Cat Framed Gallery Print
Way down deep, we’re all motivated by the same urges. Cats have the courage to live by them — Jim Davis (cartoonist, Garfield)
Fat cats, smiling cats — praise all cats
Cats seem to divide people. As much as some people like them, others dislike them. Amongst those who adore these creatures, pretty much everyone has their favorite expressions about cats — the one above is just one example, and for me it hits the nail on the head!
One of the most famous cats of all time is probably Garfield. The lasagna-loving fat cat started out as an American comic strip then successfully made the leap to television, video games, and even full-length feature movies.
In 2002, Garfield made it into the Guinness Book Of World Records for being the most widely syndicated comic strip. The 2004 live-action movie starred a computer-generated version of Garfield voiced by Bill Murray.
And in 2017 Wikipedia had to put Garfield’s page on lockdown after a 60-hour editing war due to an ongoing debate on Garfield’s gender — male? none? — in which the character’s listed gender vacillated back and forth indeterminately like a cartoon version of Schrödinger’s cat: male one minute; not the next.
Garfield was finally, officially listed as male on Wikipedia — citing four comic strips including one from 1979 in which a veterinarian says “he’s too fat.”, and taking into consideration that “he has a girlfriend, Arlene.” Unfortunately, we won’t have the opportunity to interrogate him …
Another worldly famous cat is the cat in Alice in Wonderland. Actually, there are two Cats in the original book — the best known is The Cheshire Cat, who Alive meets in Wonderland. It is famous for disappearing into thin air leaving only its large grin. Apparently it’s nameless. It is simply known by its exaggerated smile, which inspired numerous adaptations of the original version of a cat grinning since it was first published in 1865.
The other cat in the story is actually her kitten. She is Alices’s pet and doesn’t go with her down the rabbit hole. Her name is Dinah, just in case you were wondering.
It is very inconvenient habit of kittens (Alice had once made the remark) that, whatever you say to them they always purr — Lewis Carroll (author, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland)
Cats and creativity
I myself believe cats to be “spirits come to earth“. A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through. Sadly, I didn’t come up with, but no other than Jules Verne (author, Journey to the Center of the Earth) from whom I borrowed this precisely accurate observation.
Surrounded by many different feline Zen masters since childhood — Pablo, Tiger, Daina, Barrabas von Echnaton, Yoshi, Yuri, Milo, Carlos, to name only a few — each of them brought me tremendous joy and peace of mind. It is almost impossible to look at a sleeping cat and feel exaggerated or tense. Their flawless grace and superior self-sufficiency sparks my creativity and keeps inspiring me.
That’s the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you —Ray Bradbury (author, Fahrenheit 451)
The truth is so simple — stop chasing ideas! Let them roam free instead and trust the silent mystery of the process. Learn how to “obtain food without labor, shelter without confinement, and love without penalties” — Walter Lionel George (author, A Bed of Roses), and life on earth becomes a kingdom.
Carlos, the wild cat, with his unique features and stripy fur is now available in my shop at Redbubble — an homage to the whole species!