Betty Boop

I  just sent out my newsletter for July and I chose this as the illustration- one of our last Friday Long Poses of this session. Shelley posed as "Betty Boop" the 1930's cartoon character. Betty was based on a caricature of the singer Helen Kaine, who, in turn, mimicked the style of the black singer Baby Esther Jones. She was the first rather sexy cartoon character and, as such, created quite a stir. She as supposed to be sixteen years old and was depicted with a curvaceous body topped with a larger head with big eyes and gorgeous eyelashes. She was sometimes threatened by villains but always maintained her virtue - her boop-boop-a-doop. Shelley did a great job with hair style and make-up as well as projecting the personality so this made it a fun session. I used the mixed-media pastel method I have been using for these sessions. I like the way I can get different background effects rather than be limited with a set colour of pastel paper. I won't go into all the detail again here as I have described it in earlier postings--watercolour paper, acrylic colours, acrylic gel for pastels, pastels. But no more Long Poses until the fall now.

Cat collars

One of the non-painting things that interested people at my Open Studio for  DoorsOpen was the fact that Isabella and Digby wear collars that are like clown ruffs. I had to explain that I was not trying to dress them up but that their collars had a purpose. They are from Birdsbesafe and are designed to prevent them from catching birds. Isabella was never much of a birder, but Digby, in spite of being without a regular tail, proved to be good at catching birds. Since I like birds and am happy to see them in the garden, I didn't want their lives cut short.  Originally, a search for "cat collars" was made on the web because Isabella actually liked the plastic cone "Elizabethan" collar she wore from the vets after she had an injury. She was not happy when it was taken off! I found the "Birdsbesafe" site and decided that with Isabella's obvious wish for a collar, and Digby's discovery of birds, this was an perfect answer. The collars are cotton with a reflective border - good especially on a black cat if it gets out at night- and, worn over a regular collar with a release catch, are perfectly safe. Songbirds can see bright colours, especially red, yellow and orange and they are alerted to the cat's presence. Tests have shown that wearing these collars reduces bird-kill by 87%. If you tie a bandana on a cat, the cat could get caught on something and choke to death. These collars release--- and are easy to find in the garden if this happens. They are soft and washable. I even think they add a bit of charm to the cats. After all the comments- and giving out cards with the information about Birdsbesafe website  (www.birdsbesafe.com), I was inspired to do a little cartoon for my sketchbook of Isabella doing the cat laundry. We have quite a few collars  since cats often like to roll on the driveway or find other ways to get the collar dirty. Also, a change is nice as the collars come in interesting bright patterns - and why not a new collar for a cat's birthday? Digby usually wears red and Isabella has a selection of more yellow ones. They have their photos on the Birdsbesafe website.