Good by Mr. Bear

This morning at 7:15, my beautiful boy died in my arms. Mr. Bear has had diabetes for the last 6 years and did very well on his insulin until about 4 weeks ago when things started to go wrong. In the last month we have just tried everything, in the last 2 weeks we spent every day going to the doctor for fluids and blood tests trying to get him healthy again, but nothing worked, and his quality of life really started to fail this week. Yesterday My wonderful veterinarian, Dr. Kroll, told me it was near time, so I brought my baby home to spend his last night with his family. I made him a little nest with his favorite pink blanket on the sofa and my other 3 babies, Soleil, Millie and Rudy and I spent the night snuggling . I got Mr. Bear when he was 3 weeks old and had to bottle feed him for weeks until he got strong enough to eat on his own, he was just the sweetest little thing. Even when he was a baby , he was all black except for his tippy tail. In honor of my precious baby, all the paintings I paint of cats will have white tippy tails forever.

I passed my baby from my hands to GODS hands where he will be safe forever now.

Fly with the angels and chase butterflies Baby Bear,

Love and kisses,

Mama

Saying Goodbyes

Tonight's
offering is a puzzle, kind of different, not a print but a painting !

I haven't really written here in the last 2 weeks.

Our Dad died suddenly on July 12th and my heart is just so broken that I
really don't feel like doing anything. I haven't even been painting, which
is unbelievable for me, something that happens so quickly like this has just
drained me. This is my husbands Dad, but the 4 of us, Mom , Dad, Willy and I ,
have been together for so long that we forget who belongs to who. I love
his parents as much as if they were my own. We have shared a beautiful
little duplex for the last 22 years . Now all has changed !

Last Sunday we scattered Dads' ashes over the Gulf of Mexico in the most
beautiful service I have ever seen. 10 of us left the dock in 2 boats ,
just family members, It was a beautiful morning and the gulf was like a
mirror. As we proceeded on our trip all of a sudden we spotted dolphins
feeding and playing and once they knew they had an audience they really put on a
show. When we got to a quiet little place between 2 islands we set the ashes
which were in a floating container that looked like a woman's brimmed hat . We
all traced our hands on and wrote our hearts. Then flowers were thrown
into the water and a gentle rain started to fall, you could hardly feel it.
It was like tears from the angels. Then the ashes sunk and the rain
stopped, it was very surreal almost like being in a quiet church , very
peaceful. My son in law, one of the boat Captains made a cross
over with the boat and we began our journey home. The world is a lesser
place without this wonderful man, he will be missed by many.

This will be very hard on us all. Mom has been married to Dad for 52 years .
Little Katie has taken this very hard she has lost old Grandpa as she always
called him. We took her out and showed her the brightest star in the sky
and told her that was old Grandpa twinkling down on her, now every night she
goes out ,looks up and yells I" love you super much old Grandpa", not a dry eye
in the house ! Very hard to explain all this to a 3 1/2 year old little
kid. Very hard !

Now we will start to try and get over our loss and create a new normal.

Sad for now

meows and purrs,

Katie

SUMMER SUNFLOWERS

Mr. Bear is my big beautiful black cat who I paint often.
He has diabetes and takes 2 shots of insulin daily which has been working
great. BUT, it's a nasty disease and is starting to take it's toll. Mr.
Bears kidneys are starting to fail and at 16 years old time is running out

When I first got Mr. Bear, he weighed about 5 ounces. We got
him and his brother Andouille, a spicy little orange tabby who died suddenly at
the age of 5, at the local animal shelter.  The lady told me they would be
euthanized because they were to little to be in the shelter, meow meow, just
call me their new Mama.  Home we went with the new little flea bags, there
were more fleas than kittens. So home we went and de bugged our new babies. 
Next we started feeding them with little bottles  and special kitten milk
from the vet and they grew and grew.  It's amazing how a little food and a
lot of love make kittens grow.

Mr. Bear goes back for another check next Friday so I will
update his condition then.

Thank you for all the emails of encouragement and the prayers.

They help more than you can ever know.

Meows and purrs for tonight,

Katie

Happy Birthday

This
painting was just so much fun to do.  I made the girl  on watercolor
paper then colored her with oil pastels.  After adhering her to the canvas
I made her clothes from collage paper, it was like the old days when I was a
little girl making paper dolls and their clothes hour after hour.  I still
have plenty of inner child left in me !

My birthday was Monday so we celebrated over the week
end.  My sister made me a gourmet Chinese dinner, which included the best
dumplings known to man, she has this down pat !  My mother in law made a
double layer chocolate cake, from scratch of course, with a chocolate butter
cream that was really special.  So we all pigged out and had a great time. 
Little Katie liked the balloons and the cake !  A good time was had by all. 
Did I mention the Mimosas ? Yummy !  It was worth getting a year older for.

