Carm in the Middle

 Framing today.  Gluing backing boards on six encaustics and Carm had to be shifted as I added each new piece to the table.  Tomorrow I’ll put them in the frames.  

After the glue was dry enough to leave it, I went back to work on the new piece I’ve started.  

At the end of the day I said good bye to Noah.  I got a text from the shelter over a year ago while I was working at the studio - they had a kitten with a cut down the side of his nose and asked if I wanted to come get him.  I went over and got the very shy black kitten and he began his journey through foster homes and adoption events.  Noah landed back with me ;).  His right eye still drains occasionally and he has a small scar down his nose — he’s very shy and cautious by nature so he’s joined my family of wonderful misfit cats.  He’s beautiful and I’m lucky to have him.

Carm, Sophie, and Pandora

I may be the only encaustic artist who works with a cat assistant.  As I carved into the wax today, Carmela was pulling the wax curls off the piece with her teeth.  Then she decided she wanted to sit in my lap.  And yes, the whole time white cat hair is wafting up into the air.  It is RIDICULOUS!!!!  

But let me tell you, life with Carm has been ridiculous from the moment I met her.  I surrendered long ago.  My sanity was saved by Pandora.  I rediscovered my headphones this morning and plugged in.  Evidently Adele has taken over MUSIC as we know it.  She’s everywhere!!

A good painting day in spite of the cat hair.  I ended the day with a quick run to pick up an 8 month old English Shepherd mix and deliver her to her foster mom. Sophie was in a shelter with dangerously high euthanasia stats.  She’s now safe and I loved spending an hour with her in rush hour traffic

Wild Kingdom

She looks sweet, doesn’t she.  Not!  This is Carmela, the devil queen.  She is the reason I have studio cats - she started the trend.  Carm was called “Mama Cat”, the mother of seven baby devil kittens :).  She and her kids were so bad that their foster mom took them to the vet for their spay/neuter appointment and never came back to get them!  Abandoned at the vet, Mama Cat and her kids were marooned for two weeks.  A volunteer brought the kittens to our Saturday adoption day and they were cage crazy — losing their tiny kitten minds.  It broke my heart.  I agreed to foster them and a few days later, picked up “Mama Cat” too.  

THAT was when the fun began.  Mama was renamed Carmela and began stalking every animal in our household.  She was born to be an assassin.  Of course, she had a screw loose from a bad childhood experience….whatever!  Carmela then tried her luck outdoors but she fought everything that moved outside too and was soon a mass of wounds and abscesses.  Time for Plan Three.

So, Carmela moved to the studio and has been happy ever since.  She’s safe, content, and recently oversaw the addition of a screened porch for afternoon tanning!  I signed her adoption papers and she’s now a permanent resident.  You may wonder how she gets along with the other cats.  Well, it was a slow rehab process and I’m very proud of our success.  I fostered a small kitten, placing her in a crate on a table, safe from Carm’s terrorism.  That kitten never came near Carm’s teeth or claws before moving on to a home.  The second foster kitten met Carm only with my close supervision.  Over months, I desensitized Carmela to other cats and eventually she was able to share her home with teenage kittens and even some carefully selected adults.  

Carmela is still a VERY moody lady — the result of fear, uncertainty, and lack of socialization as a kitten.  She’ll never change, I’m afraid, but she’s happy in her Yellow House on Oakwood.  And if Carm’s happy, everybody is happy!