guest post (and a chance to give) - morris animal foundation

(This is a guest post for a good cause.  Author and attribution below.  Enjoy! - Curator)

The Holiday Season Brings Everyone Together!  (Help Save Dogs, Cats, Horses, and Wildlife)

Even dogs and cats can get along this time of the year!  Maybe this dog and cat’s New Year’s resolutions were to get over the age-old grudge of feline versus canine?  Just like these two pets, Morris Animal Foundation, a nonprofit that funds studies to improve veterinary science, has its own New Year’s resolution--to help dogs, cats, horses, and wildlife in every way that it can. In fact, Morris even has a New Year’s resolution it would like to accomplish before New Year’s!  If Morris raises $100,000 by December 31, 2013, a donor will give $100,000 to match the money that others have donated.  Join us in helping to protect animal health!  See our Season of Hope Gift Match for more information.

About Morris Animal Foundation’s successes:

·         Furthered cancer research in dogs

·         Helped in the creation of the first feline leukemia vaccine

·         Found new treatment for eye cancer in horses

Morris also has many new studies that you can help make a reality.  One study will look into how nutrition affects a dog’s likelihood of developing cancer.  This study will try using black beans and navy beans to bring overweight dogs back to a normal weight.  This will hopefully decrease the risk of cancer in these dogs.  This is just one of Morris Animal Foundation’s studies that are in the process of being funded.

Be a part of the movement to save animals and donate today!

Author Bio: This is a guest post by Katie F. on behalf of Morris Animal Foundation. Visit morrisanimalfoundation.org/ to learn more about the animal health research that Morris Animal Foundation participates in.

bonne annee! happy new year, that is.

found at delcampe.net.  believed public domain in good faith

Whee!  We'll all fly forward into the good things coming in 2014.  (This card was created in in the 1910s, which explains that nifty plane - here's one a bit like it.  This also reminds me of one of my all-time favorite post finds: first airborne cat.)  Wait, is that a horseshoe they're dragging along?  They should turn it the other way up or the luck will run out.  But never mind that.

Happy New Year, dear Museum friends! 

another pretty little game for your time off: the snowrider

For your time off, and to decompress from the holiday.
Another sweet and simple gem from the Orisinal.com game site:
You are a funny little white mouse.  Your job is to logroll an ever-increasing snowball, jumping it just so over the rocks in your way.
You are
The Snowrider

cat in apocrypha

. . . The Cat, then, having been the favoured companion of the Egyptians, among whom the Israelites lived while they multiplied from a family into a nation, it does seem very remarkable that the sacred writers should not even mention it.  There is no prohibition of the animal, even indirectly, in the Mosaic law; but it may be the case that the Israelites repudiated the Cat simply because it was so favoured by their former masters.
     The only passage in the Apocrypha is a passing allusion in Baruch (vi.22), where it is said of the idols, that bats and birds shall sit on their bodies, and the cats also.  That the word is rightly translated admits of no doubt, because it is the same that is employed by Herodotus in the passage already quoted.

Wood, J. G. 1827-1889. Bible Animals: Being a Description of Every Living Creature Mentioned In the Scriptures From the Ape to the Coral. New York: Charles Scribner, 1870, p. 38.  I found the King James version of the Apocrypha verse Wood identifies above, but it's in the Epistle of Jeremiah, and I'll throw in a couple of extra verses for context:

19: They are as one of the beams of the temple, yet they say their hearts are gnawed upon by things creeping out of the earth; and when they eat them and their clothes, they feel it not.
20: Their faces are blacked through the smoke that cometh out of the temple.
21: Upon their bodies and heads sit bats, swallows, and birds, and the cats also.

