I’ve been rescuing abandoned cats since I was three years old & I’ve been drawing just as long. I resisted drawing cats until recently, as most cat art that I’d seen failed to capture that intangible “essence” of the cat. I tried to draw cats a few times, but, became frustrated and didn’t feel I was equal to the task.

Then my husband and I bought our house, near a university. The neighborhood was overrun with feral cats. Being unable to look the other way, I began trying to get them off the streets. I approached the director of a privately run shelter, The Scratching Post. The director, Linda Rilea, told me that feral cats are largely un-adoptable, but if I could catch them, she would pay to have them spayed & neutered. I could then release & continue to feed them. For many years, the Scratching Post also gave me food to feed these cats. Frequently, they (or I) fostered the pregnant females until they raised their kittens. The kittens would be properly socialized & thus, adoptable. I also hand raised orphaned kittens for the shelter. My relationship with the Scratching Post began around 1989-90. By 1994, thanks to Linda, I had a pretty good handle on the feral cats in my neighborhood, although my work with ferals continues up to the present.

 In 1995, to show my appreciation for all that they had done for me, I decided to try my hand at drawing cats again. I chose pen & ink as a medium, for ease of reproduction. The first drawing was a design for a “thank you” card for the Scratching Post to send to contributors. It is titled “Dancing Angelo”. Like all of my drawings, it is based on a cat that I rescued. I’ve created many drawings & the prints have been very well received.  I donate a portion of the sales of my prints to the spay & neuter fund at the Scratching Post.

I became involved in volunteering for a (different) shelter, in 1988, through a childhood friend, Sue . One afternoon, when I stopped by her apartment, she asked me to paint a cat on a rock she had found. She had a brush, and poster paint. As we sat talking at her kitchen table, I painted a black & white striped cat on the rock. She often told me that it was one of her most prized possessions.

Several years later, one of her cats peed on it; she rinsed it off, but because it had been painted with poster paint, 2/3rds of the paint came off. She was heartbroken, & frequently told me so. I kept meaning to repair it for her, but time slipped away.

In 1999, Sue, at 45, married for the first time. She & her fiancé were giving things away as they prepared to combine their households.

“Julie, don’t you dare buy me anything for my wedding!” she told me, “We have too much already!”

“Sue, I’ve known you since we were twelve years old!” I replied, “ I’m not going to let you get married without giving you something!”

Then I thought of the rock; I had her fiancé sneak it out to me & I repainted it— in acrylic this time to protect it from jealous felines.

While I worked on it, my fellow volunteers at The Scratching Post decided to throw a birthday party for the director, Linda. I painted a rock for her as well, but this one I painted in color (with clear acrylic finish that makes them difficult to photograph!). They were an immediate hit! Sales are brisk! I also donate a portion of “rock” sales to the Scratching Post.

I have rescently started three new drawings, but between painting rocks & caring for my feline refugees, I hardly have time to work on my drawings!

It is so satisfying when I hear people viewing my work exclaim, “It’s obvious you know cats! You’ve really captured their essence!

The collages are the result of the fact that every year my husband and I throw three big parties. All of the collages, with the exception of the poppies, are designs for invitations to either the Easter Egg Hunt & Brunch or The Summer Party. The first few years I made everyone’s invitation by hand: one year everyone’s invitation was slightly different, geared to their own hobbies or interests. After a few years, that became too time consuming and at that point I began creating a single design in a size that would fit onto a color copier, in order to reduce it to post card size. As the parties grew, it became apparent that this was much more efficient. Creating these original invitations has become a tradition; many people tell me that they have saved all of my invitations. Adhesive vinyl works very well in this application, as the flat bright colors generally copy very well. The design begins as a sketch; the flowers I sketch from life; the summer scenes are from my imagination. The sketch is converted to a line drawing, similar to the kind used in stained glass window design, and that line drawing becomes my pattern. Each vinyl piece is then meticulously cut (in reverse) and adhered to the surface. I have experimented with many surfaces over the years and have found that heavy gauge acetate suits my needs the best.

Dancing Angelo

Mixed Mythologies

Sun & Suds