Mean NASTY people

Well here I am listing these paintings again !

 

Someone keeps turning me in to ebay for improper listings because I had links
to my blog and web page, just like most of the artists on ebay. Why someone is
doing this is beyond me, I don't bother anyone. But for some reason someone is !
This is the Third time in a week that my listings have been cancelled and this
time the only Link that I had was to my "about me" page on ebay which is not an
illegal link!  So I have no money coming in this week.  I have e
mailed ebay but so far I have not gotten a response from them.

What a shame there are such nasty people in the world who have little to do
except  try and make it uncomfortable for others, just think ...  if
the energy that most mean people waste on being mean was used for good , the
world would be a better place and I'm sure that person wouldn't feel so ugly !

I try and do a good deed every day, this week I am going to try and do a few
extra good things for others, in hope of making up for those of us in the world
who choose to be mean and ugly !

Meows and purrs,

Katie

 

Re listed

These two I'm re listing again. ebay
cancelled them because I had a direct link to my blog and web page which is
against ebay rules ...OOPS !

I have fixed everything now so to get to my blog or web page just go to my me
page.

Thanks for looking

Meows and purrs,

Katie

Listings removed

For those of you bidding or watching my auctions they were removed because I
had a link to my blog and web site on my ebay page.

Please just go to my me page to get to both sites now.

Sorry for the inconvenience

MC018 eBay Listing Removed:
Inappropriate Links (302836011)


 

Dear katie-cats

You recently listed the following listing:



110395750322 - ORIGINAL Folk Art Cat Painting Mixed Media
KATIE-CATS

110396138860 - Folk Art 2 Cat Painting Geraniums SWEET -
KATIE-CATS





Unfortunately, we had to remove your listing because the
following information violates our policy:



Description: "Check Out My Website Katie-Cats.com "





We don't allow sellers to direct members away from the eBay site
because we can't ensure their safety and security once they leave our site.
Also, if a member buys something outside eBay, they're not protected by our
services, including our Feedback and buyer protection programs.



If you use any mechanism that directs members away from our
site, you are violating our links policy.

A link is anything that
takes a member off the eBay website, including text, images,
logos, or icons (both clickable and non-clickable).

Memorial day fun

This
shabby chic painting really came out very colorful and neat.  It has
elements of collage, crackling, pastels and acrylic paint.  Reminds me of a
postcard from Paris for some reason.  I framed this one with a crackled
frame. A purrfect match.

I took the long week end off to enjoy with my family. 
We had a great cook out and splashed around in the pool all day.

Thank you to all the military people who keep our country
safe and free, the day really belongs to them.  Thank you, Thank you !

Aqua blue waters of the Keys

This  picture I took from the moving car window but it did capture the color of the water that I was going for !       Statues outside the Art Gallery       The view from the porch of our room         Katie playing poolside

The aqua blue waters of the Keys

We were so lucky, the weather was perfect !

Key West vacation

 

Rudy is just about the silliest little guy around. 
This is pretty much the position you can find him in on most days.  The
birds have caught on and sit as close to the screen as possible, they just love
to tease him, pretty funny !

I am in packing mode tonight, leaving Sunday morning
for 7 days of vacation, so no paintings will go out for delivery this week. 
When I get back I will have lots of photos of the beautiful waters of Key West,
I hope I can capture the gorgeous aqua blues of the waters, it's breathtaking !

This will probably be my last blog for the week,
hubby and I are having a nice romantic dinner tomorrow night before I leave for
a week, I will miss hubby and my 4 kitties very much, but will talk to all 5 on
the phone every day !  Soleil saw the luggage come out and has already
started getting depressed, funny how they know whats going on !

 

Decided against taking the laptop with me, I think I
really need to just take a break, this is a brave step to be out of contact with
the internet world, but I think it's good to do once in awhile so ....

See you in a week,

Meows and Purrs,

Katie

Come in ... the waters fine

 

Wow, time just goes by so quickly ! This has been a quick week.

Our pool just hit 83 degrees, so we are now swimming every day !  I know
that sounds warm to some, but once you get used to Florida, that temp seems
perfect ! Hard to believe when we lived in Rhode Island we swam in 68 degree
water, BRRRR, NEVER again, I hate to be cold !!!  Only problem here , once
we get in the pool it is very hard to get little Katie, a 3 year old, out !  
After 2 hours, both Grandpa and I are pooped and Katie is the one that gets the
2 hour nap ! We sure are getting our exercise in .