Well of course they're going to sit on them.  They're handy and not moving.  But I guess that's the point.

vintage photo time: snow fort dog

from the pet museum collection

Winter vacation! I can't tell what's going on behind that huge Malamute-looking dog there, but it looks like a fort in progress to me.  Snow is for fun, forts and dogs (and add to the list all you like).

a little sunny cat action from traveling cats

A quick post:  Drop on by today's post over at Traveling Cats for a nice dose of sun, color, and warm kitty fur.  Today's cats are from Tenerife!

hedgehog spring

image copyright and by kindest permission of the artist

Providence, RI artist SepiaLepus has a world full of beautiful natural forms and funny details.  Here in "Hedgehog Spring" I was delighted by the way the stylized plant forms seem to organically lick out from the hedgies' rounded bodies.  You'll also like her "Happy Black Bunnies."  Don't miss her maps either - in honor of the state where I spent five very interesting years, here's Connecticut!

corgi sings the blues

image copyright and by kindest permission of the artist

Sing it, corgi man.  This wittily soulful work comes from the Etsy shop lulunjay, also known as SCHMETZPETS.  A little digging turned up Jay Schmetz of Georgia and his universe of animals going about their day:  "I paint a world where animals are people."  In that sunny-colored world they play the harp, work remotely from home, or hang at the wine bar.  Somehow they remind us to take time to enjoy the same.

hedgehog, a picture blog

Quick!  Go over to Darcy the Flying Hedgehog on Instagram!  Photographer Shota Tsukamoto describes himself as a "hedgehographer" - and it's perfect.

a season to give: another odd mama-dog tale

Happy day after Christmas, friends!  How pleasant it is to be throwing new toys around for the cats, and putting the fluffy new dog bed through its first wash.  It's a good week to keep the warm thoughts of giving well cherished.  Speaking of giving, here's one you may not have heard about the generosity of mom dogs (especially in the light of human foolishness when making an animal "collection"):
* * *
THE ADOPTED SEAL.
Out in Oregon is a gentleman who is making a collection for a park. Recently he received a baby seal one day and a half old. No one knew how to take care of it; and the gentleman, who was very anxious to keep it alive, was greatly puzzled as to how he should feed the little stranger. He owned a beautiful retriever dog named Belle, who had a family of her own. She heard the bark of the seal when he grew hungry; and, like a dear little mother, she started out, leaving her own family, to discover who this baby was who needed a mother. When she saw the seal, she walked around and around it, very greatly puzzled.
At last she stood still, and the seal began flopping toward her very feebly. As it came nearer, it raised its head as if asking her help; and then the dear dog laid herself down, and the seal came up to her, and began taking its breakfast, and now the seal and the baby dogs are all one family.— Outlook

-- Mott, Frederick B., Brooke Herford, and Jabez Thomas Sunderland. The Unitarian: a Monthly Magazine of Liberal Christianity. Boston [etc.]: G. H. Ellis, v. 11 (1896), p. 521.

it's christmas eve

thanks vintageimages.org

Yes, the preparations are wrapping up, friends!  So just in case I don't get to check in with you all tomorrow I'll say now:

Merry Christmas from The Pet Museum!

santa's little impediment

This is not helping me wrap any faster, sweetheart.

swell toy cats, japan

•  "Japanese toys, from Unai no tomo (A Child's Friends) by Shimizu Seifu, 1891-1923. Cats.". Printed material, 6 x 10 in. Brooklyn Museum. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, S01_07.03.009_Japanese_006_PS4.jpg)
• Citation: Brooklyn Museum Archives. Culin Archival Collection

Shimizu Seifu (1851-1913) is still considered the definitive source on Japanese toys, and with good reason.  He compiled and wrote a ten-volume survey of Japanese folk toys, Unai no tomo (A Child's Friends), and founded two clubs for the appreciation and study of toys.  If you'd like to read more about that here's an excellent blog post. All very scholarly, but as you can see in this print of three jolly, chubby toy cats, Shimizu was certainly not blind to their appeal.  I can just see him picking one up and squeezing it.

the talking animal christmas greetings 2013

Admit it, you love those videos YouTuber TalkingAnimals* makes every year! (Twelve Days of Christmas was great last year.)  This year brings us A Christmas Greeting from Your Pets.  Go get in the holiday spirit.

