Hello, hello!
We are incredibly excited! The Earth Garden festival is always putting us in an excellent mood, but we have other reasons to celebrate as well. The last few months have been very busy but we have been working hard to completely change our store and fit the new, greener concept of the festival. Our artworks have incorporated recyclable materials in the past, but not to this extend! This year, we have moved to a whole new level – all pictures have been created using entirely recycled bits, odds and ends that usually end up in the bin first. We have been given them completely new life, shape and form. Be careful, the cats are so cute, you might overdose on cuteness! We are sorry, there is no cure for cuteness overload, you will be Googeling for cats images and videos on the Internet for the rest of your life.
If Earth Garden 2015 is going to be your first festival of this kind, please visit their official website to learn more. You will find everything you need to know: information about food stands, performances and concerts schedule, art market info and list of invited guests. You can also download the official program here: Egprog2015 or use this link directly from Earth Garden website: http://earthgarden.com.mt/Egprog2015.pdf
Our stand will be located in the Open Village on Ethnic Market. As advertised: “Ethnic Market visitors can walk through the stands filled with handmade creations amidst a colourful array of unique and attractive designs within a free-spirited atmosphere.” Do you need more encouragement? We don’t think so, but hey, here’s a map – maps are cool, you might be needing one not to get lost!
The time has come now to introduce you all to some of the newest members of our furry family. Please say hi to several new kitten artworks you will have a chance to adopt. And remember that we are supporting SPCA Malta – your purchases are going to help kittens and dogs in need. We cannot recommend highly the people behind The Society for the Protection & Care of Animals. They are our heroes but even a hero needs help sometimes. Be a superhero, come to The Cat Shop, buy the artworks and help your local animals in need!
SPCA has been great since 1937, it’s time to help them!
http://www.spcamalta.org/what-we-do/
1. Up and down – two cats made from bits of fabrics, decorative cord and old buttons. You can easily find these materials in any art store or from your local tailoring shop. We purchased about 2 meters of the decorative mesh for a few pennies from a local tailor, who has a lot of various fabric bits left after the dresses are made. Normally, those bits are being thrown away as the tailors have little use for them, but they can be easily re-used. You have no idea how many interesting things can be found in a tailor’s bin!
2. Twins – old piece of cardboard, a bit of black paint, some glue and a damaged sheet of decorative paper found in Hobby Craft’s reduced price section. Rita has used nail decorating supplies from Poundland to make the eyes – the packaging was damaged and the store was about to throw the box away. Never throw away the gems – we now have supply of cat eyes for 10 years at least!
3. Too many cats – Hobby Craft reduced price section is a true heaven for artists that are environmentally aware. Hole puncher in shape of a cat normally costs 4 pounds (about 6 euros). When it is cracked (but working fine), nobody wants to buy it. Well, we did and look at the results. We have used old Easter cards to make the silhouettes of dancing cats and styled them as we pleased. Framed, it looks fantastic! You can do it at home as well!
4. Three elegant cats – bits of fabrics again. You can style them as you wish, all you need is scissors, glue and old jeans buttons. Voila!
5. The Question – to make this picture, we used exactly the same materials as for the artwork number 1. Golden mesh was glued first, then we placed three cat silhouettes (cut from an old cardboard sheet) and the red mesh was placed on top. Three golden bows were made from a decorative rope used in beauty products packaging. If you see something pretty, save it for later!
6. The Gathering – do you have old newspapers lying around the house? You don’t have to throw them away, you can use them to make a cat artwork! A bit of fancy cover on top (like this sparkly mesh from tailor’s shop again, 50p for a meter) and you are a master cat artist. Do not worry about glue smudges, the mesh will hide any imperfections!
7. Muna – Muna’s body has been cut from the same piece of fabric used to make the artwork number 4. We have added old sequins from a recycled dress and the anchor was a part of an old cosmetic bag that was given away to us for free. Whiskers are made from Christmas tinsels (bits are always falling off when you take the decorations down in January so save them!).
8. Meow me? – Meow me took about 6 hours to be made. We have used sequins from an old t-shirt and his eyes were made from plastic stones that have been coloured with acrylics to fit the rest. The background is done with a washing technique that removes the upper layers of paint before it dries up completely. We have used an old picture frame back to paint the cat on it. Looks good to us!
9. Love is in the air – do you have an old gift bag that somebody gave you lying about the house? It is too battered to be used for present again and you feel it would be a waste to simply throw it away? Cut the patters, make an artwork out of it and frame it. Your friends will be jealous!
10. Love cats – this artwork was made with the same materials as artwork number 6. Never be ashamed to use the same materials to create several artworks. First, we need to combat the waste production, second, you will start a series of pictures and they look fantastic framed and displayed close to each other. An artist may lack the skills, but never the imagination. Bows, flower and heart have been recycled from different sources, but you can purchase them in art stores as well.
11. Jim Wright’s ShopCat – ShopCat is a real cat that belongs to a publicist and political commentator Jim Wright. She is an Internet feline celebrity and there’s nothing wrong with painting a fanart. You can follow Mr Wright on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Stonekettle
Jim is also an artist and owns an Etsy store:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Stonekettle
12. High fashion – this artwork has been made from the same materials as pictures number 5 and 1. A piece of cardboard painted black was placed among several layers of decorative mesh. Plus the bow is made from a red cord that was a part of beauty products packaging.
13. Flower power #1 – Wall stickers are very popular these days. Majority of them end up on our walls, but some pieces may not glue well or may have been damaged and are no longer fitting to be used. Do not throw them away – instead turn them into an artwork! Simply, glue the pattern in the middle of an A4 sheet (over 100 grams is preferable) and paint some cats around it. Then frame and display it next to the rest of the stickers decorating the walls. You will be applauded for creativity!
14. Flower power #2 – we had two spare stickers and now we have two cat artworks. They are our favourites!
15. Cheesecake – again the same materials used to make artwork number 9. Big heart patters, cat made from old cardboard sheet painted black and long tail. Say hello to Cheesecake!
16. Butterfly – the last of wall stickers that were used in artworks number 13 and 14. This time it is not a flower but a butterfly. Rita is very proud of this one, the cat looks really surprised. Painted with ancient acrylic inks she found at her parent’s flat (they are over decade old).
17. Blue – Blue was painted as a sketch for an artwork that was never finished. We decided to make an experiment – to frame an unfinished piece and only add a writing (created with rub on letters that can be found in art stores or purchased on Amazon). The final effect – brilliant. Lesson learned – do not throw your sketches and flawed drawings away. Put them in a safe place, even for a year and re-discover them to realize that they are purrfect.
18. 7 cat army – the same technique used to make the artwork number 3. We have punched a lot of cats from different bits of materials we had (old newspapers, gossip magazines, clothing logos etc) and then styled them as we wanted. We named it 7 cats army, after the song that played on the radio when we were making it (Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes). We like it a lot!
Please excuse the poor quality of the images, but they are actually pictures. It is hard to scan the artworks as they have many sticking elements that scanners generally do not like. Each artwork has been professionally framed and they will be available for sale. We also want to mention that all artworks have been designed by our mom, Olimpia Dabrowicz, the biggest cat lover in Poland and the owner of Cat-a-log collection.
We hope to see you in the Art Market! We are a small family business, and we love cats (as you probably have guessed!)
Meows and purrs!
Rita and Malicia Dabrowicz
Indieterria 