at the sink, and it’s just like the good old days.

It’s been a long week, and I had to cut back on posting or I’d be totally sleep-deprived instead of only somewhat, still trying to catch up from my week on the Lincoln Gallery. That has not stopped me from photographing my famous felines, in fact I’ve taken so many photos it’s hard to choose which ones to use each day, and trying to choose only one from a series is especially difficult! We have them “framed”, we have them in the basket, we have them in twos and threes and each one of them had their special moment when I could not stop photographing. And the violet mousie played a very big part in some days. I expect to see some posts with multiple photos very soon.

In the meantime here is a photo I posted on Facebook way back on February 16! I was going to use it as Wordless Wednesday, but it’s just as well here.

Blow Dryer Monster

two black cats at doorway
Blow Dryer Monster

Other daily photos shared on this date

.

For Mademoiselle, 2014
black cat with quilt
Giuseppe peeks from the quilt, thinking of his Mademoiselle.

O mio amore, my dearest, most precious jolie Mademoiselle, I would so love to se pelotonner with you under the quilt, faire une sieste under the rocker where no one could see us. I would share my green sparkle ball with only you.

It is so cold, ma chere, just la pensée of you warms mon cour. Che gelida paw, se la lasci riscaldar*, I dream of serenading you and holding your paw in mine. May my love fly on the wind to you in Verona, mingled with the snowflakes, each delicate and unique, just as you.

Always,

G.B.V.

*“This tiny hand is frozen, let me warm it here in mine.” From the famous aria of the opera La Boheme, with apologies to Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.

~~~~~~~~

FeteNationale-wflags-heart

Read about Mlle. Daisy Emerald and the long-distance affaire between the mature French-Canadian feline lady and the young American opera star.

They so enjoy writing florid Victorian-style letters to each other, sometimes the poets, sometimes the artists, sometimes the bonneted Mlle. Daisy Emerald and the beplumed Giusepper Verdi in their Revolutionary roles.

. . . . . . .

And here are two more photo from this session…

Professional Models
black cat on quilt
My three professional models.

Now, do they have a lot of self-awareness or what? They didn’t pose the way I’d hoped they would, and they did many other things, but then they also did this. Mr. Sunshine occupied the chair and would not give it up, Giuseppe settled underneath, and Jelly Bean worked on looking sweet.

They really are modeling. I needed some settings for an illustration so I draped my quilt over my rocker and it was immediately covered in cats, and then they got creative, as they do. Mr. Sunshine in the classic cat modeling pose, reaching for a toy.

three black cats on quilt.
Mr. Sunshine in a lovely pose.

Other Daily Photos From This Date

Click the title or the photo to go to the original post.

Morning Thoughts, 2013
black cat with shadow
Giuseppe contemplates his shadow, the long shadows on the door and other important things in morning sun.

. . . . . . .

Two Curious Cats, One Brave Stinkbug, 2013
two black cats with stinkbug
The stinkbug makes his point.

. . . . . . .

Mimi in Green, 2012
black cat with green leaves
Mimi enjoys a sunbath among the geranium leaves.

Browse some rescued cats and kittens!

FinnBaxter-ad




Copyright

All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.


Subscribe to my e-newsletter

Subscribe to The Creative Cat Preview E-newsletter.


© 2022 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Weekly schedule of features:

Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life

Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters

Tuesday: Rescue Stories

Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork

Thursday: New Merchandise

Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy

Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats

And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!

 
PORTRAITS OF ANIMALS WEBSITE
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN | PINTEREST | TUMBLR | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE| EMAIL | PATREON

HOME


Art and Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

AfterDinnerNap-Etsy~~~

Feline Photography from Portraits of Animals!

Blue Pitcher With Cat
Blue Pitcher With Cat

I have to say, I do like it, Mr. Sunshine, subtle, almost abstract. I have some talented cats here. I do like the photos that show all the assets of my beautiful cats, but I also like the abstract shots that happen to have a cat in them in a very artful way. Read more and order this photo and browse other feline photos on Portraits of Animals.


© 2017 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

—

Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!

—

PORTRAITS OF ANIMALS WEBSITE
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN | PINTEREST | TUMBLR | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | GOOGLE+ | EMAIL

HOME


Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

One thought on “Daily Photo: I Was Here First

  • That “tucking” picture … OH MY CAT! I’d be the annoying person to not be able to resist touching them … and that picture is beautiful.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this:
Verified by ExactMetrics