*My favorite keeps switching between The New Fish and I Spy.

words for the dog in the chewa language

The Chewa language, also called Nyanja, is the official language of Malawi and is also found in Zambia, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.  Here's some vocabulary on dogs and cats from a dictionary of 1894:

Garu, a dog; Kagaru, a little dog; Tiagaru, little dogs
Barking, as of a dog, Kuua.
Bound, away, as a dog, Ku tamanga.
Gnaw, as a dog at a bone, Ku tafuna.
Lap, as a dog, Ku nyambita
Lick (and Taste). As a dog a dish, Ku nyambita.
Loll, As the tongue of a dog when heated with exertion, Ku turutsa lilume.
To move about quickly, as a dog or a kitten in play, Ku lumpa-lumpa.
Snarl, as a dog, Ku nyi-ndula.
To tear with violence, as a dog with his teeth, Ku ng'amba.
To wag the tail, as a dog, Ku gwedeza.
To creep along slowly and slyly, as a cat, Ku wenda. (I just saw Elizabeth try to ku wenda to the bird feeder this morning - curator)
To rub down, as a cat, Ku sisita.
Hiss, v. i. As a serpent, and as a kitten, Ku pepera
Kitten, re. Mwana wa mpaka, ana a mpaka.

-- from Laws, Robert. An English-Nyanja Dictionary of the Nyanja Language Spoken In British Central Africa. Edinburgh: published by James Thin, 1894. ("British Central Africa" is the outdated colonial name for the area.)

kat vond says those were good cat treats...

moar

mom and dad's dog, egypt xi dynasty

both images Stela of Intef and Senettekh, ca. 2065-2000 B.C.E. Limestone, 13 7/8 x 11 5/8 in. (35.3 x 29.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 54.66. Creative Commons-BYImage: overall, 54.66_Gavin_Ashworth_photograph.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph (Gavin Ashworth, photographer), 2012

Any good Egyptian son of millenia back wanted to make sure his mother and father had every comfort arranged for that long golden afterlife.  When Intef's folks were entombed sometime circa 2000-2065 BCE, he saw to it that they had images of food and drink (Dad, you'll note, is not standing on ceremony for that last one). There is a loyal servant.  There is also the family dog, complete with tidy collar:

the engineer cat guys do it again

You've seen this already, right?  No?
An Engineer's Guide to Cats 2.0 - The Sequel
. . . includes cardboard UFOs!

a two legged dog does fine, italy 1500's

thanks vintageprintable.com. believed public domain.

This illustration is from the work of Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605), sometimes named as the father of natural history studies.  I'm surprised by it for two reasons: it's strangely dignified and beautiful, for one, and then I realized that I did not expect to see a grown healthy dog on two legs in sixteenth-century art.  (This isn't the only one Aldrovandi drew, btw.)  Now - oh, I almost said I was going out on a limb, how awful of me - I can't interpret too much into a static image of this age.  But a naturalist's job is to be as faithful to his source as he can, so I can gather that this dog was indeed observed as balancing well for however long, and also well-nurtured enough to grow to this size and not look starved.  Good job, long lost dog nurturer.
The tiny writing next to him says canis bipes albo castaneous colored distinctus, which I poorly translate from Latin as "a two-legged dog with a white and chestnut difference (coloring)."

lacy kitty twins: meet artist ola liola

image copyright and by kindest courtesy of the artist

Berlin artist Ola Liola creates some of the most beautiful surrealist patterns I've ever seen.  Here are her Lacy Twins, in which you have to take a second look (I did) to see what those fine tabby stripes contain. The luxury of the patterning perfectly models the cats, and makes them seem as though their beauty is so lush that the flowers just kinda had to explode from them.
"I capture my art as experience based surrealism, reality turning into a MYTH," Ola writes. "The images are decorative, almost trying too hard to be pretty. In a closer look, though, one can see different layers and an abundance of details. The collection of many fine details and textures emphasize the characteristic and energy of the figure I'm CREATING."   Her background as a freelance illustrator and fashion accessory designer helps too, leading her to ask questions of herself: ". . . How could I express emotion with color? How certain thoughts, feelings or special events receive a visual expression? How to fit these expressions on to living things?"

