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Daily Photo: Le Matin Bleu

cat silhouette and shadow in blue
Le Matin Bleu

I believe it is Bella looking sculptural as a silhouette and graceful as an elongated shadow among all the geometric shapes and shadows of my kitchen in the morning.

The blue is because I left the incandescent light filter on in my DSLR, and this is what it does to natural daylight. I actually quite like it as a technique. I like monochromatic photos and duotones, which is technically what this is, black in the shadows and with all other colors tending in shades of blue.

Pourquoi Français? Because I already have a post or two entitled “Blue Morning”, and Mimi, Mewsette and I all have French names. Because, why not?

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From Facebook: Five on the Afghan
Five black cats sleeping on the Afghan
Five on the Afghan

Like you don’t already get enough daily photos from me…but I’ve been remiss in this. Occasionally I share a photo on Facebook directly from my smartphone, no blog post or anything, just because I want to share what the house panthers are doing right at that moment. I know that many readers are not on Facebook so I’ve been intending to share them in my daily photo posts on these days, and by the time evening rolls around I’ve forgotten. I’ll catch up on a few I’ve shared already, but I will do my best to remember after this one.

Five of the house panthers were toasty and purring on the afghan on this cold, cold day, sleeping in a semi-circle. They were so relaxed and it looks so cheery I had to share.

“A semi – circle of warm and purring kitties on a wool afghan on a cold and snowy day. That space could be for me. Tempting!”

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Other daily photos shared on this date

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Wordless Wednesday: Fresh Air!, 2014
cat looking out window
My neighbor’s cat gets a nose full of fresh air.

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Four Cats on a Cloud, 2014
four black cats on a kitty beanbag
“Four Cats on a Cloud”

Clockwise from about 7:00, Mimi, Sunshine, Mewsette and Bean all crowd themselves on the “cloud bed”, the old fleece kitty beanbag bed that’s filled with snips of upholstery foam. I had put it away when they tired of it a couple of years ago and recently brought it back out and washed and aired it. It is, for now, a cat magnet. There have been no cats on my desk because, well, there they are. I have even been nearly alone in my studio and, strangest of all, in my bed, because of the novelty of this cloud.

Typically three of them share it, Mr. Sunshine, who thinks it belongs to him, Mewsette and Bean. Mimi joined them today, and has ended up at the bottom of the pile. I haven’t yet had all five on this thing, and lest it look as if there is no way they could all fit, there is always room on top. Only Giuseppe is missing—he was posted on Mousewatch in the kitchen, one of the cabinet doors under the sink slightly open so he could peer inside.

I bought this bed at a yard sale in the late 90s just because I couldn’t pass it up, even though my cats have never been big on beds—they tire of them easily and I’m stuck with big foam constructions that take up space and aren’t used, when all I need to do is fold a blanket and set it down and immediately it’s covered in cats, or begin to work at any desk or worktable. Or just sit down and I’m covered in cats. They do tire of this one, but it has a fond memory. The day I brought it in the house and dropped it on the floor until I decided what to do with it Kelly saw it, her eyes grew even larger and rounder than usual, and she began talking about the new bed in the house, cautiously walked over to it, sniffed and circled it, then stepped onto it, and it was hers. Until Moses discovered it, and since we all knew Moses was incredibly special Kelly was honored to let Moses have the bed.

So was I because Moses had taken to sleeping under my desk chair—formerly feral, a little uncertain, she loved me but wanted to feel safe, so under my chair felt good to her but I could not move for fear of running over her. Moses climbed on the bed with Kelly one day and I inched it closer to my desk so it wasn’t in the middle of the floor. Kelly gave up her claim and the cloud bed stayed next to my desk chair downstairs until after Moses died in 2006. I still remember looking down at her and seeing her blink up at me, tap her tail and purr a little harder.

Kelly used it again after that in the winters, but it’s been away since she’s been gone. I have found no photos of either of them using it, but I’m sure they are somewhere. Seeing it there is probably one of the reasons I decided to share Kelly’s story today, since her attachment to the bed was fairly early in her time here. For me, it’s not just the joy of seeing four black cats all tucked together and purring on their section of the cloud, it’s also the memories that are tucked into the cloud itself.

Plus, they inspired today’s sketch, which I’ll post a little later this evening.

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“Really, That’s Very Interesting.”, 2013
black cat with head tilted.
“Really? That’s very interesting.”

I get the idea she’s being polite and just wants to enjoy her sunbath. But she’s awfully cute.

Possibly a photo for the 2014 Compositions in Black and Green calendar? Read more below.

AND…pawprints in the snow on my desk on the deck—and they are not Mimi’s! Who has been visiting?

Pawprints in the snow on the table.
Pawprints in the snow on the table.

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I Could “Daily Sketch” You, 2013
black cat with colore drawing pencils
Mimi looks at my pencils, then at me.

Mimi looks at my pastel pencils, then at me.

“I wonder how you’d look if I sketched you in blue, or purple or pink,” Mimi says. “I just might give it a try.”

Guess I pushed the non-representational colors too far for someone. she didn’t follow through with her threat, and I’m kind of glad. I mean, it would be totally cool to have a kitty who could draw, but I’m not sure I’d like how I look. Perhaps that was her point, too.

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Why Are We Here? 2012
two black cats
Why are we here?

Giuseppe, do you think there’s a reason why we’re here?

You mean, like, on this table? We sit here every morning…

No, stupid, a reason why we’re…like, on this planet, maybe in this country or here, in this house, with Mama Bernadette?

Where else would we be?

Well, there are cats everywhere. We could be somewhere else instead of here.

We’ve never been anywhere else.* What would make you think we could be anywhere else? We’re like a part of here.

No, Mama Mimi was somewhere else before, and she was there, she was a part of that place, until she came here.

Okay.

And she was somewhere even before that, a few somewheres—those people took her from the big building she told us about with all the other cats—and dogs and rabbits and other things—and before that she was in a house with some people with her mama.

So…?

So why is she here now, and why didn’t we move around like she did?

Jelly Bean, I don’t understand.

Don’t you think about these things?

No, we’re here, why worry?

Do you remember Fromage?

Sure, I remember our little foster sister.

She was lost and all alone. How did that happen? And how did she get to be here?

Mama Bernadette’s friend the tall lady brought her one morning, and then she came and took her away after we taught her how to be a cat. I think that’s where she lives now. There’s no mystery about that. We saw it all happen.

Imagine what life would be like if we were out there [gesturing out the window behind them] somewhere like Fromage. How would we get to where we are supposed to be?

Well, Jelly Bean, I wonder sometimes why I’m here and Mlle. is in Kingston if we’re supposed to be together.

See? I’m trying to put it all together, and I just can’t figure out why we’re here.

Boys, what are you up to? You look like you’re hatching a sort of a plan, or you’re in some deep metaphysical discussion…

two black cats
What are you looking at?

Do you suppose Mama Bernadette thinks about these things?

I’m sure she does. I think I need a nap.

*Actually, they were in “the other house” for their first three days, they just don’t remember. I didn’t want to try to explain.

A few other posts showing the boys at their stuff on the table in the morning:

Wordless Wednesday: Aw, Little Brother

Daily Photo Reprise: That Does It! 2011

Daily Photo Reprise: I Knight Thee…2011

I’ll Give You Three Seconds to Get Your Paw Off of Me…

Let’s Shake On It

And other cat conversations…sometimes with me, sometimes with each other.


Browse some rescued cats and kittens!

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All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile 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.


© 2015 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

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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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