bunny with a toolbelt: Four More Cats! Four More Cats!

Thursday

Four More Cats! Four More Cats!

Hey Beautiful People!

At the beginning of the week, I was dubious I'd actually be able to finish all of the cats for the book, but now it's looking good with four more to show you today, leaving eight to *finish* painting by Wednesday morning. (Can I get a premature woohoo?)

Let's get into it with the letter N:

N is for Naomi,
who wrote in her journal
until 3 a.m.
(You know, cats are nocturnal)

N! A kitty with a nightgown and a nosewarmer!

Naomi is named for 80's supermodel Naomi Campbell, who actually has a cat-themed perfume in her product bucket!

Here's our Naomi.....ready for beddy-bye!

No time to dilly dally......our next letter is Q

Q is for Qiana
who made the tomcats meow
when she made a grand entrance
in her fancy qipao!

Q! A Kitty whose Quest to dress is exQuisite!

It wasn't hard to make the decision to have this kitty wearing a Japanese qipao dress, but the name did prove challenging, as there weren't any designers or fashionistas who had a name starting with Q that seemed appropriate for my book. I decided to go with Qiana for the name--a silky nylon fabric developed by DuPont in the early 1960's, that also happens to be used as a first name by a lot of humans! Here's an ad promoting this revolutionary new fabric to the masses:

In case you haven't noticed, there are subtle references all throughout this book to cat lore, and this one seemed the perfect place to honor one of my favorite cats: Maneki-Neko.

Here's my Qiana in progress:

And here she is in all her crimson glory:

Now we'll move over to our friend U:

U is for Ugo
who watched o'er the dorm,
while proudly adorning
his school uniform.

My U is named for Ugo Mozie, a designer of Nigerian descent, although raised in the United States since he was 3 years old. His fashion designs have mostly been focused on the entertainment industry, creating clothing for television and film.

Our U cat is modeled after the slightly eery, wrinkly Ukranian Levkoy cat:

And here's Ugo, rocking the school uniform!

And last, but certainly not least, I have completed our V kitty:

V is for Vera
who loved summer skies.
Her vintage sun visor
kept the sun from her eyes.

Vera, as you may have already guessed, is named for Vera Wang, who could have been known as an Olympic Skater rather than the grand dame of wedding gowns!