I've given you her website above, and you can't go wrong with anything at her Etsy shop TevaKiwi.  I particularly recommend her wren (I love wrens and like to see them getting their due). 

play "winterbells"

A quick update: Over at Ferry Halim's charming game site Orisinal, 'tis the season for Winterbells.  Make the little snow bunny leap up up up on the bells, quickly now!

Play Winterbells.

a kitten goes to work, 1827

courtesy vintgaeimages.org, public domain

(Note: Ad doesn't match story but it's too cute to leave out.)  Sometime in the early 19th century, a red (or orange) kitten was sent to a cloth business, no doubt to keep down the pinking shears of mice teeth.  The following poem, full of high historical musing and a pragmatic thought about the peril of dogs, seems to have accompanied its departure.  Kind of wacky.

O the red red kitten is sent away, 
No more on parlour hearth to play;

He must live in the draper's house.
And chase the rat, and catch the mouse,
And all day long in silence go
Through bales of cotton and calico.

After the king of England fam’d,
The red red kitten was Rufus nam'd.
And as king Rufus sported through
Thicket and brake of the Forest New,
The red red kitten Rufus so
Shall jump about the calico.

But as king Rufus chas'd the deer,
And hunted the forest far and near.
Until as he watch'd the jumpy squirrel.
He was shot by Walter Tyrrel;
So if Fate shall his death ordain.
Shall kitten Rufus by dogs be slain.
And end his thrice three lives of woe
Among the cotton and calico.

The table book: or, Daily recreation and information concerning remarkable men, manners, times, seasons, solemnities, merry-makings, antiquities and novelties, forming a complete history of the year, William Hone (W. Tegg, 1827), p. 13.

a beautiful black cat from carole gregorio chapla

image copyright and by kindest permission of the artist

There's a pleasant chunkiness to this fine black cat that reminds me of more cheerful German Expressionism, like Franz Marc's Two Cats.  The same emphasis on line and bold color makes for a crisply rendered green plant in a pot and a solid ledge bathed in cool light.  Black Cat on Ledge by Florida artist Carole Gregorio Chapla is one of the finest examples of her sympathetic and loving portrayals of animals.  Though cats are a large focus of her work, ". . . every now and then I might paint dogs, alligators, birds, flowers, and even an occasional opossum! I love them all!" she says.  You can see that love clearly when you peruse her Etsy shop, Ladybug Art Studio.

josephine's fortune, a pug

From the writer Joseph Turquan, here's a story about Josephine de Beauharnais before she became Napoleon's Empress.  She and her husband were imprisoned during the Terror in France; he was executed, but she came through alive.  Her pug dog Fortune played a certain part in her deliverance:
* * *
We must not blame Josephine for liking dogs; on the contrary, it was one of her good points: and in caring for Fortune, she was only fulfilling her duty, as we shall now see.  And then this little four-legged personage occupies so important a part in history that he is worthy of being introduced to my readers.
The poet Arnault, who had the honor to enjoy his acquaintance and to belong to the Academic Frangaise, will now introduce him to us. "Fortune," said he, "was neither handsome, good-natured nor nice. He was short-legged ; his body was long, his color was more red than fawn-colored; this pug-dog, with a nose like a weasel, only resembles his distant relations by his black muzzle and corkscrew tail. In his infancy he had promised to be handsome, but as he grew up these promises came to naught; nevertheless, Josephine and her children were very fond of him, when a sad event made him still dearer to them.  Josephine, who had been arrested at the same time as her husband, was lying in prison suffering tortures of anxiety; she knew not of what was going on outside the walls of her prison. Her children, together with their governess, were allowed to see her at the wicket-gate. But how could they speak to her in private? The concierge was always present at these interviews.
"As Fortune was also present and as he was allowed to go in and out of the prison, the governess contrived a plan by which she hid a paper containing all the news which she did not dare to impart to her mistress under a new collar which she then fastened to Fortune's neck. Josephine, who was not wanting in shrewdness, guessed what she had done. The same messenger carried her reply. Thus she and her friends kept up an active correspondence under the very eye of the gaoler, and by this means she was able to learn of her friends' efforts to save her and so she kept up her courage. The family was as grateful to the dog for his useful services as if he had known what he was doing, and he became, both to the children and their mother, the object of a veneration which the general was obliged to tolerate whether he liked it or not."