Tonight's painting was inspired after we baked some cupcakes the other day,
the babies just can't resist BUTTER CREAM frosting !!!

Packing for my Key West getaway......it's almost time !  I'm so excited

Meows and purrs,

Katie

New ...Mini SWEET PEAS

Happy Friday, hope everyone
is ready to start their week end.

Tonight's ebay offering .....

Introducing a new series .....

SWEET PEA MINIS

You can find these sweet 
little guys

 hiding everywhere !

They especially love the garden,

 where I first saw them
hiding !

This little SWEET PEA

 is fast asleep in a pea pod

with his little tabby cat ,

SHH,

you must be very quiet !!!

 

GREAT news

Wow, time goes by so quickly. Lets start with Friday.
Mr. Bear got his blood test and his numbers were perfect, so his insulin stays
the same and we check again in a month . GREAT news !

 Click on the cartoon below for a  quick
inspirational lift, it's a good one. Thank you, Keetsmaw for sending this one
!!!

At the top of the page is a charcoal sketch of Katie I
did over the week.  I must say , drawing  faces scares the heck out of
me, far out of my comfort zone, especially when it is supposed to look like
someone. Time to conquer my fears, so you will be seeing faces pop up in my
drawings from time to time. I am working on a painting of an angel using Katie's
face, so that one may be popping up in a little bit !

My mini Key West vacation is coming up in 10 days, it's
been 6 months since my last mini trip, so I am more than ready to go . It's
great to get away for a little and feed your mind with new sights and
situations, it really helps with the creative process. It's a mother, daughter,
grandmother trip so we will have lots of family fun. Taking little Katie is
always an adventure, her little mind is like a sponge, absorbing and enjoying
everything she sees.

Well, hope everyone is enjoying their week

Meows and purrs,

Katie

First Story book time

 

 

  Greetings
on this beautiful Thursday !  What a day.  Today was Katie's first day
going to story time at the library.

So much fun watching 11, 3 and 4 year olds.   Every day I always go to
my inner child to be at Katie's level, so I get right into her thinking and it
really is fun.  She did very well.  There is a little 4 foot door into
the room and the kids really love that, she had to come out twice to get a
grandma kiss, but I think she just wanted to make sure Grandma and Grandpa were
there waiting for her, yes Katie we were waiting !!!  Children, they are so
beautiful and unspoiled by the world, I never waste a minute with her, it s
going by so fast ,we are so blessed !

These are yesterdays paintings, I just couldn't get a good picture of them. The
bumps that show up on the frames, well I guess they are ghost bumps because I
can not see them on the frames ! Weird.

Well the week is almost over. Mr. Bear goes to get his blood sugar tested
tomorrow, were keeping are fingers crossed. We will see..

Until then,

Meows and purrs,

Katie

My little artist

Happy Friday !

This sweet little face belongs to my granddaughter. We were sitting outside on the lanai after lunch today, and I snapped this photo of Katie and her red lollipop. Sweet huh ? Our days are filled with activities for Katie. This morning we went to the library and read some books and signed up for story time for next week., then out to lunch and the art store where we always seem to find something my budding little artist just can't live without, today it was finger paints, washable of course, let the fun begin ! I will show photos of some of her artwork next week.

Hope everyone has a great weekend

Meows and purrs,

Katie

American Eagle

Another beautiful day in paradise ! Everything is so green today, after 3
months we finally got some rain, actually we got over an inch last night of
steady rain, just what we needed ! Thank you Mother Nature !

This morning around 7:45 , I went out to take some recycle to the back yard
and there on top of our garbage can was a beautiful Bald Eagle digging
through the can !  I stood there a few minutes watching then went to get my
camera but when I went back out he heard me and flew away, to bad what a great
photo op ! We have 2 sets of nesting eagles within 2 miles from where I live so
seeing them is not uncommon, but in my garbage can! ...  pretty cool !

 

 

 

This little party painting was inspired by our party over the weekend, Mr.
Bear, not wanting to be left out was more than willing to pose for this painting
in hopes of getting some tuna !

 

 

Hope everyone is enjoying their week,

Meows and purrs,

Katie

A Great Easter and

Hi,
hope everyone had a Great Easter !

It was a special day at our home, not only a Holy day, but my mother and father
in-laws 82nd and 83rd birthday !  We sure had a great time.

There was 10 of us enjoying the festivities.

