Thursday, March 28, 2024
black catscat photographsdaily photogiuseppejelly bean

Daily Photo: Serious Business

Serious Business
Serious Business

I have no idea what that business is, but I’m not going to interrupt their deep thoughts.

~~~

From Instagram

Ho, hum, another boring rainy day and what are five housepanthers to do but lie all over the human’s paper so she has to pay attention to us?

Mr. Sunshine, Basil, Jelly Bean, Mimi, Giuseppe.

Five on the desk
Five on the desk

~~~

Other daily photos shared on this date

. . . . . . .

A Portrait of Me, 2013
black cat in front of mirror
“For my most precious Mademoiselle…”

My most elegant and precious Mademoiselle Daisy Emerald Marguerite,

I have asked Mama Bernadette to take a photo of me for you to keep near you. I practiced my head tilt with my brother Mr. Sunshine and posed specially for this photo, just for you, my pretty flower. If you look closely, you’ll see that my eyes are full of love for ebony princess. Trust me when I say that my heart is also full of love for my gem, my emerald-eyed princess, and every heart beat echoes through the air to the north where you live in pastoral splendor by the lake in the the tiny town in the Frontenac, in Canada, even if it’s not like that any more.

Mademoiselle, not a day goes by that I do not spend time thinking of how lucky I am that you are in my life. How elegantly and fearlessly you and your Mama Denise manage your illness that many humans and cats would fear—the needles, the tests, constant observation. You have set a standard for other cats, and while I am not the bravest mancat you have given me fortitude.

Now, as the autumn arrives and the leaves are turning bright colors and begin to fall, I gaze out the big north window toward the place where you live and think of how lovely your ebony fur would be with a backdrop of yellow and red leaves, your emerald eyes sparkling.

Soon the snow will fall and the short days invite cuddling, and I will dream of you in a red brocade bed by the fire, or napping in the sun.

You have my heart forever,

G.B.V.

~~~~~~~~

FeteNationale-wflags-heart

Read about Mlle. Daisy Emerald and the long-distance affaire between the mature French-Canadian feline ladycat 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 Giuseppe Verdi in their Revolutionary roles.

~~~~~~~~

Giuseppe’s useless human apologizes for neither sending his magic messages nor leaving a computer available to Mr. Sunshine so he can transcribe his brother’s purple prose melodrama loving thoughts to his ladycat. Giuseppe is sure his beloved will never speak to him again and I am under surveillance for possible correction if she indeed does not, but I have assured him that her heart is true. They have passed their third anniversary! Surely that means something important is between them!

. . . . . . .

Two Old-fashioned Kitties
two black cats
Mewsette and Bean pose.

Brother and sister cuddle comfortably, and something in their pose looked like a vintage sepia photo.

. . . . . . .

Wordless Wednesday: Not.Funny.
black cat with wrapping in his face
Not funny.

(It’s Bean. He just asks for things like this.)

. . . . . . .

I Am Slicing Beets, 2012
three black cats looking intently
Slicing beets is fascinating.

Apparently this is a fascinating and critical event to observe, judging by the reactions of Giuseppe, Mr. Sunshine and Mewsette. It really gives me a new appreciation for what I do in the kitchen.

The boys didn’t like the beets. Mewsette, of course, did.

. . . . . . .

Something In My Office, 2011
five cats on rug
The Fantastic Four and Marvelous Mimi, at it again for autumn.

Tell me, could you work with something like this in your office? A glob of black cats nearly indistinguishable from each other? A pile of purring black fur? What would you do if you knew this was happening on the floor behind you? Tell me you wouldn’t be distracted.

Well, guess what? It’s time for the Fantastic Four and their marvelous mom Mimi to curl up on the butterfly rug and wait for the furnace to come on.

At one point this afternoon I noticed a conspicuous absence of cats on my desk. I knew the tortie girls were having their senior special for lunch up in the bathroom, but why not at least one black cat to lie all over my papers and sit between me and my monitor?

I did bring the butterfly rug out of storage and set it on the floor, so it’s partly my own fault. But that vent in the bottom step is a furnace vent, and cats have always been serious about sleeping there. Don’t mind me when I have to practically jump over them to get to the steps when I want to go up, and carefully take one big step over them when coming down. I don’t mind that. It’s just when they get all in a pile like this that I find it impossible to do anything but photograph them.

Below is the “key” to their scramble. Sometimes seeing them from above helps to figure things out. From the top, Mr. Sunshine is using his mom as a bolster, lapping his front paws over her. Mewsette tucked herself into the group when all four had settled in, so she’s on top at about 2:00, her head resting on Jelly Bean’s, though Jelly Bean had been cuddling face to face with Giuseppe until Mewsette came along. They don’t move much when they get into one of these.

five cats on butterfly rug
All five from above.

. . . . . . .

Mimi’s Morning, 2011
black cat in sun on flowered rug and floor
Mimi’s Morning

Mimi enjoys a few brief moments of warm sun on the landing on an otherwise rainy morning. After it disappeared behind a heavy overcast and more rain, she remained on the landing, waiting for its return. She’ll have more luck in the next few days.

And though I love the colors in this photo, the wonderful shades of pink in the rug and the warm patterns in the natural wood floor, this composition has a number of elements that typically appeal to me in black and white photos: strong highlights and shadows, a simple shape which becomes a strong focal point in Mimi, and small and large patterns that have sufficient contrast when their native colors are turned to monochrome.

black cat on rug and floor black and white
Mimi’s Morning in black and white.

One of those photos that moved me a little closer to the idea of daily sketches.

 


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

AfterDinnerNap-Etsy

~~~

Feline Photography from Portraits of Animals!

Watching the World in profile.
Watching the World in profile.

We all love my studio window, a big, old, battered metal-framed casement about 4′ x 4′ on the second floor looking out at the spruce, maple and river birch in the front of our house. I call it the “tree house” as we watch the weather and light change and spend time with all the tree-dwellers in the neighborhood above the street. Giuseppe was watching Mr. Cardinal singing his spring song on this particular afternoon and I watched the light and images reflect on his eye and admiring his profile.

Read more, and purchase.



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.


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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.

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