-- Turquan, in Shriner, Charles A. 1853-1945. Wit, Wisdom And Foibles of the Great, Together With Numerous Anecdotes Illustrative of the Characters of People And Their Rulers. (New York and London: Funk & Wagnalls company, 1918), pp. 313-4.

vintage photo time:son of slipcover

another wonderful find from somewhere

No, seriously, there's a cat and a dog on there, you just have to look past that pattern.

the soul of a bernese mountain dog: a portrait by phyllis tarlow

image courtesy and copyright of the artist, phyllis tarlow

There's a certain way big dogs smile a lot of the time.  It's different from the in-the-moment glee I see in terriers and chihuahuas and other smallish dogs.  Bigger dogs, like this Bernese Mountain Dog, have this slow, calm way of smiling, as though they are turning over in their minds everything that's making them happy.  When you think that these larger breeds were often watchdogs and herders, you could make the case that by their very natures they're built to evaluate.  Is that a bad guy?  What's wrong with that cow? and All my pack is here and we are warm.  And so they turn it over in their perceptive dog brains, and decide to smile.
This portrait is from the hand of New York State artist Phyllis Tarlow, and I'd like to share her bio with you:

Phyllis Tarlow is an artist with a broad focus, which ranges from creating portraits of people, animals, and homes to painting the wonder and beauty of the landscape. Her love for the domestic animals that so greatly enhance the lives of so many families has made painting and drawing them a special pleasure. As she sees it, each dog and cat has a unique personality and character that Phyllis seeks to capture and share with her audience. The animals that she portrays are not generic representations or caricatures but living, breathing individuals.

Phyllis's Etsy store with her dog and cat prints is here.  You will also enjoy her website and portrait site.

make paw balm

I'm dropping in with a quick mention for Jen at My Brown Newfies and her paw balm recipe, which sounds easy to make and soothing for dog and human paws alike. (You should see my paws in this winter cold....nasty.)  Anyway drop on by her post and read all about how to make it.

dog vs swine

via vintageimages.com

Since I found this curious scene at vintageimages.com I haven't got its backstory, but I think it's a blind man's trained dog showing off his sign to a pig.  I liked the quality of the work, but puzzling over the action is what won my heart.  Was the dog able to communicate with the pig in the original story?  Or was he simply a trained and loyal helpmeet who knew only how to sit up and show his sign whenever he could?

playmates

thanks wikimedia commons (PD)

That's the translation of this lively work's German title, Spielgefahrten.  Painted in 1916 by Ferdinand Max Bredt (1860-1921), this scene of domestic joy seems to have been a departure from the exotic settings for which he was famed.  He traveled to places which inspired him in that particular way, such as Turkey and Tunisia, and I read that he even built his home and studio in an Arabic style.  Since he lived in the Bavarian village of Ruhpolding, you'd think someone would have a photo of that wonder somewhere, but I haven't scuffed it up yet.
I can see the same liking for warm color here that Bredt uses in his Orientalist work, and it suits the scene.  Notice how the most tightly worked section is is the dog's blissful face.  Love it.