This year we had a New England type feast. I was cooking for 2 days to pull it
off.  We had clam cakes and chowder at 2 then later on we had fresh Rhode
Island lobsters turned into Lobster salad rolls and of course fresh cut french
fries. For dessert we had a homemade sponge cake which I rolled and filled with
fresh roasted strawberries and whipped cream then topped off with a roasted
vanilla bean strawberry sauce. Yummy !

If anyone wants a fantastic easy to prep recipe for a great homemade strawberry
dessert let me know I would be more than happy to share this recipe.

So Monday I was TIRED and took a night off ! WHEW

Tonight's ACEO is one I painted awhile back, 2008, and stashed in one of my
little art draws.

Hope you like it !

Meows and Purrs,

Katie

Feline Diabetes

Today
was Mr. Bears appointment at the veterinarian, he has had diabetes for 4 years
now. We are very lucky to have a doctor such as our Dr. Kroll .

Mr. B, 15 years old,  has been on the insulin drug Lantus for about 2
years now, Mama gives him 2 3unit shots of insulin every day 12 hours apart, and
this medication works so very well for him. Today his blood sugar was at about
57, actually a little low so we are cutting him back to 2units, which is a good
thing. We will go back in 2 weeks for another glucose test .   He is
such a good boy. He weighed in at 15 1/2 pounds , so his weight is staying about
the same and that's a good thing too !   All my cats are on the same
food , Hills Prescription Diet m/d,  very high in protein and low in carbs,
also pretty expensive, about $ 32.00 a case, but worth it for my kids  
!For more info on feline diabetes check out my web site Katie-Cats.com.

Tonight's painting is all about LOVE !

Nothing to much more snuggly than a good cat.

Meows and Purrs,

Katie

Another day in paradise

Another day in paradise here in sunny Florida. A perfect 72,
clear blue skis with not even a cloud and a gentle breeze, how could it get any
better ?

My sweet hubby is at last putting a sprinkler system in our
yard, so this will be the year I really go flower crazy.

My dad taught me the art of growing flowers and veggies at a
very early age and now I'm passing it to Katie.

Next week we will put in some sun flowers, tall, medium and
short ones, the birds love them they make a great bouquet and they are so fun to
watch grow  !  Not sure exactly what flowers we will grow besides the
sunflowers, we will go to the seed store and go crazy next week.

Anyway that's what inspired this painting, all the thoughts of
our new garden rolling around in my head !

 I just LOVE gardening and flowers and painting them too
!!!

I used more of my art finds in this painting, watercolor paper,
oil pastels and cut outs of tiny cats throughout the background of the painting,
I think it looks pretty cool, then it got an antique wash, it  has kind of
an old world look to it.

Well time to warm up the old paint brushes and get to work.

Meows and purrs

Katie

 

 

 

Grandpa
just took Katie to the vet with him to get some food for the babies, so that
gives me a few minutes here, yea .

In the last several weeks I have been doing quite a few collage type paintings
... all because of my favorite thrift store. First I must tell you I just LOVE
hitting all the different 2nd hand stores. I have a favorite, our local Kiwanis.
About a month ago I stopped in and found a big box of , well it looked like
junk, paper, pencils some crayons, I just couldn't see to the bottom of the box,
so I decided to buy it for $5.50,I figured the paper would be great for little
Katie, the budding artist. I went out to the lanai  as soon as I got home
and emptied it on the floor and then I gasped! What a treasure I got, there was
charcoal, 5 packs of oil pastels, 2 cat punches,4 boxes of new watercolor
pencils, chalk, ,collage medium and a whole bunch of watercolor paper that was
in about 6 inch pieces  and other little art goodies. What a find ! You
just never know what you may find at your local thrift store !!!

This is one of my thrift store inspirations

Ends April 13th at 18:00 PST

Meows and Purrs

Katie

A Preview of tonights ebay offering

WELCOME to my new blog !

Well , finally I got this going !

I don't have very much time right now.

I'm a full time artist, with a husband, 4 cats and a 3 year old granddaughter,
who I have 10 hours a day. So my days are filled with kite flying, blowing
bubbles ,puzzles, books and all the fun things that 3 year olds love to do. My
husband works nights, so I hit my studio after Katie leaves for the day.. That's
where you will find me [and my 4 cats] till the wee hours.

I have been selling my paintings on ebay for 8 years now and do quite a few
commissions from my web site, Katie-Cats.com
I also have paintings in gift shops in Sanibel, Captiva, Matlacha and Fort Myers
Beach, so that keeps me pretty busy. Did I mention cooking and cleaning ?

Well more soon .....

Tonight's ebay painting is a painting I do
once a year,

I guess you could call it an annual !

This is the 8th Seedling painting I have done , the idea is the same but the
paintings are all different

Hope you like it !