Coco and Daisies floral still life with cat painting

Coco and Daisies  Oil on wood, 12" x 12,"  $480.

This one nearly painted itself.  (and I love it!)  I didn't anticipate background colors drying as quick as they did.  As a result, I left it a little rough.  But the daisies have a "finished" quality that makes a nice contrast.  

Ragdoll with Daisies floral still life painting with cat

Ragdoll with Daisies  Oil on wood, 12" x 12,"  $480.

Another kitty + floral:  I figured out it's easier to compose these if I find the perfect cat to paint first.... and let the cat inspire choice of floral still life to include as setting.  It's easier because I have way more floral still life reference photos than I do of cats.  and they are shot at many angles with different light....  Will try a few more this week.   

The Stare a painting of an orange cat

The Stare  Oil on wood, 8" x 8,"  $245.

Photo reference provided by Maggie Swanson.

Gadjo the Siamese cat sitting on pretty pattern

Gadjo  Oil on wood  8" x 8," $245.

Happy with this one.  Photo reference was provided by Jala Pfaff who takes terrific photos of her pets...  and paints wonderful abstracts.  Check out her blog, here.

Cat in Shadows and critiquing your own art online, do you do it?

Cat in Shadows  Oil on wood  10" x 10,"  SOLD

I advise artists to keep critiques of their art to themselves in my ebook "A Guide for the Introverted Artist."  We (artist bloggers) deliver a buzzkill to our readers when we share (or expound upon) flaws and dissect "what went wrong" with a painting.  When I say "our readers" I'm referring to the intrepid folks who seek to buy art online directly from artists.
Only... we're not going door to door selling vacumn cleaners.  It's hard advice to follow sometimes.  I won't speak for all -- but I have a really strong desire to translate my painting mishaps into actual text that I can refer to later.  And I'm constantly weighing the benefits of doing that against my desire to put my "best foot forward."  Within the context of blogging one's art in a meaningful way, I think it's a fine line between the two.  
Does this sound familiar, fellow artists?  Please comment.  If you're getting this correspondence as a subscriber, please hit "reply" and tell me your thoughts.

Palace Cat got smeared, but I can fix it.

Detail of the damage...  Oy

It happens.  Paintings get damaged before they dry.  I use a scrapbooking rack to dry paintings.  Each shelf is 12" x 12"--great for smalls!  Not so great for 11x14s, must be more careful in the future.  Anyway, it can be fixed. Side note, if you'd like to see work in progress shots of this painting (before it got smeared)  I posted some on Pinterest, here.

White Cat and Sunflowers a new painting

White Cat and Sunflowers  Oil on wood, 12" x 12,"  $480.

Blue Swirl Goodbye oil painting of orange tabby

Blue Swirl Goodbye  Oil on wood, 8" x 8,"  $245.

White Cat meets Butterfly, The Encounter

The Encounter  Oil on wood, 8" x 8,"  $245.

Excluding my favorite cat, Coco--  I think white cats might be my favorite ones to paint.  I  may have said that about flowers too... If you aren't getting this post in your email, please consider subscribing, you'll never miss a post.  

Sleepy Cat Beau and Chessie, cat mascot for Railway

Beau  Oil on wood, 8" x 8,"  $245.

Railroad mascot
Chessie by Guido Gruenwald

Beau's outreached, sleepy stretchy paw simply HAD to be painted...  
His pose kinda reminds me of Chessie, the cat who represented the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in the 30's and 40's.  Chessie was on everything from calendars to coffee mugs.  Back in the day when I sold antiques on Ebay, I always had my eyes peeled for Chessie memorabilia--which was highly collectible at the time.