a different sort of fox collar

Given by Messrs Harrods Ltdhttp://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O120111/suit-unknown/

Or a jackal collar, but that's not as catchy.  This goes a bit outside the usual pet perimeters, but I couldn't resist showing you this find from the Victoria & Albert Museum.  This is a linen coat with a velvet collar embroidered in metal thread, made in Britain circa 1800-1820.  As you might imagine from its lighter, cooler textile and the word HUNT at the end, this was worn while hunting in a hot climate.  I dislike the idea of fox hunts, so I'll hope this coat is so gently worn because all the foxes were too fast, too smart, and just out of sight.

a cat contemplates

thanks wikipaintings.org. public domain

That thoughtful face - where have I seen it before?  Oh yes, just now when brushing KatV.  Doesn't this piece have a modern feel in its stripped-down, wry presence?  Perhaps you'll be as surprised as I am that this is a work by the Japanese nihonga painter Hishida Shunso (1874-1911).  Nihonga is a painting style that keeps to traditionally Japanese materials and conventions; the term and the style evolved in the Meiji era as a means of definition from the Western-style art also created by Japanese artists at the time.  Shunso's own talent comes through in the combination of judiciously applied shading within the cat's lines.  I particularly like the white that makes the chest and rear leg seem softly lit and velvety.

a defiant prey

found at vintageimages.org most likely public domain

I can only guess at the time frame of this exquisitely rendered image.  I'll say about 1880 to 1910, and I may well be way off.  The intensity of this standoff between a kitten and its prey (tiny mouse forehead crumpled in defiance, I think) is pointed up by the absence of any distracting background.  That's a delectable mouse, pardon the adjective.  He's perfectly created from tiny paws to fur to curvy grey tail, and I find myself hoping he can make a dash for it.

cat show paris 1898

public domain;
http://silos.ville-chaumont.fr/flora/jsp/index_view_direct_anonymous.jsp?record=default:UNIMARC:77644

Exposition de chats organisée par le Journal et le jardin d'acclimatation 28-29-30-31 oct 1898 (Cat show organized by the Journal and zoological gardens 28-29-30-31 October 1898).  Le Journal was a daily paper published in Paris from 1892 to 1944; the Jardin d'Acclimatation still is a zoo and children's theme park.

haiku for a cold snap

Here in the Pacific Northwest we are in the middle of a fierce coldsnap.  Temperatures will get down to 19 degrees tonight.  That's extremely rare this time of year; in fact it's even rare in January or February when we usually see this.  It's been days now and no one I know is thrilled. . .

Outside the birds feast
feathers etched by icy sun
inside:  the heater

They cry like puppies
grim icebergs round my head
seagulls flying low

Winter takes its turn
Buddha on the porch holds gift
a flowercicle

stone birdbath, frozen
I pour hot water to help
drink fast neighbor cats

the tigress' pet dog, 1819

The Jardin des Plantes at one time housed the royal zoo.  I am quite sure the cages were abysmal, so I can imagine the tigress's little friend brightened her days.
* * *
Tigress and Dog.
In the year 1819, I saw in the menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, a tigress, with a little dog in her den, which she treated with the greatest fondness. The mode in which the animals of that menagerie are fed and cleaned, to ensure security, is always to leave alternately the den at one end of the row empty, the whole suit having a communication with each other by a door betwixt every cell. The keepers, after cleaning this empty apartment, place in it the animal's proportion of food, and then draw open the door, when the beast enters, and the door is then shut. This tigress always allowed the little dog to precede her, and to choose his share of the meat, and make his meal before she touched it. If any person offered to lay hands on the dog, she growled in the most fearful manner. At one time, the dog was taken from her, and allowed to go at liberty, when she became so melancholy for its loss that she refused to eat. They were therefore obliged to return her little favourite to confinement.

- 

Biographical Sketches and Authentic Anecdotes of Quadrupeds, Thomas Brown (Glasgow: A. Fullarton & Co., 1831), pp. 290-1

the 2014 vintage photo time calendar

A (very) simple little PDF gift I whipped up as a lark, starring some Vintage Photo Time we have seen, and others we haven't till now.    The link to the entire year in PDF is here, and I wish you all the very happiest 2014.

announcement - janet roper's pet grief teleconference

Friend of the Museum Janet Roper is hosting a teleconference on Grieving Your Pet over the Holidays.  The date is December 9 at 7 PM Central time, and the cost for early bird registration is $29.95.  The link will tell you all about this helpful event.  You don't have to be alone grieving your pet over the holidays!

miss moon was a dog governess: meet janet hill

image copyright and by kindest permission of  janet hill

Everything is a teaching opportunity, even things as everyday as dinnertime, bathtime, or bedtime, if you've a receptive mind and a clever governess.  Luckily for a posse of dogs in Canadian artist Janet Hill's imagination, they have Miss Moon to guide them.  In her series Miss Moon was a Dog Governess Hill shows us the world of this most dignified and correct young woman as she attempts to instill well-bred freedom of spirit into her furry and behatted charges.  Here in #2 of the Miss Moon series, we're reminded "Always Be True to Your Adventurous Spirit."
Hill's work as a whole gives the nod to any cheerful possibility and any small elegant moment.  What if you could purchase a tiny giraffe from the pet store?  What if you couldn't get your lion off the couch?  How much fun is it to know you look smashing in your spangly evening dress?  These moments are rendered in a light that seems forever to be the freshest morning.  Have a look at her website and at her Etsy shop.

vintage photo time: puppy boy

some lovely bulk bin somewhere

Such a tiny fluffball puppy!And this kid is doing a good job holding him: bottom and tummy supported. (What do you suppose is that cylindrical thing against the house there?)

dog wallpaper, 1798

Public domain.  Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie, EST LI-15

This block-printed paper on a yellow background was created by the French company Paulot et Cie in 1798.  There's more to it; the other recurring motif was of a young woman in a reverie, and I can't divine what thematic link the two scenes may have.  Did you know wallpaper dates back to Renaissance Europe?  I didn't.  Did you know there's a Wallpaper History Society?  I do now.

most elegant dog ashtray ever

Queens Art Pewter, Ltd. (1930-2000). Ashtray, 1930. Pewter, 2 1/8 x 3 5/8 x 3 3/8 in. (5.4 x 9.2 x 8.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Linda S. Ferber, 87.116. Creative Commons-BY

This is the sort of ashtray that makes smoking more luxe by association.  This pewter piece was created by Brooklyn's Queens Art Pewter in 1930, its first year of business.  Greyhounds were the perfect Art Deco animal, all elongation and clean lines, just the right pet for an art based on the promise of technology.

the helpful kat

Today I'm fiddling around with making a Vintage Photo Time calendar.  This is Kat Von D being way more helpful than she was earlier, when she was sleeping on my keyboard and yowling at me for waking her up with my typing.

blue cat: introducing martha knox

http://marthaknox.squarespace.com/

image copyright and by kindest permission of martha knox

This linocut by Philadelphia artist Martha Knox fills me with energy.  The bulk of the cat is clearly and simply described, but mixed with the bright pop of the colors this reminds me of watching my own girls sitting ready to rocket at a split second's notice.  Don't let those squinty eyes fool you.  Boom.
There's much more at Martha's Etsy shop, including this sunwashed woodcut of a black and white cat, which was my other choice for today. I really enjoy her command of the telling cat posture, and her deft feeling for color.  Here's a bit about the artist herself:

Martha Knox is a fine art printmaker specializing in woodcuts. She earned her MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 2006 and has exhibited widely at art centers, university galleries, and independent art spaces. She maintains a studio practice in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Check out her website at www.marthaknox.com, too.